Shoe shopping

I spend 14-20 hrs/wk in my road shoes, so I consider them one of my most important pieces of equipment. While I have several jerseys and shorts, I have only one pair of shoes. I ride the Sidi Genius 5 Lorica. It's outside your stated price range, but they fit like soft leather moccasins from day one. They are extremely comfortable. If they got stolen today, I'd buy the same shoe tomorrow.

I ride Sidi Genius shoes and swear up and down by them. Just as the previous post states, they do fit like leather moccassins and are oohhhh so comfortable.

Sidi also makes a low-end road show that goes for about $120. I've seen those shoes on sale for around $95-100 all the time. Keep this in mind, most bike shops price match.

The downside of spending less money on a road shoe is that you sacrifice alot. Low-end shoes flex more. Alot of the power that transfers from you leg through to the pedal is lost with a shoe that flexes, so stiffer is better. Also, the stitching isnt as nice, and they might sport shoe laces rather than a strap/buckle system.

One last note, all road shoes are not the same. Different manufacturers cut their shoes differently. Nike's are fairly narrow and the insole is very flat. While Shimano on the other hand is wide. What I would recommend is try on more than one shoe. You will notice differences between brands right away.

Rapdaddyo and StartTday are dead on. Don't be penny-wise and pound foolish. Get yourself a decent pair of shoes. The Sidi Genus are what I have and they are perfect for me... but there are plenty of others that work well too. To save money try getting last years leftovers or go to www.sierratradingpost.com as sometimes they have highend road shoes for 70% off in limited sizes.

Shoes are very important, just like saddles and handlebars.

I went out shopping for shoes last year with my heart set on a pair of DMTs or Pearl Izumis.

After trying them on i changed my mind. They were both nice shoes but they just didn't fit my feet.

I ended up with Sidi shoes and I have also ridden Shimano with comfort

Awesome, thanx everyone.

I looked into Sidi and their lowest "Sidi Dynamic 3" is in price range at $79.95. Anyone reviews on this shoe?