Re: Shoe fitting

Alfred Ryder wrote:

<My experience is that the fit can be touching the toes at the end and
still
be comfortable. The same is not true with street shoes or any shoes for

walking. But for road riding, snug all around is most comfortable. >

My experience was that wearing snug shoes that (lightly) touched toes
at the end resulted in a bone spur at the base of one big toe. A
painful episode, and the operation to remove it was not 100% successful
in returning the foot to its former state. While the other foot didn't
show an obvious injury, it didn't profit from a few month's worth of
wearing those slighty small "free" shoes, either. IOW, I was lucky at
least in not messing up both feet.

I rode for 20-odd years with straps and clips, and of course that
didn't exactly help matters.

Now, in order to continue to ride and walk afterwards, I run the "toe
box" velcro straps on my Sidi III's and IV's nice and loose, and
control foot position (keeping the toes from touching the front end of
the shoe) with the ratcheting "ankle" strap. This works just absolutely
wonderfully. The ratchet strap does not have to be "tight" to hold the
foot away from the inside front end of the shoe. There is no problem
with not having your toes squeezed in a cycling shoe, for all that I
have heard over the years to the contrary (power transmission, control,
blah blah). As a matter of fact, the comfort level is much higher,
especially on summer days. I would guess the same for cold weather, as
I remember tight shoes or boots not being as warm as looser ones (blood
circulation?) but I don't ride much in the cold anymore (see above).

I guess I could post a link to photos of the results of the Chinese
practice of binding women's feet, but I don't know if even that would
deter the faithful. Or, you could google for the incidence of bunions
and other problems with women who often wear tight shoes, for fashion's
sake, in current times.

Don't wear tight shoes, or shoes that are too short, for anything. The
beauty of the "new stuff" (clipless system, shoes with buckles and/or
velcro straps) is that you don't have to. --TP