Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe

Review by Erin Trail

Most of my Engearment shoe reviews have been on trail running shoes, but my running background is primarily on paved surfaces.  I’ve been running for 25 years, with 17 of those being spent racing triathlon. I’ve seen – and tried – pretty much all the hyped shoes across the years. The Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe is something special.

The TLDR version of this review: I love these shoes and I don’t deserve the paces I can hit when I run in them.  We are now BFFs for life and you will have to pry them out of my cold dead hands.

That review doesn’t help our readers much, so here are the details…

Technical Info

• Uncompressed SCF Foam
• Proprietary drop-in midsole blend elastomer (removable)
• PerformFit™ Wrap activated by BOA® Fit System featuring multidirectional Li2
• Rigid carbon plate (removable) that’s available as an additional purchase
• Scratch resistant rubber outsole with Michelin OC1 compound featuring FIBERLITE
• Spacer mesh upper with strategically placed high-tenacity fiber

Detailed Review

I’m 10 days out from a 70.3 distance Ironman race and I’ve been running exclusively on the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe for my training.  Runs have been casual recovery runs, hill repeats, tempo intervals, and LSD (long, slow distance) runs. Basically every kind of training run to get ready for a half marathon run after a 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile bike ride.

At first glance, these shoes are funky and different from most shoe’s I’ve worn.  The midsole looks big and squishy, the BOA® Fit System always looks a bit different on running shoes, and the outsole is dead flat with zero tread.  Way different from any other road shoe on the market.

I have well documented foot challenges.  I have a torn plantar plate and normally, I need to wear special insoles with a met-pad. I’ve also been experiencing random foot numbness and a recent round of heel bursitis that required a cortisone injection in mid-June. As is clearly stated on the Speedland website, the RX:FPY is not compatible with custom insoles, due to the thicker removable midsole. I took a gamble, based on my experience in testing out the GL:SVT shoe, which had enough room to accommodate my insoles.  Sadly, the RX:FPY shoes did not have enough room to accommodate my insoles and I was pretty worried about how my feet would hold up.

The midsoles of the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe are super squishy, and also – as luck would have it – a bit of a molded shape to the top of it that almost mimics a met-pad. My feet HATE going without insoles on most shoes.  I am shocked that my feet are happy in the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe without my special insoles.  Shocked!

The Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe doesn’t have a traditional tongue, but rather it has a high tenacity knit that’s stretchy and goes across the top of your foot. While being a unisex shoe, I found that this knit fabric is appropriately sized for my woman’s size 9 narrow foot.  There’s just the right amount of room in the shoe for my foot (but honestly, I could also use a bit more room in case my feet swell).

The shoes also use a single dial BOA® Fit System with multidirectional Li2.  With the Li2, you don’t have to pop out the BOA dial to loosen, you just back track it a click or two to loosen the fit system.  The BOA® PerformFit™ Wrap consists of three fingers and the cordage is a very light and flexible material.  I do wish that the RX:FPY had two BOA dials on each shoe (similar to the GL:SVT) to allow for a more custom fit.  I do find that I wear the BOAs pretty loose to accommodate my finicky feet.  With two dials, I could keep the toe side loose and keep the top dial towards the ankle tighter.

Even with keeping the BOA® Fit System super loose, I don’t have any heel movement in the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe.  The inner heel has a soft, foam-like construction that securely, but comfortably locks in your heel and prevents any movement.  I have super skinny heels, and sometimes with other shoes, I can feel my heel coming out of the shoe as I run.  With the RX:FPY, my heels are locked in place, even with a loose BOA® Fit System.

The opening of the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe is also really comfortable and well made. The shoe protrudes up a bit by the Achilles area and the high tenacity knit over the top of my foot sometimes extends higher than my no-show running socks.  Most shoes would create blisters or abrasions on bare skin after many sweaty miles, but I haven’t experienced any afflictions where the shoe contacts my skin.

The Michelin sole is definitely unique – there’s ZERO tread, just a flat, thin sheet of rubber at the bottom of the shoe.  The sole is made from Michelin’s OC1 Compound with FIBERLITE. The traction and grip are great on dry pavement or concrete that doesn’t have any layer of dust or sand.  But if the surface is wet or dusty/sandy…. the traction gets a bit slippy.  I’ve put around 100 miles on the shoes in testing and the sole shows minimal signs of wear.

The Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe has an aggressive rocker to it, which I love.  I’ve found that if I focus on landing on my midfoot, the shoe takes over by propelling my foot forward.  My cadence is better (which makes my coach happy) and my pace is faster.  I don’t have to think about it too much, just plant the foot a certain way and the shoe does the rest of the work.  This is especially noticeable on my ROTB sessions (runs of the bike) – my feet are effortlessly motoring along on the path.

My second favorite part about the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe is the midsole and removable carbon plate.  LOVE.  The midsole is just the perfect amount of cushion + responsiveness.  Like Goldilocks perfect for me. I love that the carbon plate is removable, giving the user the option to go carbon or carbon-free. Some carbon shoes feel super stiff and put extra wear on my feet, ankles, and calves, and require a pretty decent break in period (for both me and the shoes).  But the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe carbon plate was good on the first run without any adjustment period.  You can feel the snap of the carbon plate but you also get a really nice cushion and foot feel; it almost feels like you aren’t running on carbon because it feels so cushy.

My favorite part about the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoe is how much faster I am running in these shoes.  Sure, it could be all the weight lifting and training for a Cross Triathlon World Championship race.  But I swear I am a good 15 seconds per mile faster in the RX:FPY.  And it’s not hard speed, it’s cruisy relaxed fast speed.  My first ROTB in the RX:FPY was so fast and so wonderful that both myself and my coach remarked “these are your shoes for your A race”.  That was two months ago, and after finishing up my final peak block leading into my 70.3 race, I’m still confident that the Speedland RX:FPY Road Shoes are my race shoes.

Erin Trail