Why are road shoes so difficult to buy?

Why is it impossible for manufacturers to make correct sizes for their road shoes? I am in the process of returning some Northwave shoes which they say are a UK size 9.5, i only take an 8 shoe yet the Northwave are too small even without socks on. This is the third set now from different makers and none are close to fitting (couldnt get bigger as they were all out of stock).
My mate has feet like a griffin yet can buy shoes no problem but me with my popular size normal foot is struggling.
Any recommendations for correctly sized shoe manufacturers? (Has to be from Wiggle as i have £75 voucher)

trying to find a reasonably priced womens spd road/touring shoe that doesn’t look like it was made for a power ranger is nigh on impossible.

I had this trouble until I bought a pair of Fizik shoes.

This is the best argument in favour of bricks and mortar shops over Internet (sorry, couldn’t resist)

One thing that always bugs me is the width of the shoe, so I went for a pair of wide shimano ones. Still needed to go up a size, though.

Great (sarcasm) thing about Northwave is their sizes are different depending on what shoe you buy! Why do they have these standard shoe fitting with numbers if all the manufacturers don’t make them the same??

Don’t buy shoes over the internet. It will not be a happy experence.

Also – road shoes seem to be made for Italians with narrow feet. No idea why.

I find specialised spot on.

One thing that always bugs me is the width of the shoe, so I went for a pair of wide shimano ones. Still needed to go up a size, though.

Forgot to add that they’re mtb disco slippers.

Go to a shop, try on some shoes and buy them there. Then spend your wiggle voucher on something else!

I just order them in a range of sizes at the same time then send the ones that don’t fit back.

And yes, I have comically long clown style cycling shoes that are still too narrow. 🙂

I have wide feet with highish instep and Diadora fit well and are true to size – I’m the same size in them as 5.10 and Shimano AM.

Same problem with Pearl Izumi X Project..I’m size 9 so ordered the 10, didn’t fit at all felt like a size 8, popped up to the shop (60 miles but shopping trip the same time…) and had to go for size 12! Was too good of a bargain….

Walked into shop, they didn’t have the exact one I wanted but the sizing was consistent, shop ordered the size and the 1/2 up so I could check. Brilliant 🙂

In the past I’ve been able to make an educated guess from the customer reviews that mention sizing, but now I’m lucky enough to be living near Merlin Cycles – who hold a lot of stock at decent prices.

Bear in mind that most road shoes are designed for riders in California or Europe where it’s warm and they’ll only be wearing thin socks, also that you aren’t supposed to walk far in them, that they will adapt to the shape of your feet after a few damp rides and that as you descend further into hooliganism on your road bike you will be wanting to tighten those shoes more and more. So they are usually quite tight fitting.

You must have funny feet as I’ve always taken the right shoe size in various Shimano and Sidi shoes. As said above they are designed for use with thin ‘racing’ socks, so that you get a really secure fit. If you want to use thick winter socks then you probably will have to size up.

My last attempt at buying road shoes over the internet…

I had well over a grands worth of stock!

gave up on internet shoes years ago …. go to the shop, try and buy now 🙂

As above really. Go to a proper shop and try a bunch on. They might even set up your cleats for you. There will always be something else to spend the vouchers on.

mrblobby – Member
My last attempt at buying road shoes over the internet…

A couple of pairs of norks? [sniggers]

A couple of pairs of norks?

😆

Took me a second.

😆

I find specialised spot on

+1

I have Specialized MTB and road shoes. Same sizes and a nice fit. I went to the shop for the first pair and bought them. Second pair were bought via the Internet.

Specialized have been good for me but they keep messing about with the last for the s-works ones. Not good for OP either with his wiggle requirement.

FWIW I got the Bont Vayour S in the end, which can be had from wiggle. Really nice shoe. Fits me well with a decent sized toe box. Liked them so much I brought a second pair recently.

I think the toe box is the main issue, i must have feet like a canoe oar as they always feel cramped.
I am a stay at home dad so no money to spare so it has to be Wiggle. I think i will carry on with my current ones until wiggle have more stock in. Road bike is on the turbo anyway so just using my mtb shoes at present

Perhaps you’ve measured your feet incorrectly? Or your “street” shoes are not actually an accurate size?

I had the same problem – in fact, worse.

Over the course of 2 months I ordered – and returned – 13 pairs of shoes from Wiggle, CRC, Merlin and other places. Fortunately most of them use Collect+ so not a problem, but I paid postage on a couple of returns.

Then went to Sigma Sport to try on several pairs and ended up buying Lake CX237 – spot on sizing, nice wide toe box and forefoot, bang on.

Very happy with the shop and the shoes. Wont bother with shoe shopping on t’Interweb again.

road shoes seem to be made for Italians with narrow feet.

Are they? I always struggle to find anything narrow enough.

I think the reality is that one-width-fits-all just doesn’t work.

I bought some northwave road shoes quite a few years back. Was attracted by the bling grey carbon weave on the soles. The fit was ‘ok’, but the bling won out. I mailed ordered them and had a couple of goes at getting the right ish size.

Snapped a few buckles and they didn’t wear that well. Swapped to Shimano with the next set of road shoes I got and they fitted much better. Went to Evans to try them in and buy them there.

Evans again for my 5-10’s for the mountain bike too. Don’t think I’ll mail order again – the experience of going into a shop and buying is much better for that sort of thing. Plus Evans price match anyway.

Big tick for Evans Bristol – 2 or 3 times recently they’ve got me things for a good price plus the staff have been excellent. Good chat about mtb etc and in their recommendation I’ve gone 1×10 which I’m happy with and changed handlebar from 700 to 780mm. So far happy with that although yet to fully test it properly off-road and a big trail centre.

Dont think it’s just road shoes, had AM45s (or whatever they’re called). Bought AM9s for xmas went with the same size. My big toe was squashed up against the end of the AM9s, so i sent them back. Now the retailer is all like “what shoes? we havent received any shoes” FML.