Road Shoes for Girl

fizz

can anybody recommend any ?

I bought my other half a new bike a while ago so we could both go out together and get fit. She didnt like the pedals and I've convinced her to go cilpless. She using a pair of my old look Carbon's that the tensions back right off on so no worries there I think.

However we're having a nightmare finding road shoes that she likes the look of, can anybody recommend any that dont look like wellies or have a stupid pastel "Girlie" colour scheme. I've looked and cant find any she likes.

I've got a pair of Northwave SBS Vertigo shoes that she likes, so something along those lines or would it just be easier to get her a pair of blokes shoes. How much difference is there going to be between womens and mens shoes.

Thanks

Fizz

John Stevenson

Women allegedly have narrower heels than men.

Have you looked at Specialized's women's shoes? They don't seem to be excessively pastelized.

baudman

Specialized gets a thumbs-up from my partner.

BMCCbry

I've got these:
http://activesportskit.co.uk/product_in ... cts_id=958

and these:
http://www.totalcycling.com/index.php/p ... adies.html

I love both, especially the latter, which were beautiful until I gave them a big scuff in a crash :roll:

Generally though, women's choice in cycling shoes is a bit limited IMHO!

Blonde

No difference in male and female feet apart from average size and width, although some women have narrower heels and ankles than a man with a similar size foot, so many shoes can be too wide around the heels and let the foot slide about or lift up in the shoe, as you pull up on the pedal. I have several pairs of Nike shoes (various models) ans find them a good fit. I have wide feet so narrow Sidi and Shimano shoes are no good to me, but wide-all-over shoes such as Decathlon's own brand are also no good as my heels/ankles are small in relation to the rest of my foot The Nikes fit well because they are wide enough for toes yet still snug around the heels. If she has generally narrow feet though, I'd suggest trying Shimino or Sidi as they are a narrow fit all over. I would get her to a shop or two and try a few different makes on - dont buy them on line unless she's tried them on for real first.

Pagem

Blonde wrote:

No difference in male and female feet apart from average size and width

being a podiatrist i'd disagree. on average, like for like, i.e. same foot length, women exhibit narrower heels and forefeet which makes buying active shoes such as running, cycling, ski boots etc quite tricky unless they consider a female specific design.

my gf uses nike and she has narrow feet and heels. they fit her well.

BMCCbry

I think Nike do half sizes as well, which is handy.

ut_och_cykla

Depends on teh feet in quetsion! I take blokes shoes (running/cycling) as there are very few girly shoes that go up to 42/8+!!. HAve really liked Sidi shoes good value, nice comfy fit. But otherwise try before you buy and don't be shy to try blokes stuff from the start!

unCivilServant

As other females have commented, the problem for many of us is that shoe manufacturers assume that female= narrow heels AND narrow feet. If your g/f fits both criteria, fine, but otherwise, welcome to the club...

Obviously, you can pad out to make an oversize dimension smaller if need be, but can't very well make larger a shoe which is too small in some respect. While cycling might be considered "active shoes", I'd guess that achieving a precise fit is less important here than in some other activities notably running (where the forces on the foot change in a non-regular way, it moves through more 'degrees of freedom', you have impacts as well as motion to consider etc.). Surely there are padded inserts around to achieve an acceptable fit if just one dimension is out?

If the problem isn't the fitting but the colours, how about :idea: using shoe paint on a pastel pair? Mind, you do have to be pretty meticulous to achieve a decent finish. (My only experience in this area WAS with girlie pastels: turning sandals gold! 8) )

mea00csf

hmm, no point in really considering how the shoe looks if you ask me. Try on as many different makes/models until you find one that fits and is comfy, buy them and pay no attention to the colour scheme.

Even if you have the fabbest shoes in the world you'll not want to wear them if they pinch/rub/give blisters etc

kleng

Shimano SH-R099W