[BdaGhisallo]

I have had custom shoes from five different makers over the last 25 years. Some have been great but most were terrible - for various reasons.

I started with a pair of Lamsons in 1998. I did the fit kit by myself and didn't go a very good job of it. Those shoes didn't fit well and never got worn.

I tried Bart Sheldrake's LUST shoes in 2003. Neither shoe fit and each shoe had a different curvature on the cleat mounting area, neither of which matched the curvature of any cleat then on the market!

I decided to give Don Lamson another try in 2012 and combined a trip to NY with a visit to a guy in NJ that did fittings for him. This turned out to be the most successful effort to that point. The shoes fit pretty well, though I did have to send them back a few times to Don to get the toeline adjusted. I have a very wonky shaped foot and, with Don guesstimating the 3 dimensional shape of the foot, that took a few attempts. In 2014, I flew out to Eagle Co to have Don fit me in person to see if I could get a better outcome.

The process was hit or miss, though. Don made me 7 pairs of shoes over a three year period as I searched for a comfortable fit - two of which I was able to use. My first pair seemed wrong the moment I put them on as my toes were so crushed into the toe box that I couldn't keep them on for more than 5 mins much less consider riding in them.

The resulting shoes weren't perfect, but they were the best result I'd achieved, and I ended up using a single pair of Powerwires for 11 years. They were the fourth pair out of the seven that he made.

In 2017 I tried a pair of David Simmons' carbon shoes. I again did the fitting and though they were a good fitting shoe, they were way too tight to use for daily use. I could barely get them on and off - they were that snug. I guess that's great for the British track cycling team he was making lots of shoes for, but not so much for everyday riding.

After using my D2 shoes for 11 years, I worried about something happening to them and being up the creek. I had glued them back together and repaired the straps too many times. They were very loose and sloppy and they needed replacement, so last spring I made a trek to see Brad Harper in TX to have him fit me for some new shoes. My wife and I had both wanted to visit NOLA and my wife had wanted to check out Austin so we combined all three.

I am about to take delivery of my third pair of Riivos. Finally, after 25 years and more than a few thousands of dollars spent, I have cycling shoes that are actually shaped the same as my foot! The fit of these shoes is fantastic. After riding my old and sloppy D2's for so long, the snugger fit of the Riivos took some getting used to. I even had to change my sock wardrobe. I realized that the relatively thick Swiftwick Aspire socks I'd been using had been acting as a gasket of sorts to improve the fit and take up space. That wasn't needed for the Riivos so I ended up trying some Defeet EVO and Silca socks, both of which were much thinner, and they both work a treat.

Brad's fitting was the first time I'd had a proper 3D casting of my foot done and it makes all the difference. I think it's the only way to get a truly custom product.

For anyone looking for custom shoes - truly custom and not just shoes modified to try and suit your feet - seek out a maker than does 3D molding of your feet and have them do the molding. That's the only way you'll get the best result.