Specialized’s staggeringly light Exos 99 road shoe

It’s tempting to say the new S-Works Exos 99 road shoe pushing the envelope of whats possible with shoe construction, but the shoe is so light Specialized engineers would likely insist on specifying which type of envelope lest people get the wrong idea and think it’s heavy.

Specialized S-Works Exos 99

At just 99 grams-per-shoe, the ultra-light S-Works Exos 99 is pushing closer to weights used to describe stationary, not footwear, but Specialized insists it is still ultra-stiff. The Morgan Hill, Cali. company is claiming, quite safely, that it is the world’s lightest production cycling shoe. Not that it was an easy feat. In fact, it was difficult that only 500 pairs will ever be made.

While the shoes are feather light, they come with a hefty price tag. The limited-run Exos 99 are an equally staggering $930. The good news is, with their minimal weight you’ll save on shipping.

While the Exos 99 name is particularly catchy Specialized has imposed a size-specific weight limit on the shoe. The 99 g weight is the maximum weight for each foot of a size 42 pair. The smallest size offered, a 40, is even lighter, weighing just 92 g. Riders with longer feet will have to lug around an extra couple grams: the largest size offered, a 48, is 132 g.

Specialized S-Works Exos

While the Exos 99 will surely grab headlines for its equally minimal weight and sizable price tag, Specialized also introduces the S-Works Exos shoe. It’s claimed to be the lightest Boa-equipped cycling shoe in production, coming in at just 150 grams. The shoe will be offered in white and black colour options, and a much wider range of sizes than the limited-run Exos 99.

Despite both shoes obsessive focus on weight reductions, Specialized claims there were minimal sacrifices required in stiffness to hit the target weights. The S-Works Exos has been given a stiffness rating of 13 on Specialized’s own scale, putting it approximately in the same range as the existing S-Works 6 shoe.

Specialized S-Works Exos will retail for $650.

Exos construction and materials

Both Exos models use plenty, or carefully measured pieces, of the expected space-age fabrics to hit their slight target weights. Space-grade Dyneema® helps to solidly hold your heel in place, in combination with CubicTec reinforcement fabric. Specialized claims the Exos shoes have a comparable heel grip to the S-Works 7 shoe. A new Warp Sleeve vamp replaces the existing toe box. Last, both models feature replaceable heel lugs.

Body Geometry features have been retained in both models from existing S-Works’ lines, including the Longitudinal Arch, Varus Wedge and Metatarsal Button.