bike shoes for very high instep and wide foot?

[sluggo]

Can anyone recomend a shoe to accommodate a wide foot with a high instep under $200.

Cheers Bruce

[Xplora]

Try a specialized shoe. I am the same profile you describe and I am getting mine on Wednesday!

[HAKS]

Story of my cycling life! Yet to find suitable shoes due to my small wide feet with a high instep. About to drop $300 on some Bont Vaypor wide's. I've got their low end A3's in normal width and they are too narrow so fingers crossed they wide fit the bill. The only other manufacturer I found with good wide shoes is Lake. I have a pair of their wide CX330s at the moment and they are great width and volume but a little too long. Unfortunately I have the smallest size in their wide model so can't find a solution their either .

I tried specialized normal shoes are they are too narrow for me. They do a wide model in a few of their shoes but I've never got around to getting a shop to actually order some in for me.

[Baalzamon]

I've got a high arch and wide feet. Bonts didn't work for me (2nd toe longer than 1st) Ended up going to the LBS and trying shoes on. I had a higher budget than you tho, I was prepared to lash out upto $400 on shoes when I went in.
Shimano shoes the straps failed to do up even tho the shoe fit. Sales guy sought some help and then brought down a pair of Scott premium road shoes. It has the BOA closure system so accomodates my foot very nicely. I paid $240 for them down from $399
See if you can find a shoe with the BOA closure system

[barefoot]

I have a somewhat short/wide/high foot. My current MTB shoes are Carnacs Escapes (which are regularly cheap on T7), and they're actually too wide/tall, which is extremely unusual for me.

I have the ratchet strap done up to the second last click, and the velcro straps are tight to the point that I'm just about trying to stick hooks to hooks. So they might be a good fit on somebody with even more extreme feet.

I believe there are road variants of the same general shape.

tim

[MarkG]

The older generation Northwaves, ie the Aerlites were always quite popular with wider feet, and they also had a larger toe box.
The newer generation models tho, ie the Evolution and Extreme Tech have more more of a slim line model, so they may not help.

I've got a wider than average foot and have used the Bont Vaypor and the Specialized S-Works with no real issue.
The LG range are sposed to be pretty decent too.
The other thing you may wanna consider is a different insole. The G8 soles are customisable in the foot arch area and easy to trim and adjust to suit.

If you're in Perth, check out Committed Cycles as they sell the G8 insoles.

EDIT : under $200 rules out the Vaypor and the S-Works tho from memory there's some Bont A2 and A3 on Wiggle going cheap, and I think you can find some LG pretty well priced in Australia too.

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/apparel/shoes/shoes-road/bont-a-three-road-shoes.html?source=aw&awc=3361_1358209866_2cd0a39d9e163296d6ef27606a710396
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/apparel/shoes/shoes-road/bont-a-two-road-shoes-white.html?source=aw&awc=3361_1358209871_b8adb5ca92a90e81bb004a788a5b5344
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/bont-a-three-shoes/BONTZSHR240?source=UQC

G8 insoles

http://www.g8performance.com/

[takai]

Definitely look at the G8 insoles, they completely changed my shoes, brilliant pieces of kit.

[Baalzamon]

I took the G8 insoles for a ride in my Scott road shoes, lucky I had taken the stock insoles... Within 6km I was stopping and throwing out the G8 insoles and putting the stock insoles back in. My feet don't like em, suspect it was a callous where I was getting pain where I don't get pain with normal insoles. So that is telling me that G8 insole was putting pressure on it, and looking at them, YEP that is what they are doing.

Edit
OOOH just found Cobra 9 custom cycling orthotics made with carbon fibre

[Xplora]

See if you can find a shoe with the BOA closure system

Yep this was definitely the key and why I went Specialized. Bontrager shoes with the strap didn't cut it. BOA seems to provide the snug fit. Like it. I'm also going to be using the "highest arch support" that Spesh does. Was good with the lvl 1 support, was GREAT with the lvl 3.

[HAKS]

Thanks for the G8 link. Will def give a pair a shot with my Bonts.

[sluggo]

Thanks for all the repiies, this will be my first pair of bike shoes so I guess I should keep trying until I find some that work. I will check out the shoes recommended. I cant imagine it will be any easier than finding comfy work boots.
cheers Bruce

[coffeeandwine]

I needed a wider fitting and found that Sidi make a wide fitting known as "Mega" (not all styles).

I picked up some Sidi Genius 5 Pro Mega (ratchet closure) and they are brilliant. Tried them on (one thing you can't do on-line) at a large bike shop in Melbourne and bought them there.

Much better fit than my old basic shimano's

If you know your size, wiggle have some on special for $126 but limited sizes.

[G8Performance]

[quote="Baalzamon"]I took the G8 insoles for a ride in my Scott road shoes, lucky I had taken the stock insoles... Within 6km I was stopping and throwing out the G8 insoles and putting the stock insoles back in. My feet don't like em, suspect it was a callous where I was getting pain where I don't get pain with normal insoles. So that is telling me that G8 insole was putting pressure on it, and looking at them, YEP that is what they are doing.

Baalzamon, would love to know what went wrong with your G8's. Maybe it was the set up. I don't get much negative feedback so would like to have the opportunity to address the issue and have a shot at fixing the problem. If your feet don't work with the G8's this is the info I need for gen II of the product.

[MarkG]

oh baby!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 405&type=1

[HAKS]

So glad I haven't ordered the current vaypors yet. Will def be keen to see pricing and availability on the new model. Def perfer a BOA type closure system after having it on my current Lake shoes.

[Dr_Mutley]

Sluggo,
Initially, find a pair of cycling shoes that fit the dimensions of your feet, ie width and length, comfortably.

U will never address your arch issues with an out of the box shoe... Try some customizable, off the shelf inner soles first, like the G8s. They are relatively cheap, reasonably customizable, and with some trial & error, you should get a pretty good result.

IMO some will not do well with off the shelf version if they have particular pathologies, such as calluses or bunions from previous poor fitting footwear. I'm summizing from baalzamon's post above, a localized callus in a weightbearing position is probably making a "corrective" inner sole difficult, and painful to wear. Without some attention to this pathology (ie debriding) and/or custom inner soles, comfort is always going to be difficult. You may end up only getting a good, corrective, and comfortable result from an expensive, fully custom made inner sole.

[MarkG]

So glad I haven't ordered the current vaypors yet. Will def be keen to see pricing and availability on the new model. Def perfer a BOA type closure system after having it on my current Lake shoes.

New Vaypor due out March / April, but I'd expect them to be north of $500 again like the Vaypor were when the came out.

[HAKS]

So glad I haven't ordered the current vaypors yet. Will def be keen to see pricing and availability on the new model. Def perfer a BOA type closure system after having it on my current Lake shoes.

New Vaypor due out March / April, but I'd expect them to be north of $500 again like the Vaypor were when the came out.

Considering how much trouble I've had with shoes i'm more then happy to fork out that amount if it means comfort.

[Baalzamon]

Baalzamon, would love to know what went wrong with your G8's. Maybe it was the set up. I don't get much negative feedback so would like to have the opportunity to address the issue and have a shot at fixing the problem. If your feet don't work with the G8's this is the info I need for gen II of the product.

My feet are too wide for the G8's, and there is an edge pushing up into my foot.
Every foot is different hence I'm most likely resorting to either custom shoes or a custom cycling orthotic.

[Xplora]

I've got a trip to the bike shop in order, my Specialized Experts are absolutely killing me. Lateral arch is bad on the right side, big hot numb spot under my left transverse arch. Any advice on how long before shoes "wear in" for cycling? I'm comparing these to Shimmy MT42s