This is my first post, so hi everyone! I would love some advice re. choosing some road shoes to go with some Shimano PD-SL pedals my lovely boyfriend got me for my birthday. I've been cycling with him for a while now, gradually collecting bits of gear as I could afford them. Anyway the time has now come for me to try clipless pedals, but I'm not sure which shoes to go for.

Are dedicated ladies shoes really necessary? I'm not sure how easy it is to get mens in my size (5.5-6) And should the fit be similar to normal shoes, or vastly different? (ie. should I go up/down a size?) And of course they have to look nice as well... Although possibly not too flashy- my boyf's family have been cycling/racing for years and I am definitely the newbie!

Any recommendations would be very much appreciated.

womens shoes have a narrower last and heel meaning they will fit you better. Look at the Specialized range, I really like my motodiva's very comfy, though they do some cracking shoes lower down the range that are just as nice.
You should go for shoes that fit you, but you'll find that different makers will fit differently and the sizes will vary.
Go to a reputable LBs and try the shoes out there ( and buy them there too if the services has been spot on!).

I've seen the Specialized shoes online - they only seem to do one model of ladies road shoes though (Torch), and they go on so much about them being narrow that I thought they might be too much so! You're right, only thing to do is go and try them - trouble is I don't know the bike shops in my area at all. I used to go to one near my boyfriend's parents (we used to meet up there when we lived a long way apart) I live in Durham now - found the only bike shop here the other day, who had never sold shoes as small as a size 6! I shall have to explore the suburbs of Newcastle - I believe there is a branch of Edinburgh Bicycle Coop in Byker.

I like the look of Shimano RO99W - have seen quite cheap at UK Bike Store.co.uk, but are these (or the Specialized Torch) too posh for a first pair?

Oh, and have also read good reviews of Diadora Ergo ladies?

I just posted a review on Specialized-Sport-Road-Shoe


I like them. I have found you have to try on HEAPS. Just remember you do not spend allot of time walking in them so be careful about size selection. You don't want to be moving around in your shoe on the bike.

Think about how much time you will be walking around though. Shimano do some (the ones I have) with recessed cleats, so they are right easy to walk across the cafe without going flat on your face.

Don't know about bike shops in Durham, but in Newcastle my old LBS - M Steel - across the road from South Gosforth metro do mtb and roadie stuff. Whilst you're there, there's Cycological in West Jesmond too, just down the road from West Jesmond metro.

You do have to try on loads of shoes though. They should fit closely (so that you don't pull them off when you're pedalling on cleats), which means any little rub is seriously aggravated.

Also, women's Achilles tendons tend to meet the ankle lower on women than on men, and decent women's shoes will be cut down slightly at the back to account for this. And women tend to have narrower heels and wider toes than men for the length of their foot. OR something, it's just that women's feet aren't just like men's but smaller, which is why women specific shoes were invented in all sorts of spor

I personally found the women's Specialized shoes far too narrow, I have a wide forefoot but quite narrow heels and they just couldn't accomodate my forefoot at all. I tried several sizes on and eventually tried the men's just to compare and found they actually fitted me really well - they are very narrow for men's shoes as normally I find men's shoes far too sloppy in the heel. So...try on and try not to buy shoes that force you to go up a couple of sizes to get the width as that can cause problems with cleat placement (been there done that) you shouldn't have loads of space beyond the toes.

Edit: I take a size 39 so some shoes do go down that small though your more likely to find them online unfortunately.

Edinburgh Bike are quite a good shop but you will pay full RRP for anything, though that doesn't bother me as the service is usually quite good. I don't know about the Newcastle one but the main Edinburgh shop actually has quite a good range (and by range I mean a selection of clothing, shoes, colours and maunfacturers rather than the odd pair of shorts stufed away at the back of the shop) of women's stuff though they do tend to sell out of the common sizes quickly.

I find specialized shoes comfy, and I have wide feet. Although only certain models. The only thing to do is try loads on and get the ones that fit the best.

Thanks for all the advice ladies - finding an actual shop to visit seems to be the way forward! I think we're going over the the Lakes this weekend for a spot of walking, should get a chance for a rummage in the Lakeland Pedlar in Keswick while we're there. I won't have a chance to get to Newcastle till the week after, but will let you know how I get on.

In the meantime, if anyone else has a particular shoe to recommend, please do!

Not sure There is much else to say that other haven't already - try loads on don't rush into it.

Personally I like Diadora as they seem to be a wider fit, I take a 5.5/6 in a normal shoe and have quite wide feet, with bunions. I have a pair of mens touring size 39(not sure of name got them cheap at one of the cycle bargain one day sales) and womens road size 39 (Geko's). I've tried the Specialized Torch on and they did feel really comfortable, just didn't want to pay that price at the time.

One point to note is that whilst the shoe does need to be a good fit, your feet will swell on long rides in the summer and you need a bit of room for that as well as thicker socks in the winter.

If you can get to an Evans they often have a range although womens all seem to be size 38! they should get other sizes in for you to try though quite easily. Alternatively try online and order a couple of sizes as I did and return the pair I didn't want, it's cheaper than all that driving around.

I have a pair of shimano racing shoes here that i have on test - carbon sole. Watch the member review space for the upcoming review and ill post an article as well.

I used entry level Shimano shoes as my first road shoes and they were ultra comfortable and lasted me for a good 2 years. I was sad to see them go.

What ever you do, don't compromise on comfort. Shoes can make or break a ride.

Well I tried on Shimano RO99W and Specialized torch at the weekend - size 40 was too big in both and they didn't have a 39 in either, although some mens' specialized in a 39 seemed an ok size. I actually wasn't that keen on the torch shoes - even though they were generally too big I could tell the front bit was a much wider fit than the heel - I think the shape would be wring even in the right size. I liked the shimano ones though - have seen them at a good price online so thinking of ordering in a 39.

Hmm.. while hunting around for the Shimano shoes at a good price, I came across some Sidi shoes at pretty nice prices - Zeta mens very bargainaceous, Zeta ladies a tiny bit more expensive, and Genius a bit more than that. Now, I have read some very approving comments on here regarding Sidi shoes - do you think they are worth paying that little bit more for? Specifically, are cheaper-end, non-carbon Sidis likely to be better than carbon soled Shimanos? And are blue or silver Sidis a bit flash for a relative beginner?

Oh, and one more question! Would Sidi shoes fit with Shimano SPD road cleats without buying any extra adaptor bits? The stuff I've read seems a bit ambiguous about that.

Cheers! I'm off back into my lab now...

Hi

I am a newbie cyclist and have just bought a pair of Shimano RO99W Road Shoes as my first pair of proper cycling shoes. I took advice from my hubby who has been cycling for years and has tried various different brands. I can tell you they are dead comfy. I'm a size 5 to 5.5 and I bought size 39 which is perfect. Like you I had been debating for ages and looked at the Specialised Torch and the Diadoras (which are hard to get hold of - so I never got to try them). I bought my Shimano's from Parker International for about £56 last week. You can order and send back if they don't fit, so you've nothing to lose.

I highly recommend them and they look lovely!

Elaine

Thanks Elaine - I did go for the Shimanos in the end - sounds like I made the right choice! Ordered them from Wiggle along with a smart Gore jersey and got 20% off. They arrived the other day and the size 39 seem to fit really well - and as you say they look pretty snazzy (my boyfriend was impressed) I did get to try on the Specialized Torch in the right size in the end (in Evans; but they were a bit rubbish for road shoes I thought - only had a choice of 2) but they just felt the weirdest shape, really uncomfortable.

So now I can't wait to try them out - just need to wait till we have time to retrieve our bikes from my boyfriend's parents house... (we are in Durham; they are in Lancashire - haven't tried cycling in hilly Durham yet - will be a shock to the system I'm sure!)

Update- I still haven't had a chance to try my shiny new shoes out! I now have a bike, but the new spd pedals got left behind! Should get hold of them next week though.

I did, however, ride to work for the first time ever this morning - even managed to get up a hill! Sitting here feeling nicely smug and green (in an environmental sense) More hills on the way back though...

Hello again, just thought I should post an update as I FINALLY got to try out the shimano shoes with cleats and SPD pedals last weekend.

As you may know from some of my other posts I had a short lived period of cycling to work in Durham (on flat pedals) which ended when I was terrorised into falling off by a white van man and my brakes got knackered, then I didn't trust myself to fix them and it took forever until I had time to take my bike to the shop. We got evicted from our flat (landlord didn't pay the mortgage, would you believe!) and I was working in NZ for a month so didn't have much time for biking things!

Boyf and I have now decided to leave our bikes at my parents place in Northumberland, which has loads of quiet roads that are great for cycling, since they were cluttering up our little (new) flat and we kept falling over them, and it was pretty obvious that neither of us was going to use a bike in Durham. Our new place is several busy roads and 2 big scary roundabouts away from work, so I don't much fancy commuting any more.

Anyway I tried out the shoes and pedals in my first clipless pedal session last Sunday. I was terrified at first and introduced myself to one of my parents' neighbours by slowly toppling over in front of her, but one I'd got the hang of it a bit we went for a 5 mile ride and I got on fine. It helped that there was very little traffic, and my boyfriend's tip of "getting into a routine" when stopping really helped - I know I have to take my left foot out first as I find that one more difficult. And the shoes are extremely comfortable, can really feel the ventilation through the front of the sole; feels odd but good, although I'll need some overshoes I think in the winter,

So we're planning lots more trips up north to cycle on the lovely traffic free roads, hear the birdsong, look at the wildlife (we saw 3 deer on Sunday)...

Sorry for rambling!

The Shimano shoes are really comfy, think ease of use is more about the cleats than the shoes! I think it'll get easier when they're a bit more worn in (also I didn't have an alan key small enough to adjust the tightness on the pedals, so that might help) The velcro straps on the shoes are really good, I like them better than having a ratchet as they don't dig in at all to the top of your feet.

Do you find it easy to pick yourself up when you fall off? I got stuck because once I was on the floor I couldn't get my cleat out of the pedal - I had to take my shoe off and then take the shoe off the pedal!

Btw did anybody see the cycling column in the Sunday Times In Gear section yesterday? It was quite nice to see someone talking about learning to use clipless pedals in a national newspaper!