Feet swelling or shoes to tight?

I ride 25 to 27 miles 5 or 6 days a week for exercise. I also weight train 3 times a week. I ride at a good steady pace, wear a heart rate monitor and use a Cateye computer for cadence and speed. I try to maintain a cadence of at least 80 revolutions per minute. The past couple of months I have noticed my shoes feeling really tight during my ride. These are the same shoes I have worn for the past couple of years. I have been out in the rain riding at times and they have gotten wet. I would think though the shoes would loosen up after riding. Has anyone else experience the same type of problems and any suggestions? Thanks.

Depending on your age, at some point in time you will find that your shoe size will change ... this apparently begins to happen when a person reaches the mid-to-late 30s, sometimes a little later.

Do you fall into that demographic, or are you only in your 20s-or-younger?

What brand of shoes do you have?

Yep I do fall into that demographic at age 58. My shoe size has not changed in any of my other shoes at size 11 1/2". I recently purchased a pair of cross trainers and the size was still 11 1/2". I wear Shimano MTB shoes. I like being able to actually walk in my cycling shoes if needed and I can peddle with my shoe unclipped if needed.

Those are specialized shoes and not shimano.

This may not be a meaningful remark, but my observation & impression is that Specialized shoes run at least a half size smaller than Shimano shoes and/or are a little narrower ... so, if you bought your Specialized shoes between last season & now, then that may be the reason.

Feet swelling is a common experience. It can hit anywhere, but I think around the 15+ mi. plus mark.

I readjust the velcro straps on-bike if mine get too tight.

When you first put them on, are they OK? Do they only get worse later? That should indicate if it is swelling.

They have always been "snug" but not tight when I first put them on my feet. They feel tight at about the distance you mentioned. I guess this is normal then? Thanks.

Presuming that the NEXT time you go for a ride that the weather is similar to the LAST time you rode & felt your shoes start to feel tight ... and, presuming you wear socks when you ride ... try riding WITHOUT socks and seeing if you experience the same discomfort.

If you don't experience the same level of tightness OR it takes more miles before your feet feel as tight, then it probably means that your Specialized shoes are at least a half size too small.

As I said, Specialized shoes run small, IMO, when compared with Shimano.

SIDI definitely run small when compared with Shimano, too.

Or, I suppose you could say that Shimano runs large for the same size ... whichever reference works for you.

Your shoes are too small if you can't adjust them to accommodate foot swelling during a ride.

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I had the same problem with a pair of Specialized shoes that I owned. They were great for two years, regardless of the distance I rode, and then the third year they started to get tight during longer rides. I never did figure out the reason for this so I just bought a pair of Sidi shoes (they fit well but they were also on sale). Maybe a pair of shoe trees might stretch them a little so they fit again.

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