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if you want to buy a new pair of hiking boots you go into most outdoor stores and you have a pretty good selection of brands and styles.
Where can you do the same for cycling shoes? No one seems to have a decent range and I don’t want to buy online because the fit is way too important.
Any ideas? I live in Kent (Tonbridge)
Buy a few sizes online, return the ones that don't fit. I've done it this way for years.
(I've also bought from stores, but more often than not, they don't have the shoes that I like anyway)
Find a shop that has a decent range, or at least the ones you want.
For me that meant ordering several sizes of the shame shoe from Evans online and collecting in store (which meant I never had to pay for the ones i didn't want). And I got my winter boots from Westbrooks as they had northwave, shimano and lake in stock so I could try them all on.
LBS's can be a bit hit and miss in terms of stock and sizing, but Westbrooks worked out well while I lived locally as they have a fairly big online shop so the bricks and mortar side of the business has a much better range than most, and tends to be quite competitive or at least cheap enough that I value being able to try stuff on more than the money saved and added hassle of returning lots of stuff bought online .
I know which manufacturers/sizes fit me and just buy online. Same goes for walking shoes/boots, running shoes etc.
After trying all local shops, none of whom had size 9 or 9.5 in, in any model, but who wanted money upfront at RRP to wait two weeks with no returns, I just ordered online and had them delivered within 48hrs, at some discount, with option to return if they don't fit.
I also have two pairs bought second hand from full who bought from LBS, waited two weeks to find they didn't fit and so sold at a loss to me
Research widest last possible. Assess toebox and waterproofness for intended use. Buy 10.5 or 11 online after watching compulsively for the price to drop as the season changes/new product arrives. Return if doesn't fit.
If you can get over to Barham near Canterbury, Biketart have a MASSIVE selection of Shimano shoes (and others, possibly) in their warehouse that you can try on. Prices are good too even vs. online only places.
Some good trails over that way too so worth a day trip!
Buy online and return what doesn’t fit
I ordered a load off CRC and sent them all back as they were too narrow, I also trawled various local bike shops and tried on anything they had in a wide fit, all of which were again too narrow. I then looked at various manufacturer website for sizing charts and tried to find a pair that would fit my feet, for example Bont's and Lake's (note that Lake have different lasts, with different fits). Finally, I tracked down a local shop who got in a pair of actual wide fit shoes for me to try, then I baulked at forking out £330 for a top of the range pair and ordered a mid-range pair from Germany, as the ones I could actually afford weren't imported into the UK at the time…
Lots of faffing, and searching, and time. But I now have a pair that actually fit, for the first time ever. Totally worth the ball ache and months of searching…
Personally, my revelation has been Sidi "Mega" sizes (aka wide fit) - finally, a pair of road shoes where I can ride for more than 50 miles without losing all feeling below the knee. Yey!
If the online shop doesn’t do free returns Use PayPal and you get 12 free returns on PayPal per year, you have to accept the PayPal offer yearly..
go to shop, try for fit, buy. I got my last ones from go outdoors
Genius, well done.
5'10s and just same sizing as previously owned pairs.
A shop somewhere not local for the first well fitting pair. Thereafter the same again, more or less, online every 2 years or so. If mavic change their last, i'm stuffed and will have to go to a shop again.
Don't need cycling shoes to ride bikes in the hills and woodland.
As I'm after some wide fitting Bont shoes, the answer is "with great difficulty", especially as I don't know what size I'll need.
As per my thread of a few weeks back - if you pay online with Paypal, they will refund you the return cost.
So you can even use online shops which don't have free returns.
Personally, my revelation has been Sidi “Mega” sizes (aka wide fit) – finally, a pair of road shoes where I can ride for more than 50 miles without losing all feeling below the knee. Yey!
Ditto Shimano's wide fitting...bliss
I tracked down a local shop who got in a pair of actual wide fit shoes for me to try, then I baulked at forking out £330 for a top of the range pair and ordered a mid-range pair from Germany
and this is why bike shops don't stock anything these days, i bet they loved you
Where can you do the same for cycling shoes? No one seems to have a decent range and I don’t want to buy online because the fit is way too important.
It's very common online now to be able to send back returns for free. My mate sells sports shoes and often a customer will order two or three sizes. They keep the one that fits and send back (for free) the other pairs.
rOcKeTdOg They were very accommodating and knew I couldn't afford the top of the range ones. They had the non-wide fit version of the ones I eventually bought, but they didn't fit and the UK importer didn't import the wide fit at the time, hardly my fault.
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