Specialized S-Works Recon Shoes Review

I love these shoes, but there are some real caveats.

Specialized’s S-Works Recon shoes are the mtb and gravel shoes I love — I’m on my t̶h̶i̶r̶d̶ fourth pair. For me, the fit is supreme, no other shoe fits me nearly as well. That is the number one benefit. This is a general statement for Specialized bike shoes as well. I’ve used shoes from Sidi, Northwave (many years ago, these were my favs), Bontrager, Fizik, Giro, Lake, and 45North. None fit me as well. My winter shoes are Fizik, mainly because Specialized stopped making their winter shoes (which admittedly weren’t a great winter shoe).

So, in general, I wear Specialized shoes because they fit me the best. The reason the S-Works Recon is my favorite though, is because I want a very stiff shoe, and you need to get the S-Works in order to get that super stiff carbon sole with no toe flex. I’ve used the Recon 3 in the past, but they just weren’t stiff enough (but are otherwise great, and I think have more reliable BOA dials). If you don’t need/want as stiff a sole (e.g. you walk in them a lot more), then skip the S-Works (save yourself a ton of money as well) and get the Recon 3 instead.

Downsides/Caveats

I love the shoes, but there are some legit downsides to consider, which you may get from the fact that I’m on my fourth pair in only a couple years.

Cost

Let’s get this one out of the way right off. These things are crazy expensive. $500! This is a newly increased price (until recently they were $450). Oh, and not to mention, there’s now an “EVO” model that is $550. This is a “pro” level shoe of course, but it’s still crazy to me, especially when you factor in the rest of the downsides…

Durability

This is the reason I’ve gone through so many — the material tears easier than I’d like. If you don’t ride rocky terrain, or your feet never touch anything even vaguely sharp, you’ll be fine. But, I’ve now warrantied one pair, gotten a crash replacement on another, and yesterday I tore another, and nearly broke my toe (x-ray says no break :). These shoes aren’t made to have the defense level of an enduro shoe, so don’t think I expect that. But, given I’ve damaged 3 pairs in the exact same place four times now (the pair I just replaced I did this to on both shoes (separate rides), see below), it’s a real problem for me.

I keep damaging these in the same place. And yes, it’s very dusty in Bend right now.

The left shoe in this photo is the one I damaged yesterday. I didn’t see a boulder by a bush and smashed it with my left foot. This cut right through the shoe, and sock, and cut my toe a bit, but even more, smashed my pinky toe over into the foot/other toes. Now, as you can see, both shoes have almost identical damage. This pair is less than a year old (about 8 months of use I believe), and the cut on the right side was within the first 2 months. I got the crash replacement on these, but figured I’d tape that one up and use this pair over the winter/however long they lasted.

I put Gorilla tape over the right side cut, which lasted fairly well, and I plan to add this tape preemptively on my new pair.

You can also see some other damage to the sole and such. This is pretty normal wear and tear, but these don’t hold up as well to walking on rocks and such as the Recon 3 does.

BOA Dials are Good and Bad

The BOA dials used on these shoes, when new, are great — much nicer than the ones on the Recon 3, in that you just turn them to tighten/loosen, not need to pull up to release, push down to tighten, etc. So, they’re easier to adjust while riding.

However, they also can get gunked up more easily, and fail. I’ve replaced multiple dials. In talking to other folks who use these shoes, as well as the folks at Mountain Bike Specialists in Durango, this is definitely a common problem with these. That said, BOA will warranty them as well (and if you’re lucky, a shop will have spares and trade you — thanks MBO!).

You can’t see it in these photos, but there are some little loops that the BOA wires go through to keep them aligned with the tongue/shoe material. When you replace the dials, if you want to have that, you have to disassemble the dial and re-thread the cable, etc. to achieve that. That’s a real pain, so I don’t do it, and it’s been ok without, but it’s something to note.

Still Rideable

I want to note, the tear in the material doesn’t prevent riding in these shoes. Like I mentioned, I put tape over the right side tear (which is the worse one) and rode it for 6 months. Totally rideable and thankfuully gorilla tape sticks to this material really really well, so it creates a nice seal, and makes for an easy solution. I am rotating these because they are worn in various other ways and overall I think I’m ready to swap out to the nearly brand new pair I have waiting.

And with tape as I’ve described:

Summary

My assessment is that these are the best fitting and performing shoes for me. However, if I keep destroying them like this, and at the price of $500, that’s just not viable long term. I’ve only tolerated it this far due to the warranty and crash replacement aspect I’ve obtained (at least there’s that). I laughed a bit today when I saw they had the new EVO model, because I’d had the idea to suggest they make an Evo version (similar to how they’ve used the designation for a slightly beefier version of a bike in the past), where it’s the same shoe, but just beefed up around the toes a bit more. That’s not what the EVO version is unfortunately. Alternatively, give me a Recon 3, but with as stiff a sole as the S-Works.

What would I look at if not these? The real challenge for me is the fit. I can’t really wear almost anything else as they just fit too narrow across the metatarsals in general. I don’t actually have a wide foot, but whatever it is, most others are too tight in that regard (and/or if they have a wider one, then my heel absolutely swims). The Fizik winter shoes I use have been pretty decent — a hair narrow, but they seem ok. Their top of the line XC carbon shoe is $170 less (normally $330, and currently on sale for $267), so I’d definitely check those out. But I’d do another full survey and see, as this seems to change across models, model years, etc.