Shoe sizw and clipless pedals

I was having a lot of foot problems when I came back from the concussion because the medications have a strong effect on the front half of each foot. Plainly my shoes were not wide enough around the toe box.

So I bought a set of Lake shoes from Nashbar. I went to the Lake site and followed their recommendations for a proper 11.5 fit and they seemed fine except it was always difficult to get in and out of the clipless pedals. I SORT of got used to it but I would always miss the pedal at the most inappropriate times. Like pulling a foot out on a 16% grade.

One of the group I ride with for reasons unknown gave me a brand new set of Sidi Genius. He said that they didn't fit him so who knows?

In any case lately I've been wearing the Sidi's and I can hit the pedal 90% of the time without any problems. So I was looking at the Lake box again and the damned things are for Size 13 feet!!! This means that I cannot pull the cleats far enough back to get them in the correct spot on my foot to hit the pedal correctly.

Now, Lakes are shoes with a large toe box and you don't get sores on your toes from them. But they also cost almost as much as a Sidi new so buying them new would be rather pointless just to get the correct size. Normal Sidi's are soft leather and after a short while conform to your feet so they don't give you sore feet. Lakes must be the correct size since the last seems to be made extremely tough.

Since we have a pretty representative group here that use high end bike shoes why don't you tell us your experience with the different brands of bike shoes?

My Pearl Izumi road shoes were very tight across the toes but the MTB shoes were fine.

My Shimano road shoes always felt too large everywhere except the toes.

My Park shoes would probably be very acceptable if they were the correct size. By the way, I have a brand new in the box set of CX175 of size 13 for $100.

The Sidi's are very nice after a pretty short break-in period.