The new Zero will be delivered to market within the next four weeks, according to Bont.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
Bont's new Zero lightweight climbing shoe will only be available in the colours shown.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
A different lay-up technique has been used on the shoe’s carbon sole, which has helped reduce weight.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
The shoe we were shown includes aluminum T-nuts however Bont is considering using carbon T-nuts which could come at a saving of 14-20 grams.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
The Zero features the same aeration mechanism as the Bont a-one.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
These three holes link to the external vent to provide aeration for the Zero.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
Bont has gone back to a lacing system for the Zero to help reduce weight.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
The size 46 Cyclingnews was shown weight just under 220 grams per shoe, but a size 41 will be closer to 160 grams.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
A recommended retail price is yet to be set for Bont’s new Zero.(Image credit: Greg Johnson)
Australian cycling shoe manufacturer Bont will release a new climbing shoe in late February named Zero. The shoe will be Bont’s first shoe targeted specifically at weight reduction for climbing, and follows the company’s launch of a time trial specific model called Crono.
Bont’s Steven Nemeth described the shoe as an everyday shoe that happens to be built incredibly light, when showing off the new model to Cyclingnews at Tour Down Under.
“It’s an ultra light shoe but what we’ve done is created a shoe with a lot of structural integrity,” said Nemeth. “We haven’t gone out there to make the lightest shoe in the market. There are shoes out there that are lighter, but they’re just not practical.
“We’ve gone out there and made a shoe that anybody can ride without any weight limit,” he added. “It’s not an ultra light that has a 70 or 75 kilogram weight limit. It’s an everyday shoe that a person can use, but it just happens to be built with a structure that allows it to be incredibly light.”
Bont has employed different layup techniques to help save weight in its new model, which has a claimed weight of around 160 grams per shoe for a size 41. The shoe has a new upper and done away with buckles in favour of a lacing system, again to reduce weight.
“It’s just a slightly different layup technique to what we’ve used,” he said. “We’ve got a very different upper; we’ve basically got a laminated glass upper which really minimizes weight. We’ve taken out things like buckles and gone back to a lacing system.”
A recommended retail price is yet to be set for the new shoe, which is currently in production and will be rolled out over the coming four weeks. Zero won’t be an unaffordable shoe but will be priced around or above the cost of a top-end road shoe, according to Nemeth.
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The shoe shown to Cyclingnews features aluminum T-nuts however Bont is considering using carbon T-nuts which could come at a saving of 14-20 grams, if it should proceed with this option. The shoe will only be available in the silver on carbon colour scheme pictured.
