PaulRivers

Recently found that "wide" shoes fit my feet better than narrow shoes (in regular walking shoes). Is nice to come home and not feel the compulsion to have to take my shoes off so my feet feel better.

I had real trouble finding clipless shoes that worked for me. Went through 2 pairs of road shoes (sidi and specialized) and 3-4 insoles (with a professional fitter) and still had problems with numbness and foot discomfort. Also went through 2 pairs of mountain shoes, a pair of the cheaper Specialized mountain bike shoes was ok, been riding those for a while. But the thing is, frankly, it's more fun and more comfortable to ride with good flat pedals and my "bare" wide regular shoes.

I'm going to be getting a new fitting soon with a new fitter (been stretching over the winter and need a different size bike now, I think) and pondering whether to continue trying clipless, or just throw in the towel altogether on it. Figure I might try 1 more time, with a "wide" sized shoe.

So far, it seems like most shoe manufacturers offer "wide" sizes in their $150 range. Wondering if people had thoughts on shoes that were offered in "wide", but also decent for commuting and short walks (into the office, into a restaurant after a ride, stuff like that). My shop stocks Sidi in wides, but the bottom looked pretty slippery, and previous experience with Sidi wasn't so great. Ran across that Specialized sells a "Rime" shoe that's designed for bike-and-hike that sounded just like what I'm looking for - but it doesn't come in a wide.

Any other suggestions?

Null66

I have gout, so I have to seek feet warmer then most.

I have the same problem and I'm a 48.
For warm to hot weather I wear keen touring sandals...

I just ordered a pair of Lake MX175-X Wide from trivillage.com.

I have lake 303 wide boots for colder weather. They are awesome. I've ridden with them while in shorts up to about 70...

I found other brands "wides" were not all that wide. Had to mail back several boots last year. 1 worked, but tread was really slick.

linnefaulk

I switched to keen sandals and MTB pedals with pins.

PaulRivers

Thanks for the suggestions. My dad rides with sandals, but I'm not a big fan - I need something with a fairly stiff sole (basically looking for a stiff sole with better grip on the bottom). I did try something similar, but a less-stiff sole + clipless was hard on my knees in a way that riding with a stiff sole + clipless, or flat pedals, wasn't.

Those Lakes look interesting - product description says "Outsole: Mountain Race X non-marking rubber outsole". I guess you don't have them yet as you just ordered them, wondering if it's "rubber" outsole is somewhat grippy, or if it's the hard slick rubber on most biking shoes...

For winter riding I'm lucky - my feet stay pretty warm by default. Neoprene shoe covers have worked well for me, though not hard to imagine them not being enough for people with cold feet.

"wide but not that wide" I think would actually work ok for me - my feet always seem to be to wide for normal shoes, but a little to skinny for many "wide" shoes. My current (regular walking) bare shoes are "wide", and they're very comfortable but could use to be a hair less on the wide side for my feet (definitely better than a hair to narrow though).

PaulRivers

Yeah, I am considering doing something similar, regular "bare" shoes that I wear everywhere else, with mtb pedals with pins. Just thought I'd try things out one last time before totally throwing in the towel.

Null66

The keens are extremely stiff, even after about 5k miles. They are not absolutely stiff, just enough so feet don't get sore no matter how long on the bike. They are soft enough you can walk for miles.

I use crank brothers the cleats barely make noise and are not slippery.

Neither my Keen's nor the Lake 303's leave marks. The soles have great grip. I sent back one pair of boots you could skate on a sidewalk. If you can't walk in shoes, they're no good to me.

Tried neophrene booties, i could, just barely get them over the sandals.

I love riding, but well, my health needs this, really, really needs this.

Booger1

I broke down the bottom of regular Keen sandles in about 4 months on BMX pedals....they're soft as butter now....They were nice when new,I'll give um that.

I use BMX pedals and oxfords...Boots in the winter....You ain't going to make a fashion statement but your feet will like it.

Riding shoes are for mid......I mean,lightweight,height challenged people.....

Break out your most comfortable shoes,lay out a 2x4 and jump up and down on it all day...Feet still feel fine?

trailmix

The best thing to do is have your feet measured so you know exactly what you are working with. I have extremely wide feet and have never been able to wear cycling shoes except when I was a young racer and just jammed them in there. Now I wear New Balance shoes when I ride because they are one of the few shoes that will fit my fat feet. The plus side is that you can walk around much more comfortably when you stop. For pedals I usually use some form of MKS pedals either with or without toe clips, depending on the bike.

PaulRivers

Where did you go to get them measured? I've talked to several fitters, and it's always like "try something and see if it works". Sure, they can measure my foot for length, but matching a width measurement to an actual shoe seems to be beyond bother fitters and shoe stores.

noglider 

@PaulRivers, numbness is bad. Bad. It suggests a nerve problem. What is discomfort? I get nerve pain in my feet, and I learned it's from a pinched nerve in my lower back. Nerves are weird. The symptoms can be located far from the source of the problem. I've suffered this for a few years, and it's killing me that I can't take long rides.

I just had my annual physical. I have a new doctor, and she gave me a referral to a sports medicine doctor. She feels a sports doctor can help by adjusting my position. I have noticed that stretching and walking help. So does being mindful to sit and stand straight, rather than slumping.

Maybe I'm too old to lean over so far on a bike. (I'm 53.) The doctor might tell me so.

I'm considering getting rid of cleats and maybe toe clips, too. I know some people in my age group who have done so and are very happy having done so.

As far as finding shoes that fit, I finally realized that my feet are wider than normal in an abnormal place, i.e. farther forward than the normal wide spot is. My solution is to buy shoes a size too big. I pad the shoes with insoles or anything. Or I live with shoes that are too big. It's a huge relief to have discovered this. The exception is sandals, which I can buy in the proper size.

I'll see the sports doctor next week, so I'll let y'all know how it goes.

trailmix

I have had them measured at several different places. New Balance store, Men's Warehouse just to name the most recent. The Bont website has instructions on how to measure your own foot. They have a chart on their website with detailed measurements of their shoes. They do offer wider shoes but not wide enough for my foot. If they did, I would probably buy a pair.

PaulRivers

Interesting, I'll check that out - thanks!

PaulRivers

My doctor didn't seem concerned. A circulation problem seemed to be a problem, numbness from a pinched nerved seemed to be a "not a huge issue" thing.

I have an annoying nerve that when I do something wrong makes my left leg numb. It was actually getting to a seriously concerning state where if I went jogging my left leg would lose feeling for 2-3 days. My doctor (from above) didn't have much suggestions other than expensive diagnosis that I kinda got the feeling likely wouldn't lead anywhere.

I solved the big problem by doing hamstring stretches against the wall. Dunno why, but it helped. I solved more of the problem with another dynamic warmup/stretch routine I ran across in reading about weightlifting.

Problem still hasn't 100% gone away, but it's down to "sometimes slightly numb" rather than the previous "2-3 days of numbness" which was getting kinda scary.

I also did some exercise video stuff that really did strengthen my core. Made my biking more comfortable, and easier to sit at my desk to.

I would definitely pay for a good sport medicine doctor - last guy I was referring to when I hurt my leg lifting charged my $400, seemed like a quack, and told me I needed surgery for a condition I'm pretty sure is the wrong diagnosis.

I'll be curious how it goes for you...though it doesn't look like you live in Minnesota. Yeah, like I said I'm thinking of ditching clipless altogether to. Once I started doing squats (it cleared up my knee pain) I definitely notice little improvement on the upstroke with clipless.

trailmix

No worries, I hope you find something that works for you.

noglider 

I don't use cleats for pulling up. Sometimes I like to push forward or pull back. And I feel more secure when standing. I can point my toes down and know I won't slip off. I could learn different tennis use such as keeping my feet level. I'm willing to so that if it will help.

noglider 

@PaulRivers, could you please email me about your exercises? I know I need some, and yours sound good.

Mr. Hairy Legs

I love my Keen Austins. I have extra wide hobbit feet.

PaulRivers

Hey, it's no problem to just post them here - I've posted them on the forum before:

1. The flexibility routine I did was Defranco's Limber 11:
Joe D's "Limber 11" (flexibility routine) - DeFranco's Training

Once my body got used to the regular foam roller, I started using something called "The Orb" which hits the muscles a little deeper:
Amazon.com: Pro-Tec Athletics The Orb Deep Tissue High Density Massage Ball, 5-Inch Diameter, Blue: Sports & Outdoors

In addition to what he mentions in the program, I also "foam rolled" all of the other muscles on the lower body as well - the orb worked decently for the hamstrings, I used a baseball to massage the area around the hip.



2. The particular exercise video I did was "Shaun T's Rockin' Body DVD Workout" -
Robot Check

It was cheap, and he basically took sports exercises and put them in a "dance video" - but it's a good collection of sports exercises.

One mental queue I used that really helped my comfort level with everything else, and I just don't know any other way to put it - is to lead all your exercises with your dick. Man...bikeforums is so going to block that out. Just haven't been able to find any other way to express it - you're moving around and concentrate on leading with that, and it causes you to use you core muscles, the muscles that support you when sitting without slouching.

First several times I did it, I just did everyone other exercise, it's more important to use the weak muscles to begin with than it is to do the intensity of the program.



I don't know if this will help with your nerve weirdness, but I know it definitely made things for comfortable for me on the bike, in my car, and at my desk at work, and make sitting more "correctly" easier.

noglider 

Thanks, @PaulRivers.

TransitBiker

Crocs bistro for riding since 2008. Chucks before that. Crocs bistro have the anti-slip treads, so they actually grip the pedals better than chucks, especially on colder days. Helps too that the foam insulates on those cold days... the rubber toe cap on chucks can leave my feet wet & cold.

- Andy

RubeRad

I have wide feet, like EEE when I was a kid, maybe that got squeezed down to single-E eventually, I find that New Balance are the only brand that I can get a reliably good fit in sneakers, 10.5 D or E or whatever their wide width is.

My cycling shoes are Nashbar/Performance Traverse, that link is all I could find online, maybe they're phasing them out nowadays? Anyways, I bought them from a Performance LBS, I can't remember the cycling shoe size, but on the conversion charts it was equivalent to 11 or 11.5. They've worked well for like 4 years now, I think the important thing is the soft/mesh upper instead of a solid shell of plastic/carbon. Flexibility allows the shows to conform to the feet.

The Traverse are not bad for walking, I do errands with them a lot, and don't even notice them inside stores (with carpet or linoleum), I just get a lot of cleat-scraping on concrete (I've gotten into the habit of walking on paint stripes if I can). I have a standing-desk at work, and sometimes when I come in on the weekend, I work in my riding getup, and I can stand in them for a few hours no problem.

trailmix

Some, not all, New Balance shoes are available up to EEEE which is what I buy. My foot actually measures 6E.

Null66

Wow...
My sandals have about 5k miles on them and I'm rather heavy. I was 285 lbs for most of that time.
What sort of pedals?

Oh wait, those are regular keen sandals?
No clips?

I'm using candies, and the required plates...