I thought I'd start adding my own thoughts on products I purchase as I tend to do a lot of online research (or try to) before buying something and it's nice to give back :)

A few months ago I purchased some Triathlon Specific cycling shoes, the DIADORA Infinity Carbon Tri Shoe '09 from Torpedo7. At the time the purchase was kind of in desperation as none of the stores I normally purchase from had shoes in my size and I was really after the Shimano TR31 tri shoe.

I found the DIADORA Infinity Carbon Tri Shoe on Torpedo7 at a very good price. I didn't want to spend more than $150 and these came in at $145 at the time.

The shoe itself only came in yellow which may not suit everyone. They look quite good on and the yellow isn't too bright.

There are finger tabs on the tongue and heal so as to aid getting in and out of the shoe. Being designed for triathlons the tongue is made of light weight material and not as stiff as standard shoes. The shoe is very light and probably not the best for winter riding. There is a small Velcro strap at the mid foot that doesn't seem to have much purpose and the main large Velcro strap at the top. This strap has a little Velcro tab that can fasten around the return loop so as to hold the shoe open. As they are designed to be left on the bike the little tab really helps.

I have a pair of Shimano RD86 shoes that I do my normal road riding in. My comparison is against this shoe.

The first thing I noticed about the Diadora's was how stiff they were. With the Carbon sole the feel of the shoe really took some getting used to. At first I thought I had the cleats set incorrectly, but as the Shimano's don't have a carbon sole there is obviously a lot more give there.

The Diadora's were very comfortable. The light weight construction did not mean a sacrifice in comfort. I could easily were these shoes every day.

The cleat compatibility was a little confusing to figure out as there were reviews on the shoe saying that you could not fit certain cleats. The facts are that any 3 hole pattern will go on the shoe. It comes with Look cleat adapters, but they are compatible with most 3 hole patterns (including Shimano SPD-SL)

Walking in the shoe was not as clumsy as my other shoe. The Diadora is a slightly flatter profile with a larger heal pad making walking in them off the bike pretty easy. I think this is a consideration for triathlons to...Just in case people want to run through transition on them.

To sum up, for a carbon sole shoe at less than $200 I think the Diadora is a great buy. It could easily be used as a normal road shoe, although there are carbon soled shoes in the Diadora range specifically for the road that are in the $150 price range.

Great shoes. Highly recommend.