I may be in the market for some new shoes. Given that they now seem to cost ££££, I have thin and flat (i.e. awkward to fit) feet and I expect to have them for years, I want some that fit properly well. So, I could do with somewhere that has a decent selection (and decent knowledge).

Any recommendations? I’m in Cirencester, so ‘Nam, Glos, Swindon, Bath, Brizzle etc are the likely candidates. Basically, somewhere within an hour’s-ish drive.

There’s a loake shop in Cheltenham, and a Houe Of Fraser though that is now owned by Sports Direct

Edit – Charles Clinkard also do Loake and Barker, apparently

Cycling shoes dear, bike forum innit 🙂

Get some retrofitz and get yourself to the Barker store before Flashy finds out

Retrofitz Makes Any Shoe Clipless, Offers DIY Cleat System

Leisure lakes and Evans in Cheltenham.

Specialized Store Bristol, near Ikea J2 M32, run by Certini so I think hey have other brands available.

there’s a little indie buike shop in cheltenham, too, round the corner from leisure lakes

Bike UK on Queen’s Avenue in Clifton, Bristol have probably the largest selection in Briz.

I didn’t manage to get up to Bike when I bought shoes recently but every time I’ve been in there they’ve had good stock.

In the end I found some shoes I liked and ordered them into Cycle Republic in bristol to try on (click and collect / pay in store) in a couple of sizes. Worked well and a decent price.

Cheers all, I’ll take a trip up to ‘Nam, I knew Leisure Lakes was there, I forgot about Evans.

there’s a little indie buike shop in cheltenham, too, round the corner from leisure lakes

That’ll be Cheltenham Cycles. There’s a few indie places in Ciren, but the problem is they (understandably) don’t tend to hold much stock.

Plenty to choose from in ‘Nam

Williams, Cycle republic, LL, Cheltenham cycles, Roylan Cycles (Montpellier)
Evans (bit further out from town center)

I’ve always found it hard to get/try shoes due to being a half size.

I have thin and flat (i.e. awkward to fit) feet and I expect to have them for years,

Probably have them your whole life.

I have a real love-hate (mostly hate, I’ll be honest) relationship with bike shops and shoes. They tend to fall into one of three groups:

1) Single brand – e.g. Shimano – lots of choice, providing you want that brand. No chance to compare.
2) Multiple brand, limited selection – Inevitably, if they carry more than one brand, they don’t have the specific shoe that I really wanted to try as they need to limit their stock levels
3) Don’t carry intermediate (half) sizes – trying to decide whether a 9 or 10 fits best, when you know full well that you can get a 9.5 online

Tough one is this, but nowadays I tend to order more than one size online and send back the one that doesn’t fit, even if I have to pay for the privilege. This also means I can try them on for a day, wandering around the house with them, to decide if they’ll fit or not. The other thing I’ll do is buy shoes I know will fit (Sidi Mega, Northwave) based on experience.

This isn’t a “pay less online” thing, but it’s about getting the shoes that I really want. Being honest, I don’t think I’ve ever been completely happy with a pair of shop-bought shoes.