Quoc Escape Road Review

What sets the Quoc Escape Road apart is the incredibly supple upper material, which conforms to the shape of your foot and spreads pressure evenly across it. The proprietary Quoc closure system is intuitive and easy to use, and the insole offers enough support that you don't need to replace it immediately with an aftermarket insert.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

The Escape Road is comfortable from the moment you slip it on, largely thanks to the form-fitting upper, which is made from a flexible, durable polyurethane leather. Because PU leather doesn't breathe well, designers covered the toe and tongue in laser-cut ventilation holes.

When you cinch down the single Quoc Dial – which is very similar to the more ubiquitous BOA system – the upper conforms to your foot like a friendly hug, evenly spreading pressure across your instep, pushing your foot gently against the sole. The shoe is minimally padded, forgoing extra material everywhere except for a thin layer on the tongue and around the collar. Despite the scarcity of padding, we never experienced any pressure spots, nor did our foot ever feel like it was pressed up against anything hard.

The Escape Road is a fairly narrow shoe with a none-too-generous toe box. As supple as the upper material is, you will likely experience some discomfort across your metatarsals if you try to squeeze into the toe box. Unlike some of the other shoes we've tested that offer an option for wide feet, the Escape Road is only available in one width.

While most testers loved the fit of the Escape Road, one tester noticed that the end of the cloth lining on the collar occasionally rubbed against the bottom of his medial malleolus. Although it happened only occasionally, and often only on one foot, it's worth noting the potential discomfort caused by this design.

Power Transfer

The two main factors that influence power transfer are the stiffness of the sole and how well the upper construction holds your foot in place. Despite thoughtful padding around the ankle collar and a stiff heel cup, the Escape Road underperforms in this aspect. Even though the flexible upper maximizes comfort, unfortunately, it also allows your foot to lift from the sole when cranking on the pedals, resulting in significant heel movement during out-of-the-saddle efforts.

Unlike other brands that 'rate' the sole stiffness, Quoc makes no claims about the stiffness of the Escape Road – they simply say the sole balances stiffness and comfort. So we developed a test to measure sole deflection, which allows us to directly compare sole stiffness of different brands.

To test, we bolted the shoe to a jig using the cleat mounts, set up a linear deflection gauge, placed a heel block inside the shoe, clamped a U-bolt around the sole, and hung a 25-pound weight off of the U-bolt. The heel block and U-bolt are located over the ankle collar, so that the applied force mimics how you would flex a shoe during a hard effort. We performed the test multiple times with each shoe, and then averaged the results to derive the sole deflection value.

The Escape Road has one of the most flexible soles of any shoe we tested, deflecting more than 12 millimeters. We noticed this lack of stiffness immediatelly because the sole flexes right behind the cleat when you walk. A lot of the power you put down deforms the sole and flexes the upper. Far from the most efficient shoes we tested, Escape Road forgoes power transfer in favor of comfort.

Even though the Quoc dial is intuitive and easy to use, we noticed it slipped loose a few times during hard efforts. After locking the shoes down before launching into a sprint followed by a 90-degree corner, the dial on the right shoe popped one click looser in the middle of the turn. We were able to reproduce this a couple of times, but only when the dials were cranked to their maximum – we admit that this outcome could be the result of overtightening the system. Those results aside, we regularly needed to tighten the dial during the first few minutes of a ride – it was as if the upper was stretching and needed to be reeled back in.

Durability

The Escape Road was clearly built with off-the-bike adventures in mind. The upper is thick and strong, it features a replaceable heel pad, and the Quoc dials come with a lifetime guarantee.

Although the durable PU upper is designed for years of long rides, there are quite a few seams attaching the cloth cable guides and dial, and each one is a potential weak point. A few loose threads appeared during our testing period, and we expect there to be more in the future.

The toe has a rubber bumper on the very tip to protect the outsole from damage from pushing off, and the toe of the upper also has a protective cap the blends in nicely with the upper. A replaceable heel pad is a must for a shoe at this price point, and the Escape Road delivers with an easily accessible and replaceable pad.

Likewise, the closure system needs to be serviceable. Since BOA offers a lifetime guarantee on their dials, it follows that Quoc would have to as well. However, Quoc's lifetime guarantee isn't quite as comprehensive as BOA's – if you crash and break a dial, you won't be getting a new one for free.

Weight

The Escape Road weighs 18.45 ounces (523 grams) for a pair of EU size 42 (or 261.5 grams per shoe), which is mid-pack in the lineup of cycling shoes we've tested.

Carbon reinforced nylon soles tend to be heavier and more flexible than full carbon ones. The thicker polyurethane (PU) upper also isn't as light as some of the TPU and mesh uppers on other shoes. Fortunately, the sacrifices that this shoe makes in weight savings seem to favor durability.

Should You Buy the Quoc Escape Road?

Do you rack up miles on long rides every weekend, and make a habit of stopping for a sandwich or a pastry mid-ride? Is the amount of smiles per miles more important than how fast you went? Is the aesthetic of your kit important to you? If the answer is “yes” to two or more of these questions, then the Quoc Escape Road is likely a great option for you. It excels on long, casual rides, and looks good doing it.

What Other Cycling Shoes Should You Consider?

If the comfort and aesthetic of the Quoc Escape Road is appealing but you want a shoe that packs a bit more performance, then the Specialized S-Works Torch is a great option. If the price point on the Escape Road is right but you want something with better heel retention and power transfer, take a look at the Shimano SH-RC502.