Lace-up road shoes are already a specialty item – albeit one sought after by some of the world's best cyclists. Giro steps things up with the Empire Ltd Shoes: limited edition shoes made in small batches. This time around, Giro has fashioned 400 custom Empire shoes that are reminiscent of alpine climbing boots, complete with sepia leather cowhide that's waxed for water resistance and D-ring eyelets in place of shoelace holes. Even the red non-slip shoelaces themselves match the traditional mountaineering look, and the super-stiff carbon outsoles are red as well. Giro's line of Empire shoes has become a favorite in the pro peloton precisely because they offer a form-fitting and lightweight package that shoes with Boas, ratchets, and Velcro have a tough time matching. The Empire Ltd shoes weigh in at just 225 grams (in a size 42.5), and the laces allow the leather uppers to comfortably wrap the rider's foot, and to stretch where needed over the course of the ride. Superstar pros like Taylor Phinney choose Giro's lace-up shoes for a reason, and you may have spotted some custom Giro Empire's adorning Sir Bradley Wiggins' feet when he crushed the hour record. The Giro Empire Ltd shoes feature Easton EC90 ACC carbon fiber soles – here in an attractive red color – providing the ultimate in stiffness and power transfer. And despite the superlative performance of those soles, they're incredibly thin. Stack height of the shoes is just 6.5 millimeters – among the lowest of any shoe out there. The sole is designed to mate with any pedal system that uses a standard three-hole road cleat. The heel pads that help with walking are replaceable, should they wear out. The exterior of the upper is a very attractive, unique water-resistant waxed cowhide that has a powermesh lining beneath it so the shoe maintains its form-fitting profile without stretching over time. Giro has garnered a great deal of attention for the company's modular, high-quality foot beds: the SuperNatural Fit Kit insoles come with a variety of arch support inserts to customize the fit perfectly for your foot. The interior of the shoe also features Giro's X-Static fiber, which has antimicrobial silver in it, to keep the Empire Ltd shoes cooler and without bacteria, mold, or funky stink. Note that although many of Giro's road and mountain bike shoe models also come in an HV (high volume) option for those with particularly high arches or wide feet, or to accommodate larger custom orthotics, the laced upper design of the Empire shoes offer enough fit flexibility that an additional model isn't required. An elastic loop built into the Giro Empire Ltd's tongue keeps the laces tucked safely out of the way, lest you're having flashbacks of laces wrapped around your pedals from your youth. And it turns out shoes with laces are quite aerodynamic when compared to ratchets and straps that stick out from a shoe's upper. If you're looking for top performance in a unique package, you've found your shoe with the Giro Empire Ltd. Giro will only produce 400 of these sepia leather beauties. Each pair in this limited release is numbered, and they come with a matching sepia leather wallet handmade by Totally Tubular Design in Santa Cruz, California. Get yourself something special that will separate you from the pack – both literally and figuratively.