Ive been looking around for a new pair of shoes for race season and Ive run into a few problems. I was a runner for all of high school and most of college. I just recently switched over to cycling because of knee issues. I'm currently riding a Giant TCR and Pearl Izumi Vegabond shoes. These shoes have treated me very well and Im not totally opposed to getting another pair. But I thought since I was going to be racing that I might step up (pardon the pun) to something lighter and stiffer. The guy at one of my LBS told me that there is no difference between a nylon sole and carbon sole, except weight. Another LBS told me that Carbon is also much stiffer. So my first question is; Can I justify buying a pair of carbon soled shoes?

My other question has to do with fit. I have narrow heels and a wide forfoot. I love my pearl izumis and am tempted to get another pair. When I ran, I always wore asics, just because they fit my feet perfectly, and actually corrected many of my knee issues. Ive tried Sidi's and I cant stand the way they feel. the toebox is much too narrow for my foot, I tried a pair of wides and they felt sloppy, like the whole shoe got wider, when I just needed the toe area wider and not the heel.

Does anyone know of any brands that I should try? So far I've only tried PI, SIDI, and Specialized. Specialized felt okay, but not quite as good as PI. Any suggestions would be awesome!!

Sidi also makes many of their shoes in what they call "Megawide" versions. Did you try those or the standard widths?

I tried the regular wide version of SIDI's, they just felt loose in the heel, Im almost thinking that I just have to go to another brand. Just like in running, I couldnt wear brooks, sauconys, or mizunos.

Check out Lake shoes too.

Sidi Genius Mega...



enough said.

Try adidas. My adistar Pros have a fairly big toebox... that's something I need because I hate the feeling of my toes touching the shoe (so I'm a pretty good judge of toebox size ).

If money is no object try Rocket7 shoes or the new Heat Lake moldable shoe.
Click here: Photo Gallery Slideshow

Oops try this link. https://www.velonews.com/tech/report/...es/8983.0.html

i had vagabond road shoes & could bend/flex them with my hands. i cant do that to my specialized pro carbons at all.

I'm seeing the same thing, the other thing is that I looked and the PI flow road and another PI model have the same sole, so Im hesitant to get those. I did find a pair of adidas on Performance that have a carbon insert.

Also $$ is a bit of an issue, Im a college student