[Closed] Why do cycling shoe makers...

Maybe your feet are at fault rather than the shoes?

Different manufacturers, different lasts.

I settled on Salomon for walking shoes and boots many years ago after suffering with other brands for far too long. Unfortunately, other than trying each out for a while, finding out what suits you is a costly trial-and-error process.

Look at Lake

Different manufacturers, different lasts.

It is more than that though, most people are walking/cycling round in the wrong size shoes just to accommodate a "fashionable" point at the end. It is just that they don't realise it. It is easy to size up to accommodate the poor fit when you take a size 43, its a lot more difficult for those of us who require a size 49-50.

I also think a lot of people don't realise their toes and feet are being pushed into an unnatural position, they are just used to it so continue. Spend a couple of years in more naturally shaped shoes and then you realise when you are forced back into "standard" shoes.

Maybe your feet are shoe shaped and its the fault of your shoes

Altra and Vivo trainers and shoes for me.
I have never been more comfortable and also solved a long running knee problem I couldn’t shift.

“Normal” cycling shoes make my feet ache just looking at them. Luckily I ride flats so I don’t need to worry.

Apparently if you use SPDs your feet are just a different shape.

That's the conclusion I've reached looking at flat pedal vs SPD shoes, sometimes from the same manufacturer

Spend an afternoon in climbing shoes, that'll sort you out for mtb shoes. they'll feel like bare feet walking on sand!

Couldn't agree more.
Altra for running, lens for work and socialising. Zero, Freet and Feelmax for walking. I use correct-toes in my shoes and my feet have been getting stronger and suffering less now I only wear shoes shaped like feet.

I've just sold my Giro Trans HV because of this and I'm about to order a truck load on Bonts and Lakes to try and find something that fits my new feet.

As an aside, my wife was teed up for bunion surgery on both feet but has managed to avoid surgery and relieve pain by switching to correct-toes and natural footwear.

Majority of western shoes are really bad for your health.

Just switched to Bont road shoes. Absolute revelation. 5-6 hour rides in hot weather without foot pain!

I too suffer from this. My big toes are much bigger than the rest, in fact if I amputated them I would take about 5 sizes less. Most people's seem just a bit bigger than the next toe.
This means I need shoes bigger than my nominal size to make up for the longest bit of the shoe being where my middle toe is.
To further complicate the issue I have big feet anyway so while I need 48, I often buy 50

Five Ten Impacts Sam Hills feel great, lots of volume and width.

Shimano GR7s also feel good, same size AM7s are awful

I wear vivobarefoot shoes when walking and go barefoot whenever possible. Major downside is that, after several years of doing so, normal shoes or trainers absolutely cripple my feet. Not too bad cycling though.

You're spot on. Most cycling shoes are bizarrely narrow, and look nothing like feet.

Being a flatpedallist, my shoes just feel like shoes, they fit very nicely thanks

I'm also an altra devotee!

I think bont are the only ones I have seen who actually acknowledge the actual shape of a normal foot.

You can scratch them off the list too. Bont shoes have massive amounts of toe spring and force the toes into a permanently raised position to tighten the arch of the foot, which can be problematic.

I'm struggling with a chronic sesamoid injury at the moment and basically need shoes with a flat toe and zero drop heel. For cycling shoes I need to be able to pedal with my mid foot.

And trying to find steel toe capped safety boots with zero drop and no toe spring for work is proving impossible.

I too suffer from this. My big toes are much bigger than the rest, in fact if I amputated them I would take about 5 sizes less.

Thats why I've got a sesamoid injury. It was caused by squat thrusts on tarmac in shoes that didn't have enough toe space, and pushed the big toe to one side.. - Bigger shoes would have put the ball of my foot in the arch of the shoe, so can't win.

I have lost count of the number of times my nails have fallen off through rubbing on running shoes and every time they fall off they grow back thicker making shoe fit even more difficult.

Maybe your feet are at fault rather than the shoes?

Yep. The shoes are going to be fine for 95% of users so that is why they are made like that. They won't be great for the 5% but what do you expect from a mass produced item?

Yep. The shoes are going to be fine for 95% of users so that is why they are made like that. They won’t be great for the 5% but what do you expect from a mass produced item?

Cobblers

Try Scott shoes. They're really quite wide, almost too wide for me (e width).

Agree with the OP, spd shoes in a 10 are nothing like the shape of any other shoes or trainers in a 10. Spesh 2FOs are, but they're trainer shaped. Shimano shoes got narrower over the years, til I had to buy a size up.

It's not that shoes are right for 95% of people, but that 95% of people don't know the harm their shoes are doing.

I suspect the reason that a lot of road shoes are so stingy in their sizing is that it helps the manufacturers boast about their light weight.

"Our latest shoes weigh only 300g in size 42" - yeah but they're really only a 40 aren't they...

A second recommendation for Scott shoes.

I've tried Lake, Sidi wide, Shimano wide, Bont etc.

Scott are the only shoes I've found that work well for my wide feet.

I read an article years ago that said the average American foot was narrower than the average European foot due to the fact the septics generally walk less and drive more. Their feet were generally under developed.

It’s not that shoes are right for 95% of people, but that 95% of people don’t know the harm their shoes are doing.

Exactly, so many people are being fooled into binding their feet just for tradition, they have modified their feet to match the shoe shapes and it just isn't comfortable or healthy, but it is all they know.

And it also isn't just about width, I don't have wide feet.

I read an article years ago that said the average American foot was narrower than the average European foot due to the fact the septics generally walk less and drive more. Their feet were generally under developed.

IME the American makes are preferable to the Europeans.

Lots of people suffer with knee and back issues and I don't just mean in cycling circles, I mean the general population, but no one seems to consider the poor foundation they've been trying to support those structures on for decades of their life.

The idea of good strong foundation is used for so many other things though.

Cobblers

Deserved at least some recognition....

I think it's actually a bit tricky when it comes to cycling shoes.

For shoes that I'm going to be walking in I agree 100%. There should be loads of space for the toes to splay out and it should feel natural.

The shoes I use for cycling are actually really uncomfortable to walk in as they are to small. However, they feel perfect for riding (I ride flat pedals on everything except singlespeed). For me, I don't want any movement within the shoe so that leads to a pretty tight shoe.

Not climbing shoe tight but still very uncomfortable to walk in.

I didn't notice this problem until I tried to buy some MTB SPD shoes. I do have big and wide feet, but it's never really been an issue so far. Shimano AM7s looked great, but comically narrow. Giro (something, I forget) also too narrow. I've now got Five Ten Kestrels, which were reviewed as "very roomy toe box" (and my Freeriders are just fine). The Kestrels are ok, but only just.

I'll often liken this to playing snooker and making a bridge. Notice how you spread your fingers to enable you to arch your hand? Now try this with your fingers bunched together. Much harder and pretty tricky to keep it stable.

Same with your feet. With the toes restricted, your foot struggles to form the natural arches it needs and the muscles weaken from a lack of use. That's why I need toe space.

For those of you who recommended Scott shoes, were you able to order your 'normal' shoe size or did you still need to size up?

You could take that statement and apply it to 99.9% of the whole footwear industry.

Good post, having same issues myself it just makes finding shoes difficult, especially when paired with some other characteristics as low volume feet and low ankle bones.
Just went back flats for rest of the season as I don't want to spend time for shoe shopping before winter, Giro Terraduros were OKish but not great. Also some Bontragers were good fit but soles disintegrated. Older Specialized models were great fit with slippery soles but new ones seemed to rub ankles.

I ordered some cheap Bonts for road bike but they measure shoe size from second toe so there is mismatch.

its a lot more difficult for those of us who require a size 49-50.

That's who the shoe-boxes are for. 🙂

@fazzini I went a size up (from 47 to 48) as I wanted room for thick socks in winter. I've stuck with a size up as that works for me with normal socks too.

Cheers @Rustychain

My feet are wider than G and I still have my Shimano MT51s which have been utterly brilliant {I used to make shoes for a living}. I can't find anything to replace them. I want some ankle protection and no one seems to make anything but low or much higher. Also it's beyond me why no one makes different widths. Altberg do it with walking boots but that's it.

If I had a bit of startup capital, and some knowledge of the bike industry. I would get some shoes made in China built on a decent last and see how they sold.

There are people out there with the right last. Altra, Freet, Feelmax, lems, Xero to name a few. They just need to jump on the cycling bandwagon.

(And some work safety boots while they're at it).

I've got a pair of Shimano M089s on today and they feel really comfortable - however I had to buy a 46 (I'm a 45) and I remember pushing the bike up a hill in them once and they were lifting off my heels really badly. Still, apart from the bright orangeness (they were cheap!) and the stupid ratchet buckles (give me velcro any day - its much quicker and easier to get tighter) they are decent shoes, dunno why I don't wear them more often! 😆

Some interesting points here. I have sort of mid-wide feet. I know this after having my feet measured by a high-end boot fitter, when it came to getting snowboard boot footbeds custom made (best thing I ever bought for on the slopes).

I find getting SPD shoes to fit properly is a pain, literally! I recently tried some Shimano ME7 and they were very narrow, even in two sizes up from what I would usually wear. I asked Madison if they would be getting any of the wide fit versions in and they said they had no plans to. They were tight without me wearing any socks so went straight back.

I have a pair of Giro shows in wide fit and they're very snug, even for my not mega-wide feet. You certainly can't wear thick socks with them. I also have some Northwave Celsius Arctic and they're great, but a few years old now. To me it does seem that SPD shoes are on a whole getting narrower. I never used to have to buy wide versions of shoes but even now they're snug and normal ones are a no-go.

Also, why oh why do BOA laces appear on so many shoes? They're great on snowboard boots but for cycle shoes I find them rubbish. Give me good quality velcro any day.

I've learnt quite a bit recently on shoe fit from trying different things & will try & make some brief points based on my observations.
1) as mentioned above, Shoe Fit - measure your feet or get them measured. I've just swapped to some medium-narrow fit lakes & they were a comfort revelation. Nowt worse than an excessively roomy toe box.
2) Arch support, I tend to brush my knees on the top tube, this was made worse when i got a modern carbon road bike with a wider top tube. Tried forefoot wedges & also Spesh BG shower with a built in wedge. Utter bobbins, turns out i have a high-ish instep which collapses slightly, so i added G8 footbeds in all my shoes to give proper arch support, problem solved.
3) Cleat position - i run mine as far back as i can now & find this helps as well. Unfortunately, loads of shoes don't give the option to go as far back as most people require. Unless you're a sprinter you don't need to be on your toes. Thinks of this, would you push a spade into the ground with your toes or your instep?
4) Stance width. Don't you think its odd that bikes built to suit riders from 4'10" to 7'10" are all based around us having the same width foot position give or take 5mm per side (assuming we're on clipless pedals)? I run 20mm extensions on my road bikes but not required on the mtb anymore as i bought some giro ventana shoes which for some bizarre reason have the cleat slot 10mm closer to the inside of the shoe than any other mtb shoe i've ever seen.

Sidi wides - not that wide. Basically a regular.

Try Lake wides. Perfect for me and I’ve got hobbit like flippers

How much toe spring and arch support in the Lakes?

Lake still have a tapered toe box, and considerable toe spring. Those just suggesting the wide options of traditionally shaped shoes aren't understanding the concept. This may help...

https://www.correcttoes.com/foot-help/shoes-101/

I've been using those correct toes for a while. They are what saved the wife from bunion surgery.

Would be great to find cycling shoes that let me use them, but I'd settle some some that just didn't bend my toes back in.

I haven't used them (or heard of them before this thread), it was just the first page I found that adequately described foot shape and toe spring. And toe spring , while not a new concept to me isn't something I had given much thought to.