Me & My Big... FEET!

If you haven't seen the proof of how my feet have been becoming increasingly wider, click on over HERE.  And then the story continues below!

As you may know, I took quite some time before converting to clipless pedals for cycling.  Thanks to the generosity of a fellow triathlon club member, I've been wearing a pair of hand-me-down Northwave triathlon shoes since late last season.  Recently, it became apparent - by the right shoe's strap coming detached from the shoe - that they needed to be replaced.

On the hunt for cycling shoes!

I went to the LBS and picked up a comfortable pair of Bontrager RXL Hilos.  They were reasonably priced and seemed to fit well.  Their virgin voyage was IMLP training camp; 112 miles on the first trip!  They worked well until I started the second loop.  Then I noticed the ball of the foot was too narrow and my pinky toe suffered for the entire second loop.  Ouch!!

Return to the LBS.

I hesitantly switched the Bontrager RXL Hilos for the Pearl Izumi Tri Fly IV.  The correct size Tri Flys were not wide enough, but I tried on a single size bigger and thought they might work.  In actuality, the store owner told me "Go home and try them out.  The worst case scenario is that you bring 'em back."  True!  So I did.  I just did a 10-minute trainer ride and they will not work.  They might be wide enough, but they are obviously too long for my size foot and the arch feels weird.

For the rest of my trainer ride, I switched back to the Northwaves and they felt great!  So now that I've exhausted the supply at the LBS, I may go online to search out the Northwave Tribute or Extreme Tritahlon shoes.

The LBS owner did admit that cycling shoes simply do not come in wides, or if they do it's rare.  Maybe that's the next thing that will happen.  Most big running shoe companies now have shoes in various widths or at least wide models.  Next up, cycling shoes!

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Questions
1.  Do you know of any triathlon cycling shoes that come in wide?, or at least are generally wider than others?

2.  What cycling shoes do you use?  Do you swear by one brand/model?

3.  Does anyone else have issues getting shoes?  
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one.


Dream.  Believe.  Achieve.