Mavic Zxellium Road Cycling Shoe Review

The Mavic Zxellium is a must have if you're thinking about riding with the hammer group!  These Mavic cycling shoes were developed with advanced technologies and superior construction qualities specifically for Team Mavic's picky professional riders.  Addressing a variety of the the small details that many riders don't even think about until you're 40 miles away from home with aches and pains.  If they are good enough for World Champion Thor Hushovd then they'll certainly be good enough for whatever most riders can throw at them on weekends.

They are stiff in the right places and flexable just where they need to be. The comfort of this shoe will amaze you!  The Mavic Zxellium was introduced for riders who rather have a more robust and unyeilding upper.  Professional cyclist and more powerful riders will certainly appreciate a more substantial and stiffer upper as compared to other less expensive road cycling shoes.

Another pretty cool feature is that the outsole is made of full carbon and has a patented technology. It also offers a full carbon Energy Lock heel cup for maximum heel hold and minimal weight. It holds the heel in precisely the right position above the calcareous bone. The result is the most comfort that your heel has ever felt.

Check out some of the Mavic Zxellium's road shoe features...

• ERGO FIT 3D Molder Insole - Experienced riders will like the high density heel craddle that keeps your foot in place and minimizes road vibration.
• ENERGY FULL CARBON SL SOLE - Providing the rider with serious stiffness which translates to effective power transfer
• ERGOLITE TOE CAP - Protects you from all those unexpected bumps and scrapes
• ENERGY LOCK Carbon 3D Heel Counter puts the rider in the right position for maximum efficiency
• ERGO Lite Ratch System along with two adjustable straps will enable you to dial in the perfect fit
• ERGO LITE Upper - Mavic's design created a upper that eliminates stitch seams for added rider comfort
• Ergo Tongue with 3D Mesh provides on a silver platter exceptional rider comfort and airflow

The Mavic Zxellium has plenty of shortcommings...


Although a decent road cycling shoe, the Mavic Zxellium is far from the best and the $299 price tag is simply ridiculas.

The Price - With a whopping $299.95 price tag this shoe falls way shoe of being a contender for the best shoe and value award.  There are plenty of mid-priced shoes that offer much more value than Mavic.

Ergo Toe Cap - Eventhough it's listed as a feature, we also consider it a shortcoming.  The Ergo Toe Cap has a weird fit in the toe box of the shoe that most riders with regular feet will find to be way too tight.  It may proect you and the shoe from bumps and scrapes but you'll sacrifice comfort.

ERGO Lite Upper - Another feature truned shortcoming is the shoe's upper.  Although it may be a little lighter than most other high end road cycling shoes it is extremely stiff for most riders to enjoy. 

Ventilation - A vital feature that most serious cyclists demands is ventilation.  When you first look at the Mavic Zxellium shoes you'll see that much of the outer part of the shoe is covered in a mesh material giving the illusion that this shoe must provide great ventilation.  Well, looks can be decieving.  The mesh is dual layered with a much more dense material woven behind the outer mesh material that restricts air circulation a lot more that realized.

Overall, although a pretty decent road cycling shoe the Mavic Zxellium falls short of both our expectations and it's lofty price tag.  While these Mavic shoes look good, there are simply better choices out there for the money such as the Sidi Genius 6 Carbon and the Sidi Ergo.  We applaud Mavic for offering cyclist more choices in road shoes (they do offer a full line of less expensive road cycling shoes as well as MTB shoes) but this one just doesn't make the grade.

We recently found the Mavic Zxellium road shoes much cheaper at Nashbar ($199.00) but they only offer limited sizes.

Click here to check out the NASHBAR website.