The Ergo is the iconic Italian brand’s third-tier shoe, below the Shot and the Wire in its expansive lineup, but the latest Ergo 6 introduces a new sizing that is a departure from Sidi’s traditional long and narrow fit. The Millennium fit has “a slightly wider shape, offering enhanced comfort and better adaptability to the foot” in Sidi’s words. Previously you either ‘got on’ with Sidi or you didn’t. Until fairly recently, cycling shoe brands assumed that if you were a pro racer you had narrow feet that needed bone-crushing, expensive shoes, and if you were a weekend warrior you needed wider, cheaper shoes. So to get on with Sidis was regarded by some people almost as a badge of honour. Now, just as with wheels and tyres, wider is better and that goes for the best cycling shoes too – but to make wide shoes that are also suitable for narrow feet isn't so straightfoward.
The Ergo 6s are wider than the outgoing Ergo 5s but they’re also more streamlined. They’ve lost the lower Velcro strap of the outgoing shoe, as well as an upper strap that was linked to a dial. Now there's a more traditional but more effective lace-like tensioning system using Sidi’s dials and Dyneema cables ("the strongest and lightest fibre on earth"). Overall, the more minimal look has transformed the Ergos, and for me these are contenders for the most stylish shoes on the market. They come in four colour options, with this white-and-gold obviously the most beautiful.
There’s something about Sidis that sets them apart – they have an unmistakable look and even though the Ergo 6 is possibly more generic, it’s still instantly recognisable. The quality is detectable on sight and the cool Italian-ness (they're still made in Italy) is inescapable.
The upper is made from what the brand calls “premium engineered microfibre”. It’s softer and suppler than the upper of the S-Works Torch, my most-worn shoe of the last two years and the one I consider to be still setting the standard. However, although this means the upper is pleasingly comfortable on the foot, it can lead to less aesthetically pleasing creases when ratcheting up the dials. Going some way towards stiffening up the microfibre is a stretch-resistant ‘M’ of Firmor tape bonded to the upper, which is designed to anchor the eyelet/cable hooks to the sole on the arch side of the shoe and provide lateral support.
The heel cup isn’t as sculpted or rigid as some – including that of the S-Works Torch – but it should suit a broader range of heel and Achilles shapes and sizes and, as I found, it conforms more readily to the actual contours of the heel rather than remaining stubbornly in its own shape.
The sole is full carbon, with 11 out of 12 on Sidi’s own stiffness scale – the Shot and the Wire get the full 12 as the more expensive and more race-orientated shoes in the range. There’s an extra 15mm of fore-aft for cleat positioning thanks to a sliding cleat plate – good news for those who like cleats further back.
I found the insoles slightly disappointing. They're emblazoned with 'Ride Sidi' but they're thin and floppy. Perhaps I’m expecting too much, but even if you don’t need custom insoles it’s still nice to have a little bit of cushioning, a hint of arch support and maybe a denser section of foam under the middle of the foot to resist overcompression when pedalling hard. My advice would be to replace them from the start with some ergonomic ones – I swapped in my own Body Geometry custom footbeds.
The weight is quoted as 278g per shoe – the size 45s I tested were just over 320g on the scales. For comparison, the S-Works Torch in size 45 is 250g. They're not heavy, but since the Ergo 6 isn't the top pro-level shoe, low weight won't be the number-one priority.
Ride impressions
Let’s just rewind to the Millennium fit for a moment before clipping in. I’d agree that wider is better, but as with wider rims and tyre retention technology (though let’s not get into the hookless debate here), it’s important to look carefully at the numbers. Since the Millennium fit is roomier, Sidi’s size guide says you’ll need to go half a size smaller compared to Sidi’s regular fit. The size guide suggests measuring the length of your foot to get the correct size, which is of course good advice before spending this amount of money. The other thing about the wider fit is that if you don’t actually have wide feet (I don’t) then you’re more likely to end up with those creases in the forefoot I mentioned earlier, because of the way the lowest of the three tensioning points cinches in toe box. The S-Works Torch avoids this because it doesn’t have that lower criss-cross of cable – it has just two points of tensioning rather than three, leaving the toes to float in the wider toe box with the closure/tensioning system further up the foot. It's worth pointing out, however, that this doesn't affect actual comfort when pedalling – comfort is excellent.
I started using the Ergo 6s indoors while the weather was still foul – the English lanes in February are no place for white shoes – and felt good in them immediately. I’ve used Sidis in the past – the last ones were the Sidi Sixty – and even though those were more expensive with a supposedly higher spec, the Ergo 6s are superior in many ways, crucially including comfort. The Sixtys (Sixties?) fitted me fine since I have narrow feet, but they felt overly rigid, almost as if they were working against my feet rather than with them. The Ergo 6s are much more nuanced. The two simple dials instead of various Velcro straps and flaps work perfectly and it’s really easy to get them feeling perfectly comfortable but still tight enough so as not to compromise the connection with the pedals. As for the dials themselves, Sidi continues to use its own rather than the now-universal Boas, and I respect that. It’s part of what makes Sidi shoes what they are. In fact, ditching the straps and flaps brings out the best in the Sidi dials paired with the forgiving uppers. In any case, since I’ve been doing longer outdoor rides in them I’ve never once felt the need to adjust the fit on the fly.
Verdict
The Sidi Ergo 6s are beautiful shoes, made in Italy and they blend performance and comfort perfectly. For me there's that slight issue with the upper's tendency to crease at the forefoot for those who don’t have wide feet. I’m all for wider shoes, but I just wonder whether it wouldn’t be a good idea to offer the Ergo 6s in a regular fit as well as the wider Millennium fit.
At £299 at the time of writing, they’re priced well below the Sidi Shot 2S (£425) and the Wire 2S (£399). Personally I prefer the classic configuration of the two dials over the techier and less traditional closure systems of those more expensive shoes. Despite their third-tier position in the range, there's all the legendary Sidi quality, looks and performance here that you could ever wish for (as long as you use your own insoles), so provided your feet aren’t too narrow, I can recommend the Ergo 6s.
