Road shoe fitting

secretsam

Hello all

Am going to buy some road shoes for the first time, but am not sure about the "fit" of them

Am I right in thinking that they need to fit fairly 'snugly'? I have broad feet so the ones that I've tried are a little on the close-fitting side, although Specialized and Northwave ones seemed wider (as did the DHBs I tried but they were too short - my toes were touching the end)

So can anyone give me some clues on what to look out for? I know I should go to a good shop but went to Condor last week at lunchtime and they were mobbed and didn't really have time to sort me out

Secteur

Apparently Shimano are very narrow.

Specialized BG have a wider fit. I ordered size 11 (my size) but they arrived in size 12, which is fortunate as they fit perfectly.

I do wear 2 pairs of thin socks though, as they are so well vented that my toes freeze on a cold morning otherwise!

lef

sidi's do wide fitting and so do lake. I have specialized and they sometimes hurt my feet as too narrow, my next shoes will be sidi or lake.

petemadoc

Which brands, if any, offer a "wide" option

I've got midget size 39 feet but they are always too tight at the sides so I end up buying 40 which is too long.

secretsam

Thanks - but should the shoes fit 'snugly' or should your feet be able to move around?

In terms of wide feet, Northwave are also meant to be pretty broad - tried some the other day and they were pretty good

petemadoc

SecretSam wrote:

Thanks - but should the shoes fit 'snugly' or should your feet be able to move around?

In terms of wide feet, Northwave are also meant to be pretty broad - tried some the other day and they were pretty good

Snug fitting but not so tight that the restrict blood flow.

If they're loose you'll lose power when you pull up, your foot should feel part of the pedal (if that makes sense)

MountainMonster

I had a pair of northwaves before, and they were wide fitting. I should be wearing a 40, but 41s fit me near perfect in the northwave brands! I also have extremely wide feet, so I recommend them.

My MTB shoes are 41s from Specialized and they are very nice fitting as well.

Cubic

I bought some new shoes recently and the guys in various shops told me that you want the shoes to fit snugly, you don't want to have your foot sliding around in the shoe when you're pedalling.

However, you want the toe box part of the shoe to be wide enough to not squash your toes. There should be enough room to wiggle your toes a bit.

I had some Specialized shoes before and they gave me terribly numb toes as they were too narrow. I replaced them with some Sidi 'Megas' (the extra wide fitting) and they seem to be much better so far.