Shoes for wide feet

[Ray Varella]

Not 650B specific but given the nature of list members to ride mixed surfaces and dismount on trails, I am looking for shoes that can be trail friendly, walkable and used on the bike.

I have rather wide feet and they are both different sizes so most off the peg shoes are too narrow or only fit one foot well.

I still use clips and straps since I can use my comfortable shoes for riding.

This is fine for 50 miles or so but it has been many years since I've used cycling specific shoes.

I'm not opposed to trying spd shoes, especially if I am able to use them with regular pedals as well.

Fellow wide footers, what have been your experiences.

Thank you,

Ray

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[Brad]

I have had very good luck with Keen Austin Pedal shoes.  They were not in the US market last fall, but were still available in Britain according to the web.  
 Stiff but walkable sole. 

[HillDancer]

I have a wide forefoot, splayed toes, and high instep.  SIDI Dominator Mega in + .5 had the volume for my high instep, but the end of the toe box was somewhat narrow, the lugged sole was just ok for walking.  I tried many, many, clipless shoes, the SIDI Mega was closest in adequate width.  I would have gone full custom if I could afford it.  I gave up on clipless, and now ride flat (platform) pedals with truly wide flat sole shoes.

Merrell Roust Fury is a shoe I wear often.  I doesn't have a wide label, but true to most Merrell shoes, it is wide.  The toe box shape would probably work with clips.  The mid-sole is fairly stiff, yet works very well as a walking-around shoe, and the Roust Fury is good looking as casual wear.  It's well ventilated too.  Cost is very reasonable at backcountry.com.

For wide feet it's best to use a wide pedal, Deity TMAC pedals are my favorite so far.

 

[Ray Varella]

As Brad pointed out, the Keen Austin Pedal shoe seems to be discontinued, even on the Keen site.

I went to the local REI and tried on the Keen Austin, which I hope has the same fit as the Austin Pedal,

found a pair of Pedal shoes on eBay which appeared unused, got them for a great price and I'll give them a try.

Thank you everyone.

Ray

 

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Ray Varella

IAABC Parrot Division

Supporting Member

[Nick Payne]

Sidi make some of their shoes in what they call a "Mega" (wide) fitting. I have a couple of pairs of these: http://www.wiggle.com/sidi-dominator-5-fit-mtb-shoe-megawide-fit/.

Nick

[mitch....@gmail.com]

I use clips and straps too for all my riding (or most--I have one single-track mtb with spd pedals). 

For the kind of riding you're talking about where you need comfort and walkability I like the lower end Shimano spd touring shoes. For some reason, Shimano does a good job of this. These are good because the soles tend to be flexier and better for walking and I have used them for commuter days when I'm walking in them all day and they feel like a regular casual shoe for that. They are probably not stiff enough for hard-core spd click-in use but that's ok since I'm not clicking in. Meantime, they are plenty stiff for use with ordinary quill pedal use so you don't feel the pedal edge, they are slimmer, less bulky and easier in and out of toe clips than most casual shoes, and the low-end Shimano shoes are plain colors that blend in as casual shoes and don't make people ask why you're wearing cycling shoes. 

I choose from among the cheapest or lightest or least objectionable of these:

http://www.shimano-lifestylegear.com/us/fw/products/tour/index.php 

Since they are not expensive, they also have the advantage of being expendable and comfortable for the long walk out if you have an unfixable issue on the trail somewhere. Trail riding can destroy cycling shoes if you have to walk much and it's nice not to destroy expensive shoes. Inexpensiveness might also mean you could buy two pair to satisfy your different sized feet. 

I'm not sure how Shimano is on fitting wide feet (mine aren't wide) but the flexy low-end spd shoe idea might work in general. This is because there are only a few of us left still using clips and straps and having a thin but stiff sole on a non-bulky shoe is an advantage for that. A lot of people have moved effectively to flat pedals with no retention where these features don't matter, but for clips and straps they still do. 

Most of my road riding is done with slot cleats for pull-back and pull-up, but for trails and mixed surfaces you mention, I don't mind going without the cleat. 

--Mitch

[RiderM-NYC]

Critical point is how much walking you do, and the terrain.

Merrells come in wide. I find them good for tours with platform pedals, carrying only one pair of shoes. 

When I wore SPD I used Giro lace-ups, which are very comfortable. I'd take them on S24Os as my sole pair of shoes but I found that the bottoms wore out very quickly. (They are replaceable.)

Sidi and Lake also run wide.

On Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 3:02:31 PM UTC-4, Ray Varella wrote:

[Jon Doyle]

My feet are also fairly wide. I do long rides in Giro Code mtb shoes. If spending significant time off-bike, I'll change into SoftStar Dash Runamocs. They're lightweight, flexible things; like baby shoes for big feet. They take up hardly any space in my luggage.

I've toured in just the SoftStar shoes on huge platform pedals (VP Vice, pins removed). That worked, feet didn't hurt after two 120 mile days; but I wished for some retention off-road. Hold Fast-style straps probably would solve that.

And finally, I do a lot of commuting/errand riding in wide Altra running shoes on SPD/platform pedals (Shimano PD-780). Very comfortable combo for me.

On Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 3:02:31 PM UTC-4, Ray Varella wrote:

[Steve Dass]

For SPD type shoes Sidi "mega", as others have mentioned, and North Wave fit my feet well.Standard Sidi's were too narrow.

 

I have switched to platforms w/threaded pins and 5Ten shoes and that combo has very good grip even for full on mountain biking and are very comfortable.

[Justin Hughes]

Lake makes models in wide versions. I like my Lake CX shoes a lot. 

[Brad]

from Keen

MAR 16, 2016  |  02:04PM PDT
Hi Bradford,

The Austin and Austin cycling styles are built on the same Last and should have a similar fit and feel. Like with all things little tweaks by the design team can influence the fit that you notice but the Austin would be your best choice for a street shoe that can be used for cycling. Hope that helps and let us know if you need anything further.

Kind regards,

Thomas
KEEN, Inc.​
1.866.676.KEEN (5336)
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  |   |   | 
MAR 13, 2016  |  01:08PM PDT
Original message
Bradford wrote:

I have a pair of Keen Austin cycling shoes.
I might want another pair.
I use toe clips so the plug for clipless is unneeded.
Is the construction of the Austin walking shoe otherwise the same?

Bradford C. Riendeau
rien...@northnet.org

[Tamaso Johnson]

I've been riding Bont shoes for a couple months and really enjoying them. Coming from Sidi and Giro, the midfoot and toe box are wider and more naturally 'foot-shaped' than traditional dress shoe shaped shoes like Sidi-- this is the primary reason I switched. Bont are also heat moldable which is a huge perk in my opinion because you can just tweak the shape for little hot spots etc. The "Riot" model comes in a walkable sole and is pretty cheap online. I found the sizing to be similar to Sidi, maybe half size small. The insoles are worthless, but than I've found that true of almost all shoes.

[none]

The real benefit of Bont is that for a small upcharge they will sell you two different sized shoes for the left and right.