Needing shoe stretch??

Rhino-x said:

Ok, could ask my mother but will ask the forum instead. Bought new shoes, SIDI, and the drama was the 44 was a tight-ish fit and the 45 felt loose. So I bought the 44. Is there a way to strecth the shoes just a little...either at home or a cobbler? I believe as they are good leather it could be done....or are the shoes destined for e-bay.....

dunno. Skaters get a real tight/good fit wearing em in by:
custom-made to foot
wear em without socks (more direct control/feedback)
wear em in wet so they 'mould' more to your foot.

Not sure if the wet-thing could work for you or not?

F"not-a-cobbler"Dutch

Rhino-x said:

Ok, could ask my mother but will ask the forum instead. Bought new shoes,
SIDI, and the drama was the 44 was a tight-ish fit and the 45 felt loose.

Given you want a cycling shoe to be a reasonably firm fit, I'd try wearing
them on short (1-2 hour) rides for a month or so. I know when I got my
Pearl Izumi shoes they were a smidgen tight, and now they're perfect.

If they're *way* too tight, and given the 45 was loose I doubt that, most
cobblers have shoe stretchers.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"Soon we will be able to harness the rotational energy from Orwell's
grave to solve all world energy problems" - GigsVT

Rhino-x said:

Ok, could ask my mother but will ask the forum instead. Bought new shoes, SIDI, and the drama was the 44 was a tight-ish fit and the 45 felt loose. So I bought the 44. Is there a way to strecth the shoes just a little...either at home or a cobbler? I believe as they are good leather it could be done....or are the shoes destined for e-bay.....

Not sure how much you are talking, but I recently bought new shoes & they were tightish on the sides. After using them for the last couple of weeks they have now formed to my feet really well. Could be Im just used to putting my feet through this sort of thing with my rock climbing shoes🙄

Rhino-x said:

Ok, could ask my mother but will ask the forum instead. Bought new
shoes, SIDI, and the drama was the 44 was a tight-ish fit and the 45
felt loose. So I bought the 44. Is there a way to strecth the shoes
just a little...either at home or a cobbler? I believe as they are good
leather it could be done....or are the shoes destined for e-bay.....

If the shoes are leather, they will stretch to your foot. My
experience is I just wear them and over time, they fit great.
I'm going through a similar process with some newish Sidi 45,
they're getting there but some way to go yet.

DeF

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To reply, you'll have to remove finger.

The shoes are a tight fit, very snug, but not uncomfortable. I think if they strechted a half size? they would be perfect. I think I will just suck it up and wear them in, or ride without the inner sole, very short toenails, no socks and only in the morning😄 .

Helpful hits so far....purchase some "shoe stretch" spray, rub alcohol in them, go see a cobbler, sock in warm water then dry while wearing, e-bay, dubin leather softener....

Rhino-x said:

The shoes are a tight fit, very snug, but not uncomfortable. I think if
they strechted a half size? they would be perfect. I think I will just
suck it up and wear them in, or ride without the inner sole, very short
toenails, no socks and only in the morning😄 .

Helpful hits so far....purchase some "shoe stretch" spray, rub alcohol
in them, go see a cobbler, sock in warm water then dry while wearing,
e-bay, dubin leather softener....

It's going to depend on what the shoe is made of. If it's all leather
it'll be easy. If it's got carbon-matt straps etc .. not so easy 🙂.
With ice skates (hockey) which were a mix of various synthetics, hard
plastics, metals and leather, we used to heat them up in an oven and
then put them on to stretch them. Be careful that you don't get them
too hot. It's not a good idea to get them wet, as I understand it.

Don't use dubbin, it rots cotton thread. If you're going to use a
leather softener/treatment, use snow-seal. Any good bushwalking shop
will have it.

Sidi's aren't made from leather (they're lorica) - and they don't stretch
much over the life of the shoe. Sounds like they're destined for ebay to
me!

Gemma_k said:

Sidi's aren't made from leather (they're lorica) - and they don't stretch
much over the life of the shoe. Sounds like they're destined for ebay to
me!

My ice skates weren't leather either, but they stretched a little bit
after being heated.
Enough to make them wearable anyway (hockey skates are like rock
climbing boots, you have them rather ... snug 🙂 )

Random Data said:

Given you want a cycling shoe to be a reasonably firm fit.

I'm not really sure that firm is so good for cycling shoes. I used to get mine fairly firm (so there wasn't any foot movement), and found I'd have trouble with hot feet on long rides.

I've moved up a size, so they're a nice comfy roomy fit, and find that my feet fare much better on long rides. From what I've read, your feet tend to swell a little on a long one, so shoes that are "just right" at the start of the ride can be too tight by the end.

You don't need any finesse or control or anything with a cycling shoe, unlike a ski boot or skate, so they don't need to be too snug.

Cheers,

Suzy

Rhyno,
if the inside is flat enough , try no insole ( if can be removed) or
try using an older insole and use the new sidi insole in another pair
of shoes. You'll gain some room,, which might go partway to roomy
enough to assist during the breakin period.
Like Bleve, i've heard and used the old 'ridem wet" routine, but
only if they're leather, couldn't hurt your options thou. at least
they'll not rot!

Also keep ypur eyes out for some shoe trees, old school shape keepers.
Even better are the ones you can move a bump around on them (allowing
you to shape them to your foot), or those the can be lengthen

rayc (with a monkey)

Rhino-x said:

Ok, could ask my mother but will ask the forum instead. Bought new
shoes, SIDI, and the drama was the 44 was a tight-ish fit and the 45
felt loose. So I bought the 44. Is there a way to strecth the shoes
just a little...either at home or a cobbler? I believe as they are good
leather it could be done....or are the shoes destined for e-bay.....

Leather? There is a product called shoe stretch that has worked for me.

suzyj said:

You don't need any finesse or control or anything with a cycling shoe,
unlike a ski boot or skate, so they don't need to be too snug.

It depends on how much power transfer you want. My "race" shoes get used
mainly for enduro mountain bikes -4, 8, 12, 24 hours, including up to 16
hours in a single push. They fit firmly, but not tightly. If I cinch the
velcro right down, they're tight, and good fun for sprinty type stuff.

My commute shoes are a pair of black suede joggers that just happen to
have cleats in the bottom. They fit like a jogger - comfortable. I seem to
notice my feet feel more tired on long rides because I need to use my foot
to hold the shoe in place a bit more.

I think we're agreeing with each other, but differing on just what
"tight", "firm" and "comfortable" mean.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of
cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses" - Elwood Blues

If you decide to wear/stretch them in, maybe put them on for periods at night while in front of tv/computer?