Bont Vapour 23 | Bike Fitters New Favourite Shoe for Performance? 

Another important change in the Vaypor 23 vs the Vaypor S is that the Vaypor 23 has slotted cleat mounting holes, meaning that cleats can be mounted about 5mm further towards the heel than the Vaypor S.

Great stuff Neill and Cam!!!❤

Great stuff Neil and Cam 👍👍👍

Guys, once again, another great video of valuable content. I myself have enjoyed Bonts in the past but I have not enjoyed the Bont Pricing. Regardless, I believe they do make an amazing product and when I’ve been given the blessing to splurge they seem to be my first go to brand. Like you Cam, I think Neil definitely needs a white set.

FWIW I encountered exactly the issue with the Vaypor S that Neill described about bony protrusions causing issues. The shoe fit was perfect as measured using Bont's own guide, but there was one area on my left foot at the first metatarsal head (where the big toe attaches to the foot) that repeated heat molding could not resolve.

I think all we need now is a video in cleat rotation, and the series will be complete!!!

I never had an issue with Vaypor S in the past 8 years I've been wearing them. In fact they solved a lot of my foot issues with my previous Specialized shoe, namely the bathtub section being stiff enough to not deform too much under load which provided a lot of the support i need for my feet. Several crashes later still going strong, and I have no intention to replace them any time soon. Even if I were to replace them, I know I'll be getting another pair of Vaypor for sure.

With Neil's wider foot, is he running a Wide fit in the bont's or standard fit? how close where the width measurements of the shoe vs Nei'ls foot? i.e where Neils measurements inside tolerances for the standard fit? or closer to the limits ?

The semi-custom option for true mid-foot cleats makes that a game changer for those that want a great mid-foot shoe.

I've got the Bont Vaypor 23s and actually found the stiffness quite underwhelming, they feel softer than my Lakes.

You were JUST about to comment on sizing...... Can you compare to the Lake you had or anything else? Width and length...

Great video! The Lake and Bont Vapour 23 shoes that you are holding up in the video are they both standard width or wide width shoes? I'm considering both the Lake and the Bont shoes and I have a wide foot like you with no weird bumps. The Lakes CX238 size 45 standard width fit my feet well and I have never tried a Bont shoe. How does your foot feel in the Bont Vapour 23? I hear they have a big toe box. Does your feet feel like they have enough space? The groups I ride with like to go fast and I'm trying to catch up to them. I ride 40 - 50 miles for most of my rides 3 - 4 times a week each ride is 2 -3 hours but would like to do the occasional 70 - 100 mile rides. I'm in Miami so no hills just heat and humidity. Your help is really appreciated. Which shoe would you go for if you were in my situation?

I have a pair of Vaypour S pre 2023 and they are by far the best shoes I’ve ever owned. I had a pair of Shimano RC7’s before I picked up a pair of Bont and they have absolutely nothing on the Bonts. The power transfer on the Bont vaypour S is extreme. You can literally feel your entire pedal stroke transfer through your leg and into the pedal. The only problem is they cost an arm and a leg. So effin expensive but they do last close to 10 years. Looking forward to picking up the new Vaypour S when I need a pair.

Can we have an opinion about DMT Shoes. They have a really stiff carbon sole too, without a "bathtub" construction. I ride the KR1 model for 1,5 years now and am still not shure if its the perfect one. But everytime i try another shoe this one feels better. Btw. in the first week i had this quite expensive shoe i got into heavy rainfalls in the dolomites and had to crawl over 2 landslides with the new white shoes. Its the new shoe curse!

Does the new model have a lower heel cup & moreso wrap around maleolus? I tried 3 pairs including mtb and they all contacted lateral maleolus.

Review the Riot 24! I just bought them. Looks like a $200 cheaper Vapour that's 15 grams heavier. I'd feel better about all future rides with Neil's blessing.

A question for Neill and Cam, I have a pair of these new Vapor 23's (in 44wide). They are super comfy, but something I noticed is a curvature in the outer sole, horizontally across the shoe, meaning that a Shimano cleat is being rounded. This then leads to a very central feeling of pressure on the cleat, rather than spread out. Is this something you've noticed with your pair(s)?

I tried a pair of Vaypor S’s, but didn’t enjoy the harshness, but the fit was spot on. Substantially better than Giro’s, for me. However, I have to say the 23’s are a massive improvement as far as comfort goes - a better thought out design overall. G8 insoles work quite well in them to boot. Glad that Neill has seen the light - and been converted to a full-time Bont fanboy 😆

I bought a pair of Bont Vapors a couple years ago. With the light weight, thin, stiff sole, dual BOA's and wide toe box they would have been the best shoes I had ever owned. But I could never get the fit right at the widest part of my foot due to that bathtub carbon construction, and believe me, I tried mightily. Now they collect dust. So bummed.

The bathtub sole certainly was an issue for me and my lumpy feet. The Vapours are interesting, but the comparison to the Lakes 237s in the video show the Bonts look incredibly narrow in the toe box. Bummer.

What I am wondering for some time now - why are there no barefootstyle bikeshoes out there? The best shoe so far, beeing some kind barefoot like is the Lake CX201. But still, the big toe is not able to straighten out. Any thoughts or recommendations?

If you had issues with rubbing is older bonts would you recommend getting this in a wider version? Or do you think this new low bathtub carbon is forgiving enough?

I think all their shoes, I got a new pair of riots and they had a smaller bathtub

Hey Cam, how far does the bathtub come up around the arches on the inside of the shoe? Bont used to make an asian fit with flatter arches but they got rid of it for this model - does that mean the arches are flat(er) on the Vaypor 23?

Every Bont I've had has cracked. Not every pair, every individual shoe. Granted they were the cheaper Riot+'s, but I'm not spending more to test whether the higher end Bonts will survive.

Tried Bont's a few years ago thinking they sounded like a great shoe. Much too wide for my feet.

Can you compare these to the new northwave veloce extreme's ? They do have some bold claims on power and stability 😅

How well does this shoe do in terms of keeping the heel in place at the back of the shoe? Admittedly i have an entry level shoe, the Torch 1, and the 1 boa design is not really holding my heel where i like it. Does have having 2 boa’s help put the heel in place or is it the way the boa’s are laced? If so, do these shoes do just that?

Hello. Am about to buy those online and was wondering if I should size up. Like 1 or 0.5 com on top of my foot length. A couple of friends advised that I size up by at least 1cm extra. Kindly advise

Still has a load of toe spring which is very bad for a lot of riders.

Shoes do heal or should that be they have a heel. Hat coat Im outa here.

Never fails. New whatever=crash that will affect that part. Be it bar tape that gets scuffed by a brick/stucco wall.

Only shoe I will wear.

If only Bont made some more trail-oriented MTB shoes. Carbon is just too fragile for anything but pedaling.

Do a video for the best mountain bike shoe, durianrider crew want to know

Too bad these shoes cost the same as a used road bike.

Bont>Lake