Review
How’s your sneaker game? As long as I can recall, I’ve been far pickier about my cycling shoes than my casual shoes. In my teens, our race team would rock up to a crit, flexing high-end SIDIs, Sphyre RC9s, and S-Works carbon clickety-clackety shoes, only to put on a three-year-old pair of battered Vans canvas sneakers post-race. One of my mates, who had conspicuously wide feet, could never find a pair of shoes that fit right. After trying offerings from Shimano, SIDI, Bont, Lake, and others known for their wider last, the perfectly warm bowl of porridge showed up on his doorstep in the form of a pair of Northwave Revolution Wides.
My feet have been spoiled these last few years, with a myriad of different manufacturers and a nearly unlimited number of models to choose from depending on fit, use-case, and aesthetic preferences. We’ve tested a great deal of Northwave product on the site recently in both flat and clip-in options, and I’m excited to share some thoughts on the Northwave Razer – which has performed admirably on light-trail, gravel, and commuting-type rides these past few months.
Available in white, black, and dark grey, the Razers are a nice looking pair of slippers.
Plenty of cleat adjustment, with replaceable front studs. The lack of grip provided by these soles left much to be desired.
Northwave Razer
The Razer is positioned as Northwave’s lightweight, breathable, and stiff mountain shoe for cross-country racing and gravel riding. The TPU upper is available in three colours: light grey, forest green (tested), dark grey sage (the most tasteful colour palette in my opinion), and black. Right out of the box, the shoe was comfortable, and using the SLW3 dial, I was able to get them to a point of locking my foot down without being overly tight. Each shoe has one SLW3 dial, Northwave’s proprietary ratcheting system that I will unpack shortly, along with a velcro strap to save on weight.
The synthetic upper is unlined to further enhance breathability and features mesh inserts along with laser perforations that increase airflow. I can’t speak to their breathability in extreme temperatures as we were well into the fall in the PNW by the time I got these mounted up, but I never felt too hot in them.
A silicone lining in the heelcup kept things locked down. Pet hair beware though – you have been warned.
The toe and heel also have welded TPU reinforcements to enhance protection. I recall in one of my first shoe reviews, I alluded to my affinity for kicking rocks – and with old habits dying hard, the toe box held up to some rigorous testing. I also like the contrasting colour choices for the reinforcement layer. There’s something about well-chosen contrasting shades that gives a shoe a more premium feel. The stock insoles had laser-cut perforations in them as well to increase breathability, although I ended up swapping these out for my usual set of Specialized BG footbeds to achieve higher arch support. If you’re not in need of more arch support, the stock Northwave insoles are pretty sturdy feeling.
The asymmetric lacing pattern of the SLW3 held my foot firmly in place, especially when combined with a pair of compression socks, and the dial allowed for tons of fine tuning as I’d find myself tightening the shoes for the first section of the ride as my foot broke into them, followed my loosening them a few clicks for the cruise on the road home from the trails. There was silicone injected on the inside of the heelcup to provide extra heel grip. The added velcro strap served little purpose as the shoe was already plenty tight around the forefoot in my case. I never experienced any discomfort and the shoes broke in incredibly quickly thanks to the flexible upper. Despite the perforations in the side, dust never got into the shoe – as per my relatively clean white Northwave socks at the end of a ride.
The basic operation of Northwave’s proprietary SLW3 dial.
SLW3
I’ve alluded to Northwave’s SLW3 Dial, as opposed to the all too common BOA system, a few times in this review. So let’s dig into how it works.
Akin to the BOA Li2 system, the SLW3 has a fine amount of teeth on the ratchet, which allows you to micro-adjust as needed. In contrast, the lever atop the dial serves two purposes. It can be pushed in to release tension by a single click at a time. It can also be pulled to release tension all at once, such that you can quickly remove the shoes. The system left me pretty confused at first, and I initially removed the shoes by pushing the lever several dozen times, although the pull function became intuitive after a while. For now, both are still functioning smoothly and require little effort to unwind the lacing system. I rather enjoyed the 1-click press to release just a small amount of lacing as it was super consistent and didn’t have me stopping mid pedal stroke to make things comfortable again.
The additional velcro strap over the toe box served little purpose when the SLW3 dial was fully tightened.
Comfortable and breathable mesh tongue.
I’m typically never a white sneaker kind of guy, due to the inevitability of them being muddied. These will probably be relegated to fair weather in an attempt to prevent the crisp white from developing a brown tint.
Staring into the Sole
The Razer has a sole stiffness rating of 10 on their 15-point scale. While a rating of 15 is reserved for their higher-end road shoes, these slippers were more than stiff enough for off-road use. Stiffer than the Crankbrothers Candy Lace or Shimano MW7 that I’ve tested. The closest shoe I’ve ridden to the Razer, stiffness-wise, is the Shimano XC7.
I’ll tread lightly on my walkability criticisms given the shoe’s XC race intentions, but if your rides involve any walking or extended hiking to access secret loam stashes, then I’d leave the Razer at home. There are shoes in this category that balance similar levels of stiffness with better grip. The heel grip piece was paltry in size, as were the front bumpers, although most of my rides seldom saw me getting off the bike. Replacement toe studs can be had for 11 CAD at Northwave’s site, although the Razer is not compatible with toe-spikes for the cyclocross-minded.
A smaller heel piece akin to a road shoe.
Walk if you have to, but you probably won’t want to.
Nice details on the moulded heel-cup.
A pleasant-looking shoe from the front as well.
No reflective bits to be found, although the pop of colour isn’t a bad touch.
Ultimately, the Northwave Razer occupies a nice zone in the market as a reasonably affordable, well-fitting, and stiff XC shoe with the added bonus of their SLW3 dial. Most shops will be well-versed in repairing the SLW3 ratchet system, as the process is similar to a BOA dial, although they likely won’t have them in stock, so it would be worth buying an extra from Northwave. You can even send your shoes in for repair if you’re one of those lucky ducks in the EU. I’d recommend considering the Razer if you’re after something incredibly comfortable, breathable, stiff as heck, and bound to not break the bank after this holiday season.
Northwave Razer XC Shoes: 187 USD // 248 CAD
Height – 6’/183cm (mostly legs)
Weight – 160lbs/73kg
Inseam – 34″/86cm
Ape Index – The Original Slinky™
Age – 23
Bar Width – 780mm
Preferred Reach – 485-500mm