Are All Cycling Shoes Narrow Width? Water Bottle ? Too

[biobrandedarmorzet]

I wear size 12 shoes and have wide feet. I bought "Pearl iZUMi Men's X-Road Fuel II Cycling Shoe" off Amazon in a size 13 and I can wear them but I would rather have a better fitting shoe.

Also what is the best water bottle for keeping the water cool. My "Glacier" brand insulated bottles are good for about an hour before the ice is gone

 

[oldbobcat]

Pearl Izumis run on the narrow side of medium, sort of like a D-. Medium brands of read shoes that run on the wide side (especially mid- and forefoot) include Shimano (Dynalast models), Specialized, Northwave, Bont, Bontrager, Scott, and possibly Giro.

Wides are available in some sizes and models by Sidi, Shimano, Specialized, Bont, and others. Shop around and ask questions to get what you want. If you shop online and need sizing advice, send me a message and I'll try to help. I'm familiar with these brands.

 

[Totalarmordestine]

Bontrager makes a few shoes styles in a wide width. (I just bought a pair of the Velocis in wide.) Also, the specialized comp road comes in a wide. Giro makes a bunch of HV (high volume) shoes, and Sidi calls their wider widths "mega". There are more, but that's off the top of my head after my recent shoe size quest.

The he trick is finding a place to try shoes on. Good luck!

 

[tarverten]

I have EEE 1/2 feet... finding comfortable well fitting shoes for these flippers has always been a bit of a challenge.

Touring shoes a half size up give me wiggle room and room for a slightly thicker sock which is good for riding in cooler temps. My road and mtb shoes are a tighter fit and only allow for a thin sock.

 

[blastguardgear]

I am fortunate to have fairly narrow feet, and so can't comment on your first issue, but regarding insulated bottles; I don't bother. The insulation reduces the capacity of the bottle, and I've found I'd rather have more water available than colder water. Drinking warm water doesn't bother me; it just needs to be wet and available in sufficient quantity to prevent dehydration.

 

[thepieeatingjay]

I find my Giro's to have plenty of room, however, I recommended them to someone else and they said they were too tight. Shoe's are tricky, might be best to go in and try some on and get a feel for different brands.

As for the water bottle. I'm a camelbak podium big chill user. I usually fill it about 1/3rd of the way full and then throw it in the freezer. Even in the Phoenix heat, I usually still have a bit of ice left after the first hour. If I'm going to be out for longer, I'll take a second one that has been frozen with a sport drink powder...usually frozen 2/3rds of the way, and that will give me a cold drink for another hour or so.

 

[shadowsupernature]

Drinking warm water may not be as satisfying going down, but it's much better for your body, especially when you're hot. In the Middle East, when we gave bottled water to native workers and soldiers, they would always set them in the sun to heat up. They didn't do it because they preferred the taste, they did it because they believed (with cultural evidence) that drinking ice cold water would make them sick, even kill them under the extreme heat of summer. I adopted their habit and haven't died yet

 

[namestakensuck]

Even the giro HV shoes have a pointed toe, but they do stretch. I wish they would make shoes with a toe box like some keen footwear has. The clog type toe.

 

[lectraplayer]

I know cold water (for me) is hard to drink. It also gets painful if you are not careful,

 

[ABNPFDR]

I've never heard of a ice cold drink killing anyone, even in hot weather. And drinking warm water on a hot day won't help cool you down, however HOT beverages like tea can actually cool you down in hot dry conditions (must be dry, not humid). Drinking a hot beverage can trigger an increase in sweating, which whe evaporating has a better core body cooling effect than drinking iced beverages. When it's humid, the sweat does not evaporate so does not work.

That all being said, the three best insulating bottles I know are made by Camelback, Polar, and Specialized. The polar new insulate the longest but are hardest to squeeze, therefore hardest to drink from. They are also heaviest. The camelback are the easiest to squeeze but they don't last very long and I don't like the valve much. Specialized are the performance compromise between the two but they are the most expensive.

As far as shoes go, having fit lots of people to shoes, I sell far more of the Shimano shoes in wides than any other brand. It's almost worthless to carry any others as the customer almost always goes with Shimano.

 

[swampy1970]

I wear size 12 shoes and have wide feet. I bought "Pearl iZUMi Men's X-Road Fuel II Cycling Shoe" off Amazon in a size 13 and I can wear them but I would rather have a better fitting shoe.

Also what is the best water bottle for keeping the water cool. My "Glacier" brand insulated bottles are good for about an hour before the ice is gone

Pretty much all the major cycling shoe brands do the wider sizes.

I live near Sacramento and often face 100+F days. I find that the Polar bottles work fine. If you mix your drinks the evening before (water and carb 'stuff' - no ice) and leave about 1" from the top, let it fully dissolve and then stuff all but your first bottle in the freezer then leave over night. Some of my longer rides require 3 to 4 bottles, so on a 4 bottle ride I'll stuff 3 in the freezer and the first one I'll drink I'll make the regular way and add ice cubes. A frozen pre-mixed bottle stays pretty much solid for an hour, icy cold for 2 and only starts getting a bit on the warm side after 3 to 3.5 hours.

 

[Froze]

The Polar bottle has the best insulation of any of the soft sided bottles, but there are some stainless steel vacuum jobs that do way better but they're a little more difficult to get the fluid out while riding at the same time. When I lived in the Mojave Desert of California I could ride with 3 Polar bottles in 90 plus degree weather with all 3 bottles spending 24 hours in the freezer with one of the bottles I froze with my drink in the bottle for 24 hours, right before I left the house I would take the 2nd bottle out of the freezer and was then filled with chop ice and packed down till no more ice would go in then I would pour chilled drink into it, the take the third bottle out of the freezer and filled it with regular size ice cubes and poured chilled drink into it The bottle with just the ice cubes stayed cold for an hour to an hour and half, that's cold not cool, the second bottle would last about another hour and half, then the last bottle would last another hour and be nice and cold, so the last bottle would survive with the drink at least cool for 4 hours. But buy either the all white one or the platinum one, the other colors are darker and will absorb more heat into the bottle. These bottles are heavier than other bottles, especially the 24 ounce so they can jump out of your water bottle cages if the cages are not strong. I never had any problems with Bontrager RL, Lezyne Alloy, or Chris King Stainless, I'm sure there are others that up to the task but those are the ones I used that worked.

There is a product called Maxchill which I've never used because it wasn't invented yet when I lived in the Mojave Desert, but wrap the Maxchill around a bottle then soak it with water, the foam is thin enough to fit into a cage. You can re-wet anytime your on a ride too. http://www.maxchill.com/Home.html

Shoe wise Sidi makes wide versions called Mega as does Shimano, Lake, Northwave, and Specialized. Also Louis Garneau makes a shoe called the CFS-150 that Performance sells that you stick the shoes in the oven at 150 degrees for I think 5 minutes but obviously read the instructions, then while they're warm you put them on and let them mold to your feet. They are remoldable as often as you like, and they will remold to wide feet, problem feet, flat feet, high arch feet, etc.

 

[joshposh]

I can't comment on the shoes cause I never buy them. I just use cross trainers and those are fine. However I find that if you fill up any jug with water and throw it in the freezer over night. You will be able to carry it around on long rides, and eventually when you do go to drink it, some of it will be melted and it will be ice cold.