Italian shoe brand Udog isn't perhaps the first brand that springs to mind when you think of the best gravel bike shoes, or cycling shoes at all, even. This is probably because until the recent launch of its new Distanza gravel shoes, it only had two pairs of road shoes in its lineup.
The Distanza comes in two flavours: A carbon soled and a composite soled version. I’ve been trying out the latter to see how they stack up against the best in the field, how they fit, where they excel and which bits are going to annoy you. Will it be a number one debut gravel single, or a difficult second album? Let's fire up the turntable, torture some metaphors, and find out.
Design and aesthetics
Design and aesthetics go hand in hand with functional features, and perhaps in these shoes more than most. Thanks to the Tension Wrap System (TWS), which we will get into in more detail in a bit, the visuals are slightly defined by the mid-foot external straps. That’s not what immediately draws the eye though; that would be the hefty gum rubber outsole.
It’s the chunkiest rubber toe section I’ve seen so far on a gravel shoe. I appreciate looks are subjective, but my opinion is that it makes the shoes look rather ungainly.
There isn’t a great need for such chunky rubber over the top, or even in front of a gravel shoe. Yes, sometimes we push our bikes, but this has tread on the front and on top of the toes, with thickness rivalling some hiking shoes. Oddly, at the front of the base of the sole - the main wear point given the stiffness of cycling shoes - the tread is noticeably shallower. It strikes me as a clear case of form over function.
The asymmetry of the toe wrap has been implemented, I presume, to reduce the risk of tyre strike, and beneath the gum rubber is a second layer to protect the woven main material of the upper. The shoes would have been better without any of this rubber beyond the fore of the sole. They would have looked better, and been lighter, with no real impact on the walkability.
The sole itself though is well thought out, with hefty, grippy lugs for walking, and rubber between the midfoot and heel to better protect the sole on rocky ground and for when you miss a clip-in.
The main outer material is a woven construction similar to the Rapha Explore Powerweave shoes, with a soft brushed backer on the inside. Different textures have been used in strategic places, with a more open weave near the toes and on two side panels. Up top, the laces are a ribbon affair, rather than round, as is common with cycling lace-ups, and tuck into a lace garage at the top of the tongue.
Finally, at the back, there is a large heel loop to help you get them on (or hang them up?), and a rubberised heel cup, aiming to increase heel retention.
Performance
Fit is important with cycling shoes. It’s not perhaps quite so vital as when choosing a saddle, but it has impacts on foot stability which can have more severe consequences up the chain. The Udog Distanzas are the most narrow-fitting shoes I’ve come across to date, so please bear that in mind. I don’t have exceptionally wide feet, and I can tolerate other commonly narrow brands like Fizik and Sidi, though they aren’t ideal for me, but these were narrow enough to cause some pain, especially right at the start of testing before the sides had ‘given’ a little. I had occasions where the outer sides of my feet began to cramp up on longer rides.
By way of illustration, I measured my foot with a set of callipers at the widest point and then placed that over the insole of the Distanza, and there’s a good centimetre of my foot trying to spill over the edge. In contrast though, the toe box is plenty roomy enough, as is the heel, which I’d have liked to see a little narrower. There’s enough squish in the heel pad material to take it in a little more, and it does mean heel retention suffers a little, despite the best efforts of the rubberised inner surface.
As for the laces… I opt for laces out of choice in my cycling shoes, when I’m not testing. It allows you to tailor your fit much better than one or two Boa dials. The TWS is novel, but for me doesn’t really offer any real benefits. Perhaps as the wrap is compressing an already constricted part of my foot it wasn’t ideal, but the system as a whole doesn’t make much sense to me. When pressing down on the pedals the power is transferred through the sole, and the fit of the upper isn’t hugely relevant, and when pulling up the forces should be evenly distributed along the upper. Given that the straps underneath the insole aren't even tethered to the sole itself, when pulling up on the pedals these would simply lift up anyway if the shoes aren't tight enough. What’s more, the four entry points offer easy water ingress if you have to walk through any puddles, though they’d also hopefully act as drains too on the flip side.
The lace garage is definitely a great feature. As a user of Giro lace ups (the Empire SLX and the Privateer primarily), where the laces are held captive with a loop over the tongue, this Udog system is superior. The laces are less likely to come undone, snag, or hop out of their prison to flap in the breeze, so credit where it’s due. The laces themselves are a little more slippery than those of other brands, meaning that trying to get them to stay at the optimal tightness is more of a challenge; you have to overshoot a bit in the expectation of a bit of slippage before you’ve finished executing a beautiful double bow.
My final criticism, which is perhaps the most frustrating and is absolutely independent of my feet, is that the cleats meet the floor while walking on smooth surfaces. Without any weight in the shoes, they clear just fine with no fouling, but with the weight of a body pressing through a single shoe there’s a disheartening click and scrape as you either ruin your cleats, your floor, or both with every step.
Off-road, this is less of an issue, as uneven ground always impacts cleats, but it’s definitely something to be aware of if you are lucky enough to have beautiful slate flooring at home (a man can dream…). They are also plenty breathable thanks to the woven outer, and very grippy too when walking about.
I think these make far more sense than the carbon-soled versions for what it's worth. The price is better for the performance and features, and the more flexible sole pairs better with the grippy outsole for walking than it would in a carbon-soled shoe. A performance, lightweight carbon option needs that bulky toe shroud even less, too.
Value
At €180 (so approximately £160 or $200) these aren’t crazy money in the context of cycling shoes in general, but they are getting to the price point where we’d perhaps begin to see carbon soles as an expectation. That’s not to say carbon soles are necessarily ‘better’, as for ‘adventure’ style gravel riding I don’t believe they are, but given that composite soles are cheaper it means everything else has to be better to justify the price.
Narrow fit aside, as this may be better for you, I think the heel retention and laces need improving, and I think the TWS is a bit of a gimmick. For the price there are better options, the Giro Privateer at the time of writing will set you back a mere £70 and offers a similar performance.
If you require very narrow shoes then consider these, but for the price, they don’t stack up.
Verdict
A first attempt at anything new is always to be applauded in my eyes, but in this case, the execution of too many details were a little off for me to rate these highly, especially considering the price. There are better, cheaper lace-up shoes that, unless you have extremely narrow feet, will likely fit you better too and offer similar levels of performance at a lower price.
