Cycling Shoes

N

nicolaw

0
I am looking to buy some cycling shoes to wear to my spin/cycle classes I go to at the gym like once or twice week. Any suggestions or tips when buying cycling shoes on brands or anything? I went into my local cycle shop expecting to get FITTED for a shoe, but the woman didn't really seem to know what she was doing and didn't touch the shoe at all, I told her I would think about it before buying them. She also put me in a mens shoe because I have wide feet, and apparently the mens shoes are wider. I mean, it felt ok, but I don't know.

Like when I go to athletes foot to get fitted for my shoes, they seem a lot more confident about their knowledge of the shoe and they ask a lot more questions. Is it ok if they are snug? Because they feel tighter than my sneakers.

Any advice would be appreciated!
 
First, find out what kind of pedal your spinning bike has by asking the spinning instructor. Every pedal I have ever seen on spinning bikes was Shimano SPD. Then, make sure that whatever pedal you are interested in is SPD-compatible.
As a shoe breaks in, it will get a little looser, but as your foot swells from riding, it will get a little tighter. You need to balance these two conflicts in choosing the correct size. A good LBS will be able to do this.

All the major cycling shoe manufacturers make both men's and women's sizes (Pearl Izumi, Shimano, Sidi, Louis Garneau, Lake, etc.).

Any good LBS (local bike shop) should be able to size you correctly. Sounds like you need to find a new LBS. Are there any Performance Bike Shops in your area? REI? Both have a good inventory and good sales staff.
 
Last edited:
yeah the shoes I tried on were Shimano and it felt pretty good, but yeah. For the money i'm paying for the shoe, I don't want to just go by how I think it feels.
I think i will shop around at a few other cycle shops until i feel confident the person knows what they are doing.

I have to buy the cleats separately and the guy told me they will go into the pedals at my gym.

Thanks for the advice.

There is actually a good cycle shop down the road from where I used to work in the city, and it's huge. -->
 
I have a pair of Shimano road shoes, RO85. They have two velcro straps and a ratcheting strap for micro adjustment. I think the current model, the SH-RO86W (women's model) is better than the SH-WR60 because of the ratcheting strap but is also less expensive than the WR60 because the WR60 has an expensive carbon sole which is not needed for a spinning class and isn't necessary for cycling except at a very elite level.
 
oh ok. Is the ratchet hard to work? The woman in the store had so much trouble with it so i was thinking I would want one without it lol.
 
nicolaw said:
oh ok. Is the ratchet hard to work? The woman in the store had so much trouble with it so i was thinking I would want one without it lol.
Click to expand...

They are very easy to tighten - just lift up the tab - a pinch more difficult to loosen. I routinely adjust mine while riding without missing more than 1 revolution. You really had a bad experience with that LBS.
 
Yeah it was the loosening bit she had trouble with. Lol, i am going to another one in the next few days, then if that fails I will go into the city. Hopefully I will have better luck with staff.
 
Bought my shoes today! I went to a LBS recommended by my friend who is a PT and teaches cycle and she got her shoes from there. The guy there actually told me i should be in a mountain shoe for cycle classes, and he really knew what he was talking about and let me walk around in them for a few minutes and felt the shoe and everything. I ended up with these:



They are really comfy. I'm happy now :) Can't wait to try them tonight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top