Giro Chamber Clipless Shoe Review
March 3rd, 2016
By Andrew Dodd in Reviews
Product Full Name | Giro Chamber Downhill MTB shoe
Retail Price | £100
Available From | Zyro
Giro Chamber – a super tough and comfortable all round SPD shoe
Although the Chamber may look like a skate style shoe, it’s actually a really technical shoe crammed with features.
It was designed in conjunction with Aaron Gwin – who wanted a shoe for maximum efficiency, but retained full protection and feel on the bike.
Although designed for downhill riding, the Giro Chamber is a great all rounder – stiff enough for trail riding; comfy enough to wear all day including cycling to work, and looks good off the bike too.
If you want more performance on the trail – the Terraduro is the shoe to look at, and if flat pedal performance is your thing, the Jacket is the flat pedal version of this shoe…
The Detail
The tough upper of the Giro Chamber has similar looks to tough skate shoes, and has a really tough reinforced toe box, and a fully supportive heel box too.
The shoe’s liner has a ultra cushioned insole with padded heel for both off the bike action, and those bail outs where you end up running full pace trying to stay upright. This sole also absorbs a great deal of trail buzz – helping reduce foot fatigue on long, rough trails. If you’ve ever ridden a stiff race shoe, you’ll know how uncomfortable they can be on rough trails, and when riding for a long time.
The Giro Chamber doesn’t have that issue.
The tongue is joined to the inside of the shoe with a strong elastic material, that makes the shoe feel like it has a bootie inside. The feeling is a very secure fit – both for pedalling and the inevitable foot stomp.
Using a lace up design, the shoe may not be a poor weather option – but they can be adjusted the way you want them. A lace saver hook and loop strap keeps the lace ends out of harms way, and adds extra stability.
On the bottom is a Vibram sole, using a dual density rubber and a tread pattern looking similar to modern skate shoes.
The cleat recess is pronounced and a good length – although not quite as long as that seen on the Terraduro. The recess is perfectly shaped to guide the pedal mechanism toward the cleat, and sits on the pedal well – offering great support. No annoying rock or roll with the Chamber.
Out on the trail
The Giro Chamber feels very secure when you step in to it – it feels like it would protect your feet well what ever you do.
I run my cleats quite far back in a shoe – and had to slam them all the way back in the Chamber. They could do with being a touch longer – other similar shoes have much longer slots now to accommodate that rearward position so popular with DH and Enduro riding. Even Giro’s hard hitting Enduro shoe the Terraduro has longer cleat slots- but I was very close to my preferred set up so wasn’t too bothered.
There is no interference when clipping in, and the shoe has full contact with the pedal. The Chamber feels nearly as good on an XT trail pedal as it does on a Mallet DH.
Often, manufacturers ‘design’ shoes around flat style clipless pedals – like the Crank Brothers Mallet. This is a lot easier to do, but they often feel poor on the classic Shimano SPD.
Really, clipless shoes should be designed to work on Shimano pedals, as they will work on anything else.
I like that Giro do these things right. 
The Giro Chamber is a burly shoe – it’s designed to take a serious hammering, and it really does. Your feet feel really protected inside them – and immensely comfortable.
5hours in the saddle? No problem. Uplift day? No problem.
Hike-a-bike action? Strangely, no problem.
The Vibram rubber on the sole is very grippy – even for a shoe with barely any tread. Scrambling up banks shouldering a bike is a lot easier with this shoe that you would think – making it a truely great all rounder.
Any weaknesses? They’re not the best shoe in wet conditions, but still keep you drier for longer than the Specialized 2FO.
All round – a great shoe that’s tough, comfortable and a lot more useable as a regular shoe than you may think when looking at them.
We Say
The Giro Chamber is a tough shoe aimed at the downhill rider who spends his days clouting his feet on stumps and hammering trails – but it’s a great clipless compatible shoe for any mountain biker who enjoys the fun bits as much as the twisty trails in between.
Off the bike the Chamber is surprisingly good, and is fine for pushing back up the trail to session stuff.
I really like the Chamber, and don’t mind that it lets in a bit of water as it’s very comfortable and tough. If the cleat slots were a touch longer – I’d love this shoe.
