Shoes for a woman
 

Just got back into riding with the purchase of a couple recumbent trikes. We've now solved the problem of shoes for me, but my wife has started looking for SPD-compatible shoes....

She wears about a 9 women's street shoe, but her heel is apparently VERY narrow. We stopped at one of the local shops and the salesperson was pretty far off-base. Instead of asking what she rode, and what kind of riding she does (recumbent, casual riding), he tried to sell her the whole "your toes should be hitting the front of the box and the shoe shold fit like a tight glove." SO, before she gets discouraged with the whole process I figure I'll ask in here......

Who makes a comfortable, casual shoe with good ventilation that's good for casual riding and works with the SPD-style cleats? Something in a normal or narrow, but it needs a pretty narrow heel......

You might take a look at Specialized women's shoes. http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...MTBWmn&eid=342

I have the Motodiva style and love them. I have a medium width foot with the narrow heel and don't have any problems with them slipping.

I would steer clear of any shoe salesman who suggests shoes should fit like a "tight glove". I like my bike shoes to fit just the same as regular shoes.

My thoughts exactly on the salesperson... His advice may be fine for those animals that are willing to endure the pain in their feet for the minimal extra power the shoes provide, but we're just looking to ride casually - enjoy the ride, not worry about speed... The clipless shoes are a safety matter more than anything else, since the Trice manual specifically recommends clipless pedals to avoid the foot slipping off the pedal and going under the frame...

Does Imelda Marcos ride?

I have narrow feetz and heelz wit a v-high instep...

I find Pearl Izumi fits me well, has a generous toebox and good heel grip. And the ball of foot location accommodates me well (more forward ball of foot with shorter toez)

I'm also luvin the Performance CM300s I have, little tighter toebox but still very comfortable and great grip on the heel, perfect on the toebox location. I tend to size down on this model for a good fit.

Shimanos works sometimes, but they have a bit too much forward room when I have the ball of my foot properly sized in the pocket. A bit much 'spooning' on the forward footbed

I avoid Adidas like the plague, very narrow toebox, even for my narrow feetz, combine that with pronounced 'spooning' on the footbed and they become excruciating on a ride over an hour. But then maybe a wider version might be OK.
Selection of shoes and sizing/widths at most LBS usually leaves much to be desired...

I have the same problem in a mans shoe. Narrow heel and narrow foot in general with high arches. The Sidi narrow shoes are the way to go. I think they make that cut in both Mt. and road shoe.

Another way to address the narrow heel thing is to obtain the heel slippage things that you can get in most dept. stores like Target. They glue to the inside back of the shoe and help fill in the gap. If you find a shoe that fits in the front but is a bit wide this device is the ticket.

A narrow heel is one area few cycling shoes address.

I'll have to look for the heel things..... I suspect my wife knows about them, but if that's all she needs to find shoes that fit...

I hate to say it, but SIDI is the answer to shoes. They cost too much, but then again, once you have them on all thoughts of cost disappear. If you are brave, you could get them online at bonktown. They have great return policy, Order a size up.

I can't help you with a shoe suggestions but you might also consider an insole to help secure the foot and make a less than perfect shoe more comfortable. Although I have not used them for bike shoes I do use them in hiking boots and ski boots. This year a bought some Zapz and they work great - I did have not tried them in my bike shoes but I will now that this thread has reminded me of it - I had planned on doing it when I bought them but forgot about it.

Chased around some shops the other night and she found a pair she likes...... I don't recall the specific model, but they were a Shimano MTB shoe with a nice breathable upper.... She wound up with a couple sizes larger than her street shoe size, but they're apparently comfortable and she doesn't get much heel movement..... So far she likes 'em.......

I also have really narrow heels (my feet are sort of duck-like) and have had a good fit with Lake shoes. I don't think they make a women's model, mine were a unisex type, size 41, which is about a North American women's size 9. I've also had a good fit from Sidi, and they make SPD compatible shoes as well.