Originally Posted by
dkperez
As near as I can tell, there's NO consistency between brands. I looked at the sizing chart on one of the big shoe sites and the numbers were all over the place among the bunch of brands...
I had assumed (with all the caveats associated with assuming) that there was some kind of empirical definition for what a size "10" shoe was - length of area for foot, width, shape, etc. It appears there either isn't, or nobody actually follows it.....
In any case, I'm sitting here with size 49 shoes, that I figured would be the size of Bozo the Clown shoes, and scrape the ground every time the pedals go 'round, but they're BARELY longer than my "12"s, and about the same width as my "wide"s...
In the end, I don't care as long as they're comfortable, which I'll know over time as I ride 'em..... But, it's worrisome 'cause if I have to order shoes on-line - I was going to order the Lake MX90 had I not found these - I'd have followed the sizing chart and ordered a 46, which I now fear would have gotten me a shoe an inch too short.
In conversation with the guy at the bike shop, he told me he's tried the Dominator Mega and couldn't wear them. Apparently his TOES are really wide and his foot doesn't curve in "like a normal foot". Even though the Mega was plenty wide where the ball of his foot was, it squashed his toes because of the curve of the shoe...... I know my Shimano's squeezed my pinky toe, and pushed it against/under the to next to it. Even worse, if there was ANY nail at all on the pinky it'd cut a hole in the toe next to it....
I think one of the reasons for shoe size inconsistency is shoes are made on a last, which is a mould the shape of the foot, and a slightly different shaped last can mean three shoes that are all the same size, one will fit so tight you can barely get it on, another will fit perfectly and the third flops around. Which is why most people going into a shoe store, need to try shoes on. If you have always tried shoes on, then switching to a European size isn't likely to be a different process. Another thing is width, American sizes have different widths, D, E, EE, EEE, and that may mean a different length as well. I don't think European sizes have this, so if you need a wider shoe you need a larger shoe.