I rode a Tour stage in $600 shoes to really see what the Q36.5 Unique Pro Road shoes could handle

Q36.5 launched the Unique Pro road cycling shoes earlier this year, and they instantly joined the hyper-premium ranks along with several other bling offerings with shining carbon soles, top-end styling and a handful of fancy features.

The Unique Pro model goes straight to the top of the best cycling shoes pricing tree with an RRP of £550 / $600 / €550, which, along with Nimbl and the new Specialized S-Works Remco shoes, are the most expensive off-the-shelf road shoes you can buy.

I'm excluding totally custom, one-off shoes here, which can run to four figures (Check out Simmons racing if you want to get really serious).

We reviewed the Unique cycling shoes from the brand back in 2022. This new model adds a 'Pro' to the name, but there's a lot more going on here than just three letters.

I've been riding in these shoes for several months and took them to France with me in June to tackle the Marmotte Granfondo Alpes, a 177-kilometre route through the French Alps, which is essentially an amateur's chance to have a crack at a Tour de France mountain stage.

These must be considered serious shoes by most metrics. I knew they needed a serious test, and they got it.

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Design and Aesthetics

The Unique Pro shoes come in two colours: black and white. Road cycling shoes, in my opinion, must be white, and luckily that's what arrived at my door.

The shoes come in a box with a little Q36.5 shoe horn, which I haven't seen before, though I believe the Unique shoes did as well. It ties in with the luxury price tag, but what I would really like to be included here is a shoe bag.

As we'll get to, aside from the overall value, these shoes look pretty special, and the carbon soles' finish is magnificent. A bag to transport them and even store them in when not in use would be welcome. I've used one from another pair of shoes when travelling to prevent wear and tear or scratches to the sole. At this price point, it's these finer details that need to be considered and covered by the brand for me.

The finishing everywhere has been excellent, apart from some messy and irregular stitching on the inside of each ankle where the grippy heel gripper joins the shoe's liner; points lost there for such expensive shoes.

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So, to the makeup of the shoes themselves, Q36.5 claims they provide 'a new level of stability, power and comfort' for riders. How do they go about trying to do this?

Let's start at the bottom with the soles. The Unique Pro shoes use carbon fibre soles that are made in Italy, as are the rest of the shoes, and if you ask me, look very similar to the soles that feature on Nimbl shoes, a geographical neighbour to Q36.5, I believe.

The outsole of the shoes is 2.2mm thick with a total stack of 4.4mm, which the brand claims is the lowest on the market. Q36.5 claims a 1% increase in power for every mm reduction in stack height and cites a recent study, though I haven't been provided with the actual study itself. Also, bear in mind you may need or want to tweak your saddle height due to the lower stack.

The soles use a three-bolt drilling, and the carbon fibre extends up outside the ankle and a few millimetres around the base of the shoe. The finish is beautiful, glossy and shiny with a nice bold weave for looks. You will want to be careful walking around in them, and I'm tempted to fit some thin heli tape to mine to protect them, a bit like car PPF film.

The heel and toe pads are non-replaceable as far as I can see, and there are three healthy-sized vents at the front for cooling. The brand doesn't give a recommended torque spec for cleat bolts like some brands do; the most common I see is 5Nm, but as usual, don't crank the torque bolts down too tightly.

The soles use a three-bolt cleat drilling, so you will need an adaptor the same as many shoes if you run Speedplay cleats. There are always riders who want their cleat further back than a shoe will allow, but generally, I think the cleat bolt holes are well located, certainly not too far forward.

The last shape and overall shoe shape are up to date. This is a relatively straight shoe which features a wider midfoot and, in particular the metatarsal area, according to the brand. The toe box isn't cavernous, but it's roomier than some lower-profile shoes I have used.

Altogether, I would call it a more user-friendly shape that should suit more feet than your more traditional narrow, curved, road cycling shoe.

The shoe's upper is constructed from a thin Microfibre material and is very soft and malleable. These are stiff shoes, but some of that structure is offset by the soft uppers. It's a stark difference to the unyielding and generally rigid and racy Northwave Veloce Extreme shoes I tested.

The shoes also come standard with Solestar insoles. I have quite a wide midfoot, and they just about cover mine, so they are on the wider side as well.

The insoles don't look like any stock insoles I can see on the Solestar website and feature some raised support to the rear of the arch and a metatarsal button. The raised section is there to stop inward rotation and to protect your arches. The Solestar insoles could also contribute to the high overall retail price. I'd say they are a more premium offering than the majority I have seen in cycling shoes.

The shoes use two silver BOA Li2 dials to take care of retention, and the laces route through seven loops, which are well placed across the front of the shoe, including the larger 'power strap' which the brand says rises from the arch for more support. I've been able to tighten the shoes down very evenly, and the malleable uppers help produce a nice feeling that the shoe is closed around your foot.

Lastly, the meshy, elasticated line which covers pretty much the entire front of the foot is there to aid cooling, a big part of the Q36.5 philosophy, but it also brings a compressive and highly comfortable feel to the table; I like it a lot.

Performance

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I can't see myself tiring of how good these shoes feel when I put them on; they just feel so comfortable. I'd say the most comfortable feeling I have had from a cycling shoe.

I would put this down to the width of the shoe accommodating my midfoot, the toebox and width allows me to comfortably wiggle my toes. Secondly, I feel that the mesh liner really boosts comfort; it's very soft and hugs your foot. This feeling of comfort is probably my favourite detail about the shoes.

I went for a size EU 44, and they are ever so slightly too big for me. There's a little bit of extra wiggle room, but I get the width that I need in the forefoot. Everyone's feet are different; my left and right feet are even slightly different, but I feel it's been the right way to go here, and the comfort I've experienced has been fantastic.

I mentioned I rode the Marmotte in these shoes. The ride was over nine hours, covering 107 miles and taking in 17,000+ feet of climbing. The temperature was close to 30C for a lot of the day, and I was climbing at points for over two hours straight and finished on top of Alpe d'Huez.

Not once did I experience sore, swollen or painful feet with the Unique Pros, something that has affected me in the past, and did affect one of my ride buddies during the event. It was the case for me during Chasing Cancellara, for a time where I poured water into my shoes for relief. The cushioning around the ankle opening and heel also added to the comfort factor here for me.

On the ankle, foot retention at the ankle is good; the inside has a very nice, grippy, dimpled fabric, and the padding I mentioned helps to secure your foot in place. It feels plush and comfortable. The carbon sole extends up around the base of the heel externally as well, providing structure at the rear of the shoe. I like how things feel at the ankle and heel.

I was comfortable all day in the shoes and could actively feel some cooling breeze on the descents inside the shoes, a first for me I think. I'd put this down to the mesh tongue and liner, and the sole and upper vents. The cooling for me was more effective overall than the Quoc M3 Air, which uses mesh windows in the toe box.

Stiffness is a regularly cited metric when judging road shoes, and not once have I felt the shoes lacking here. They feel more than stiff enough for me, whether I've been climbing, sprinting, or just riding along. However, as mentioned, the overall comfort just tempers things so you don't feel like you're getting beaten up or that the shoes are only for racers, although I'd argue comfort is the most important thing when racing as well.

The shoes wipe clean easily enough; the mesh liner will be the area that may need a scrub in time, though I will do my best to look after them. I still relish putting these shoes on. My next test will hopefully involve some adjustable aftermarket G8 insoles to see if I can take things to the next level.

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Value

These are some of the most expensive shoes on the market; that point isn't lost on me. You could buy a couple of pairs of very good shoes, new wheels or even a second-hand bike for the same money.

Some of the premium features surely add cost, like the high-end carbon soles, which are made in Italy, and the Solestar insoles, but I would still like to know more about how the RRP is arrived at and I have asked the brand this question.

I really like these shoes, and relish riding in them, but I'm not sure it's possible to argue that they offer good value. I also feel a bit more pressure to look after them compared to other models, and am hyper-cautious when walking in them off the bike. Despite my exhaustion, the gravelly feed zone car parks at the Marmotte had me tiptoeing like a ballerina to look after them.

That said, if there's $600 burning a hole in your pocket and you want something really nice, fill your boots; they are great shoes.

Verdict

It should be clear by now that I've had and continue to have a really good experience with these shoes. They have been stylish, comfortable and lightweight.

Q36.5 has added a fresh chapter in the history of Italian road shoes, and one that helps further dispel the traditional narrative that lots of Italian shoes are often narrow and pointy.

These wider, rounder shoes should hopefully help more riders find comfort. If you can find a comfortable fit that works for your feet, then the actual construction of the shoes should hopefully make for a fantastic experience in use.

That has been the case for me, and as I descended Alpe D'Huez after the hardest road ride of my life, I looked down at my feet and thought, 'yep, these shoes were the right choice today.'