dkperez

Just got back into riding. I used to use the SPD-style pedals and went through a half dozen pairs of shoes trying to find something comfortable...... Eventually, because of the foot discomfort among the many other things that were miserable I stopped riding for 10 years......

My goal this time is to enjoy riding, primarily on paved bike routes and such. Pleasure riding and a little touring - FUN stuff.... I'm built for comfort, not for speed, so I'm not going to impress anybody with my riding - I want to enjoy myself and not have sore feet. The bike will either a LWB recumbent or a tadpole-style trike.

SO, this time I'm looking for a comfortable pair of shoes. I've read a bunch of notes in here about wide shoes. I want them to be SPD compatible. I prefer velcro strips to shoestrings. I want them to be something I can walk in comfortably when I'm not on the bike. I'd like a mesh upper that's breathable rather than the hot, plastic/leather some shoes use... And can I find something that's not so garish that it only appeals to a teenager?

My feet aren't as odd-shaped as some in here - in THEORY I'm an 11 1/2 D, although for the last umpteen years I've had to wear size 12 wide (usually an E or EE) in order to be comfortable. An 11 1/2 hurts my toes, and a "D" squeezes my foot... My Nike and Shimano shoes were so uncomfortable they stayed on my feet just long enough to get through the ride...

SO, in short I guess I'm after a comfortable riding/touring shoe that doesn't look like something from Star Trek, that's wide enough to be COMFORTABLE on and off the bike, and looks like a shoe an adult would wear in public.... Oh, and of course, I don't want to spend $200 on a pair of Sidi's or some other brand I'll never find locally to try on.....

Tom Stormcrowe

Specialized Tahoe, in about 47.....

Or these for about $30.00:

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...1_10000__11501

jaxgtr

I ride the Shimano M122's and they are pretty comfy.

dkperez

I'll see if I can find the Specialized to try on..... The Lake's from Nashbar are only available in a 39. Unless the Shimano's are a lot wider than the one's I've currently got, they're uncomfortably narrow.....

I found a pair of Lake MX90s that may be good... I hate trying to buy shoes without trying them on, but I may not have any choice...

sedanman

My shoes are Cannondale from a few years ago. When I was really big the shoes were tight, now that I'm getting thinner so are my feet.

ttibby

Looking for the right shoe... Did you check next to the left one?

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

I just use trainers

Eric...

Pinyon

There is just no substitute for trying them on and walking around in them a little bit in the shop. A friend of mine and I both supposedly wear the same shoe size and both have wide feet (12-D in the U.S., 47-49 wide in European sizing depending on the brand), but both prefer different brands of shoes. He prefers PI, but that brand bunches up my toes allows my heels to slide around too much. I prefer Shimano shoes, but he finds them too hard across the balls of his feet, and they pinch his heels.

Other brands that I've noticed work for wider feet include Cannondale and SIDIs. And any brand that has you heat-form it to your foot. SIDIS and those heat-forming shoes COST A LOT though. I'm too cheap to pay $250+ for a pair of cycling shoes that won't last any longer or be THAT much more comfortable than my Shimanos.

Go to a few sports stores and local bikes shops, and try a bunch of pairs on. Get what feels right.

dkperez

Argh (scream of anguish!)... I hit several shops last evening to try different shoes..... The Shimano MT21 and MT41 are WAY too narrow, even for the LEFT foot!

Tried the specialized Tahoe. Went all the way up to a 48 and the 47s fit the left foot well, but it appears the left food has a higher arch and the right foot is longer and wider - not a ton, but apparently SOME..... 'Cause even the 48 was tight and short on the right foot...

In all, I tried Shimano, Keen, Louis Garneau, Specialized, and a couple others I can't even remember now..... None of them were maked as "wide" - it appears the local shops (south of metro Minneapolis) don't carry anything "wide"...... One shop had Sidi Dominators, but not in mega.

I saw on the Cannondale site that they have one mountain bike shoe in a wide, but again, finding one to try on is going to be difficult...

One of my oddities is that when I get on the foot measuring thing, IT says I'm about an 11D-11 1/2D............. And yet for years I've had to wear at least size 12 "wide" (or EE if I can find specifics) casual shoes......

I'm about at the point of just ordering something like a Lake MX90 on-line in about a 47 wide.....

As hard as this is being, I really have empathy for you guys with size 13 or 14 feet 'cause if it's this hard with a size 12, it must be a royal pain when they're bigger......

prxmid

Forté CR320 Wide Road Shoe

Built for E feet, 3 Velcro starps, mesh, can walk around in them

very comfortable for me

https://https://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.cfm?SKU=25538&item=20-5070&slitrk=search&slisearch=true

dkperez

I've now spent the last hour and a half calling bike shops in Minneapolis/St. Paul..... I haven't found a single place that actually has a wide shoe in a longer length... Except the Sidi Dominator, and I haven't gotten to the point yet where I want to spend $300 for a pair of shoes........

Nobody appears to have the Lakes in wide, nobody has the Specialized in wide, etc...... I even called the shops that specialize in recumbents figuring they'd be inclined to have shoes for old, round guys with long, wide feet...... Hmph!

Pinyon

Yeah, my shimanos were wide-fit. The regular shoes were way too tight.

dkperez

Unfortunately, the only Shimano's I've seen that they make in a wide is another shoe that nobody in MN seems to carry.......

On the good side, after giving up on the "primary" list of dealers, I went back and tried a couple that were unlikely to have much. Found one that had the Bontrager Race Mountain that they said was "wider than some others"...... So, I went up and tried the 46s..... Not gonna happen - these things were an inch shorter than my size 12 regular shoes. Tried the 47s. Right foot tight and left foot the strap wouldn't even catch over the arch......

I was about to leave when the guy stopped me and said he'd found a couple pair at the bottom of the pile - a 48 and a 49.......

The 48 was still a LITTLE tight on the right foot, but the strap JUST caught the velcro on the left... The 49 was comfortable on the right foot and the straps actually fit the left...

SO, I bought 'em.....

BUT, now I have a question about shoe sizing...... Why is the correspondence between the Euro sizing and US sizing so far off? According to Bontrager's sizing, the 46=12, 47=13, 48=13.5, and 49=14.5...

Comparing the length against my size 12 walking shoes, the 49 are only a bit longer... And about the same width.... No WONDER you have to try dozens of shoes to find something close.

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....

bdinger

I have the Bontrager RL MTB shoe, and love 'em. I wear a 13 EEEE, and they fit me great. Have about two months and a ton of miles on 'em, I'd never go back to non-clipless. I also hear great things about Specialized and Sidi.

AndrewP

I love my SIDI dominator megas size 43. They feel more comfortable every time I ride in them. They are half the weight of the Cannondale size 44, but not so comfortable for walking. I will therefore keep the Cannondales to use when there will be some walking in my plan for the day.

Wogster

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.