By The Takeaway: Giro makes the shoe the people want: stiff, lightweight, and two Boa dials.
- Giro's first shoe with dual-Boa closures
- Extremely light at around 410 grams per pair
- Monofilament mesh upper reinforced with welded thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)
With a few exceptions, you will find Boa's dial-and-cable closure system on most top-of-the-line road shoes. And the notable brands that don't use Boas use their own dial and cable system.
Since rolling out its shoes in 2010, Giro has not made a shoe with two Boa dials. For its top-of-the-line shoes, it has used laces, three-Velcro-straps, Techlace (a hybrid lace/velcro system), and a ratcheting buckle.
A crack in this anything-but-cables resistance formed in 2016 with the release of the Factor Techlace which used one Boa with two Techlace closures. But even that shoe used Boa differently than most. On the Factor, the Boa secured a strap, instead of using the cables to pull the upper together as most shoes that use the system do. Plus, though the Factor is a high-end shoe, it is not positioned as the brand's premier road racing shoe.
All changes with the Imperial. It is Giro's new top of the line road shoe, and, as you probably guessed, it uses two Boa dials to pull the upper together.
Dual Boa
The Imperial is Giro's first shoe with the two Boa closures.
Trevor Raab 
Adjustable Support
Three arch-support-height inserts come with the Imperial.
Trevor Raab 
Safe Walking
The rubber heel pad is replaceable.
Trevor Raab 
Fixed Inserts
Giro hasn't jumped on the adjustable cleat-insert bandwagon.
Trevor Raab 
See Through
The Imperial's mesh is so thin it's see through.
Trevor Raab
Dual Boa
The Imperial is Giro's first shoe with the two Boa closures.
Adjustable Support
Three arch-support-height inserts come with the Imperial.
Safe Walking
The rubber heel pad is replaceable.
Fixed Inserts
Giro hasn't jumped on the adjustable cleat-insert bandwagon.
See Through
The Imperial's mesh is so thin it's see through.
Boa Closures With Soft Guides
Although Giro jumped on the twin-Boa bandwagon, they are doing one thing that's a bit unique. Instead of the plastic guides sewn into other shoes to direct the cables, the Imperial uses loops of webbing. These "soft guides" are claimed to reduce hot spots.
The Boa dials are the brand's IP1, which can both tighten and release cable, and offer one-millimeter of adjustment with each click. The IP1 knobs also feature a pull up to quick release function. The Boa mechanism is repairable and replaceable.
Reinforced Mesh Upper
The Imperial's upper is lightweight mesh reinforced with the Teijin TPU found in Giro's other shoes. The mesh and TPU are welded together, making the upper almost seamless—stitching is used to attach the Boas and soft guides.
This an iteration of the upper that Giro rolled out in its freakishly light (150 grams per shoe) Prolight Techlace. The Imperial's upper is more reinforced than the Prolight's, which provides more support and stability to the riders foot—helpful when pushing and pulling hard on the pedals.
Familiar Features
The Imperial carries 0ver some of the features found in other Giro road shoes.
Its built on the same last as Giro's other road shoes, so the fit trends to the snugger and lower-volume end of the spectrum. However, the upper is exceptionally supple and forgiving, so riders might find Imperial more accommodating than Giro road shoes made with thicker and stiffer upper materials.
Included are the brand's adjustable insoles, which lets riders pick from low, medium, and high arch-support chips.
The outsole is carbon of course and gets Giro's top of the line EC90SLX designation which means it offers the brand's best stiffness-to-weight ratio. Giro is not using the TeXtreme carbon found in the Prolight Techlace—a brand representative told Bicycling that material is challenging to work with resulting in a high percentage of outsoles failing the brand's quality control checks on the production line.
The cleat mounting inserts are steel and fixed—Giro is not yet adopting the adjustable insert trend of many of its competitors. A rubberized heel gripper provides a bit of extra security when shuffling through a taqueria, and is replaceable.
Ride Impressions
I received my sample Imperials months ahead of today's release and now have some good time in the shoes to base my opinions on.
Overall, these shoes occupy a space between the hyperlight shoes like Giro's Prolight Techlace, and heavier, more robust shoes like Shimano's RC9.
The upper is snug, but supple and forgiving too. My foot felt secure in the shoe, but I could wiggle my toes, and I didn't feel any hotspots. It's more supportive than I expected, and I didn't experience much side-to-side slip, or feel my foot rolling over the top of the outsole when pushing hard. Heel hold is good, but not exceptional. I occasionally felt a little slip, but not enough to be concerning.
The feel isn't as locked in as a shoe like the RC9 with it's thicker upper and plastic heel cup, but the Giro is about 80 grams lighter per pair, which is enough to feel.
The mesh upper breathes very well, which isn't surprising as it's see through. If you're wearing these shoes come fall, you might need to slip the covers on a bit sooner. If you ride in the rain, these shoes suck up very little water, so they're less soggy than most.
The closure system worked reliably, as I expect would from Boa. You can reef the shoes down very tight for a sprint or hard climb, and easily back them off for a relaxed fit when the pace is casual.
Outsole stiffness is good, but then almost all the top of the line carbon soled shoes are so damn stiff it's hard to tell much of a difference. I think these are a touch less stiff than a Shimano RC9 or Specialized S-Works 7, but I also don't think the Imperial's lower stiffness is detrimental in the slightest.
I didn't notice any uncomfortable hotspots from the closure, but like all cable-and-wire shoes I've worn, pressure from the closure seems less-evenly distributed than it is with laces or Velcro straps. I don't think the Soft Guides are a game changer. The Imperial didn't seem to be any more or less comfortable than a shoe with a similar closure and plastic guides. But perhaps they're a better match to the Imperial's thin and light upper than plastic guides would be.
One quirky issue I experienced: the coated Boa cables stick to the Imperial's tongue. This caused more resistance than usual when tightening the shoe down, and also caused pulling and bunching in the tongue when I tightened the shoe. I needed to hold the tongue in place with my other hand to keep it from creeping as I snugged the shoe down, and also move the cables around with my fingernail to position them evenly. It was easy enough to manage, but it's not an issue I've had with other Boa shoes.
Now that Giro has stepped in line with most other brands and has embraced the two Boa dial closure for its top of the line road shoe, there's even less diversity in a space that was already pretty homogeneous. Credit to Boa for making such a good product, but with so many similar shoes, it's becoming harder to tell them apart.
The Imperial, however, carves out space as one of the lightest dual-Boa shoes you can buy. It offers enough support and stability for all situations, and it's extremely breathable too. It's an excellent lightweight road racing shoe.
Price: $425
Weight: 408g/pair (size 41); 430g/pair (size 42.5, claimed)
Sizes: 39-48, half sizes 42.5 to 45.5
Wide Option: no
Closure: 2x Box IP1 dials
Adjustable Arch Support: yes
Cleat Mounting Inserts: fixed
Outsole: carbon
Colors: White, black, red
Pros
- Two Boa dials for easy adjustment
- Very breathable
Cons
- Some heel lift
- Boa cables stick to tongue.
A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling, Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race.
