How tight should cycling shoes be?

Spins · 11-05-2009 01:10PM #1

I just got a pair of tri specific cycling shoes, Shimano TR02's. Got them online (I know, prob shouldn't have, but I did) for a good price. Tried them on and they felt fairly comfy, less room in them than my training (road) shoes. There's plenty of room to wiggle my toes even tho they're right up by the top. A mate just told me that ideally they should be extremely snug all round with no/minimal movement. Should I return them and go a half size down? Thing is I was hoping to use them the next couple of nights ahead of the Valentia Tri next weekend.
In terms of boardsies normal size shoes/runners, how do they compare +/- sizewise to their cycling shoes?
Any thoughts on how tight the shoes should be would be appreciated.

Junior · 11-05-2009 01:14PM

Spins wrote: »

I just got a pair of tri specific cycling shoes, Shimano TR02's. Got them online (I know, prob shouldn't have, but I did) for a good price. Tried them on and they felt fairly comfy, less room in them than my training (road) shoes. There's plenty of room to wiggle my toes even tho they're right up by the top. A mate just told me that ideally they should be extremely snug all round with no/minimal movement. Should I return them and go a half size down? Thing is I was hoping to use them the next couple of nights ahead of the Valentia Tri next weekend.
In terms of boardsies normal size shoes/runners, how do they compare +/- sizewise to their cycling shoes?
Any thoughts on how tight the shoes should be would be appreciated.

They shouldn't be too tight as your feet swell as your exercising so if they are too tight when your feet are normal your going to end up in trouble when your cycling.

ednwireland · 11-05-2009 01:28PM

my cycling shoes are the same size as all my shoes i'm between a 43 and a 44 the cycling shoes are 44 their quite a wide fit and got to say very comfy compared to my old diadora's which were tight and i ended up with pains in my feet !

Spins · 11-05-2009 02:26PM

Thanks, that's given me some comfort, this guy says the following, check out the link after the quote.
"Cycling shoes, and triathlon shoes especially, must fit much tighter than running shoes or daily footwear. There should be no movement of the foot inside the shoe whatsoever."
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/shoes.shtml
What does anyone make of that?

niceonetom · 11-05-2009 02:34PM

Spins wrote: »

Thanks, that's given me some comfort, this guy says the following, check out the link after the quote.
"Cycling shoes, and triathlon shoes especially, must fit much tighter than running shoes or daily footwear. There should be no movement of the foot inside the shoe whatsoever."
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/shoes.shtml
What does anyone make of that?

Your foot sliding around in a cycling shoe can be quite uncomfortable - I've had a bit of ankle pain in the past from wearing my shoes too loose. And it costs power, which is bad.

My advice would be to get shoes that fit you as a running shoe would - dontt go a size smaller - crushing your toes won't make you go faster. Wear the shoes tight though - use the velcro/latch (latches are good) to make sure your foot is anchored and that it's not pulling away from the insoles as you pull up or allowing your foot to roll around in there.

Try em in a shop though - shimano fit quite small while specialized seem to be a more standard fit with more a bigger toebox. Manufacturers do have different ideas of what 44 actually means.

Then buy em on the internet.

richiewhe · 16-06-2011 12:59PM

2 years later but you still helped cheers

kellt · 16-06-2011 01:18PM

if they dont feel comfortable and cannot be adjusted to suit seasons they are probably not suitable. its hard to find a good fit but its trial & error

dx22 · 16-06-2011 02:44PM

All shoes/runners size 10 got my first road shoes (specialized) size 12 this year, feel good to me. Size 10s crushed my feet size 11 v tight and size 12 nice...go figure?!

dermur · 17-06-2011 01:18AM

I made the mistake of buying a pair once which were a little too long because I've got wide feet and a normal fitting pair lengthwise were too tight across the middle of the foot.

Then when I was cycling, I'd have to compensate by strapping them on tight to stop them slipping back and forward. A little too tight and my toes would start to go numb, a little too loose and my foot would be moving around inside the shoe.

As long as you have a good fitting shoe, really snug lengthways and widthways then you shouldn't have any tightening issues.

How tight should cycling shoes be?

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