Get a rider like Brian Lopes to develop a pair of shoes and you’re just about guaranteed to get people’s attention. With four UCI World Champion titles to his name, Lopes paved the way for his success with a healthy dose of talent and dedication—and a close eye on his equipment choices.
Working with his sponsor, Pearl Izumi, Lopes contributed a great deal to the development of their latest mountain-bike shoe offering, the X-Project.
Designed to offer optimal pedaling efficiency while still allowing for comfortable use off the pedals, the X-projects use a patent-pending carbon outsole design.
Utilizing a selectively tapered design, the sole is thicker in the forefoot where power transfer occurs, getting progressively thinner through the arch where a bit of flexibility is necessary for comfortable off-the-bike performance. This added feature means added versatility, allowing the X Project 1.0 to excel in a wide variety of applications from XC to enduro.
Read the complete Pearl Izumi X Project 1.0 Review by clicking on the highlighted link.