Review: Diadora Vortex Pro II road shoes

Matthew Pioro July 4, 2016

Diadora Vortex Pro II

Diadora Vortex Pro II shoes have a lot of ventilation at the toe and even in the tongue.

The Boa closure system allows you to make three types of adjustments. Turn clockwise to tighten, counter-clockwise to loosen in small increments and pull the dials out to disengage the closures.

The Net Breathing system features 11 mesh vents on the outsole of each shoe.

The fabric at the heel is quite rough, which adds an extra bit of grip to keep things secure.

I’m a fan of the Vortrex Pro, Diadora’s first version of its high-end road shoes. When the company came out with the latest version of its top-tier platform earlier this year, I was keen to see how it tweaked the product. The Diadora Vortrex Pro II is in fact a refinement of the previous model—the excellent shoe is now better.

The most notable change is the Boa closure system. While the old model has them, the new shoes use a more advanced Boa. Before, you could tighten up the wire straps with the Boa dials or completely release the tension by pulling the dials out. With the new Boa dials, you can turn the knob counter-clockwise to loosen the fit one detent at a time. I definitely appreciated the ability to modify the fit with barely a pause in my pedalling. And, of course, it always good to snug up your shoes before the town-line sprint as a little bit of intimidation for your fellow riders.

The Pro II, like the Pro, has a Suprell-Tech – Morpho A.M. Cage upper. On the Pro II shoes I tested—the black shoes with blue details—this upper felt more supple than on the previous model. Where my old Vortex Pro had a more plastic feel, the Vortex Pro II feels softer and more leather-like. It’s a great improvement in esthetics.

The Diadora Vortrex Pro II is definitely summer shoe. I did take it out early this year, pre-dawn with the temperature a bit below zero degrees. My advice: don’t. The Net Breathing system, with its 11 mesh sections in each outsole for for ventilation, works really well. In the warm weather, that’s just the cooling you need. In colder temperatures, your feet will hurt. I also found that even though the shoes are highly adjustable, they don’t accommodate thicker socks.

You could argue, and I’d likely agree with you, that trying to press these shoes into service in early spring is an unfair test. Sure. Let’s blame my enthusiasm because these are great performance shoes for laying power into the pedals. Who wouldn’t want to get out on them right away? ($479, logicasport.com, cdn.diadoracyclingamerica.com)