New Bont Vaypor+ flagship debuts at Tour Down Under
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Bont has announced a new Vaypor+ road shoe with availability beginning in March.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The new sole promises to be even more rigid than before. A printed grid and textured surface lay beneath the cleat.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The graphics and overall construction methods are similar to the old Bont Vaypor but otherwise, the Vaypor+ is an all-new shoe.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Bont has moved away from traditional straps and buckles to a cable and reel system.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Bont uses reels made by Atop, not the more commonly known Boa. Simply turn one way to tighten and the other way to loosen.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
As before, the carbon fiber sole is extremely thin - a verifiable sub-4mm - but the bathtub-style structure and now (mostly) unidirectional lay-up should once again yield enormous stiffness, too.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
You can just make out how high the carbon fiber sole wraps up and around the outer edge of your foot.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The inner side of the shoe is impressively free of add-ons, which should result in less crankarm marring if you tend to pedal heels-in.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Overall construction quality looks 'richer' than before with a little more stitching and detail work. These are pre-production samples, too.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
In addition to being one of the traditional opening events of the road cycling calendar, the Tour Down Under is also a traditional meeting place for Australian cycling industry. We met up with Bont principal Steven Nemeth in Adelaide where we took delivery of the company's brand new road shoe, the Vaypor+.
As before, the Vaypor+ features a fully heat moldable monocoque-style construction with a bathtub-like carbon sole and microfiber upper that's all essentially created as one piece. Also carrying over is the Vaypor's distinctively more human-like toe box shape and ultra-thin sole. Aside from that, though, there are few similarities other than graphics and colors.
The biggest difference is a move away from traditional ratcheting buckles and Velcro straps to dual cable reels that both lighten up the shoe and provide a slightly more tunable fit. Removing the original Vaypor's big main strap also opens up the densely padded tongue for what we expect to be improved airflow over the top of the foot.
Bont hasn't gone with the usual Boa dials, however, instead using a lesser known buckle and reel company called Atop. Overall operation is intuitive and similar to Boa's latest dials – turn one way to tighten, the other way to loosen – although Atop uses an impressively flexible (but still non-stretch) Kevlar cable instead of the stainless steel one used by Boa. The release function is also substantially stiffer although Nemeth says that's intentional to prevent unwanted loosening.
Reels from Atop handle the fit
The paper-thin carbon sole (a true sub-4mm) now uses a fully unidirectional construction (save for the outermost layer) to reduce weight while the upturned sides have been selectively lowered for a more accommodating initial fit. The front of the sole also features a flatter shape – or less toespring to be precise – which Nemeth contends more closely mimics your foot's natural relaxed position for reduced foot fatigue.
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Finally, Bont has outfitted the interior of the shoe with a slightly more upscale footbed and the microfiber uppers now boast a matte instead of glossy finish.
Claimed weight for a pair of size 42 shoes is 450g and consumers will find a slightly higher retail price of US$399 when the Vaypor+ becomes available in March. As before, the size range will be very generous – 36-40, 47-50 (full sizes only); 40-47 (whole and half sizes); plus narrow, standard, and wide widths throughout.
