Fizik Vento Ferox Carbon Review

The Fizik Vento Ferox Carbon is a race-inspired clipless off-road shoe with a lightweight, high-performance design that delivers maximum efficiency and a secure fit. As a top-tier contender for speed-focused riders, the Vento Ferox is one of the stiffest and most responsive shoes on the market, featuring a full-carbon outsole that transfers 100 percent of your power directly to the drivetrain. While it is purpose-built for the intensity of the XC racecourse, we found them to be excellent for everything from gravel rides to all-mountain days. The uniquely laminated upper provides a glove-like feel that remains comfortable even on high-mileage backcountry efforts. The streamlined silhouette and minimalist protection make it less than ideal for aggressive mountain and enduro riders.

Comfort

The Vento Ferox Carbon strikes a rare balance, combining an insanely stiff racing platform with a level of comfort that we found delightful. While the perforated polyurethane uppers may look rigid at first glance, they are surprisingly supple and conform to the shape of your foot after just a few rides. The minimalist design eliminates unnecessary padding, retaining it only in the tongue and heel cup. This keeps the shoe light and very breathable. The design and lack of bulk make this shoe a podium chaser; the trade-off is reduced overall protection when trail riding. This is not the shoe to wear on adventures where rock strikes are likely.

With the streamlined aesthetic of a road shoe, the Vento Ferox Carbon initially raises skepticism. Looking past the rubber sole and lugs, you see there is a bit more going on, and the shoe has meaningful adjustability. The 2-way Li2 BOA lets you ratchet down the toe box for a sprint or quickly release pressure for a long climb. If you have any reluctance about buying a performance shoe with a huge Velcro strap, you can put it to rest; the shoes remain perfectly secure without needing to be retightened mid-ride, even after several months of abuse.

Svelte and sleek, with retention our testers loved. The Boa for the forefoot lets you quickly adjust volume mid-ride without risking heel slippage.   Credit: Joshua Hutchens

The welded polyurethane upper is seamless along the inside of the foot.   Credit: Joshua Hutchens

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A stiff but lightly padded tongue prevents hot spots on the top of the foot, while a contoured heel cup with silicone grippers prevents heel lift. The minimal padding from the heel cup ends long before the uppers meet the tongue, giving the shoe minimal bulk but a potential chafe point for those with larger ankles.

Traction and Walkability

This shoe is designed for maximum power transfer on the bike; it really doesn't want you to get off and hike. While the carbon sole has an X1 rubber covering with lugs and toe spikes, walking was not a primary design consideration. The aggressive outsole is perfect for a quick hop off the bike and scramble up a techy section, especially if doing so on your toes.

If you're looking for a shoe that's comfortable for walking, exploring, or taking short hikes, these aren't the slippers for you. The stiff soles rock fore and aft as you step; you can be on the narrow heel or the aggressive toe, but transitioning between the two is a clunky sensation reminiscent of a hard wooden clog.

The rubber outsole provides some slip resistance on rock and tree roots, especially where the thicker lugs are located. The midsole has texturized rubber, so you aren't left stepping on the slick carbon outer. Bottom line, the shoe is perfectly suitable for running up a steep embankment, like you might do in a Cyclocross race; it's a poor choice for ambling around trailside.

Power Transfer

This is where the Fizik really shines. The Vento Ferox uses a 10/10 stiffness Unidirectional Carbon Sole that has ZERO flex. While we outlined the downsides of that during our discussion of walkability, the shoe focuses all your power to the pedal, resulting in a hyper-efficient feel. It's a two-way street; the rigidity of the shoe also transmits a bit more shock than a typical trail shoe. We loved the feeling of an all-out mega-watt sprint in these shoes, but chunky XC courses gave us a bit of foot fatigue, especially on a hardtail.

Modern mountain pedals offer a slightly larger surface area for your shoe to interface with. Since the sole of this shoe is so stiff, a larger platform doesn't necessarily provide greater power transfer. A larger pedal creates more stability, but the narrow lugs on the sole provide a sweet spot for it. We loved the way this shoe pedaled on the Shimano XTR M9200 but found even more stability with the Wolf Tooth CTRL Trail Pedal. The shoes worked fine with the OneUp Clip Pedal, but the extra real estate that pedal offers isn't fully utilized by the lugs on the Vento Carbon.

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Weight

The Fizik Vento Carbon is an impressively lightweight. Our size 45.5 test shoes weighed 376 grams. That figure feels even more impressive when you consider how stiff the shoes are.

For the really weight-conscious, Fizik makes this shoe in Aeroweave that foregoes the Boa and saves just over 30 grams per shoe. That said, we really appreciated the quick-adjust capability of this Boa-equipped shoe. It was nice to be able to quickly reach down with one hand and loosen or tighten the shoe while riding, something that would be much harder with a single Velcro strap. Even though the PU upper is incredibly durable and abrasion-resistant, the shoe offers almost no protection against rock strikes, so it's less ideal for rowdier trail riders.

Durability

We put just about 1000 miles on the Vento Ferox Carbon, and they're really no worse for wear. Some muddy hike-a-bikes, a few rock strikes, and plenty of steps through the chunky stuff. What stands out about this shoe is its lack of stitching, a common weak point in mountain bike shoes. Since the upper is almost entirely welded, the shoe doesn't show any distress or outward signs of wear that we usually see after this level of use. The shoes held up well, but make no mistake: they provide minimal protection for your foot, so even if the shoes aren't marred or damaged, your toes may be.

Since the shoe isn't designed for walking, the minimal rubberized lugs won't withstand much ground contact. When the lugs in the forefoot wear down, the stability you get from a wider pedal body will be diminished, and the overall performance will suffer. Keep that in mind if you're considering these shoes, and minimize the amount of time you spend wearing them off the bike.

Should You Buy the Fizik Vento Ferox Carbon?

The Fizik Vento Ferox Carbon can be thought of as a road shoe masquerading as a trail shoe. If you want maximum stiffness and power transfer with a bit of off-road utility, this is your new footwear. If you don't mind sacrificing a bit of that power transfer for more weight and cushion, you'll find better options in another shoe. While we found the shoe to be quite comfortable, it lacks the padding that

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