Need more toe room
 

I ordered and received the Shimano SH-RX801 shoes. These are seriously nice, well made and light. However, they squish my toes. Who makes a mountain/gravel type shoe with more toe room? I don't need more overall volume, just wider in the toe box.

Thank you in advance.

Jeff

Lake.. great thread on them today and yesterday.. do a quick scan of the first page or two of general discussion..

I heard the 8 series are more narrow than the 9 and 7.

I think the issue, as I've read, with Shimano is even their wides don't vary the footbed.. they only increase the upper width.. so your foot could feel like it's "hanging over the side" of the footbed..

Idk if this is true, or just my perception, but my old specialized shoes felt like they had way more toe room than my Giros or NW. It was my least favorite thing about them actually. Might be worth trying

Custom Luck.

https://www.luck-bike.es/gb/

The s-works recon is pretty toe-wide 2.5mm or something wider than last gen. I got wides and was floating around a bit combined with their slightly longer last.

Seriously, disregard the light and well made parameters.
Unfortunately this is very similar to saddle advice.
And take it this from experience, you’re foot does change it’s print with time.
Futz with it till you get it , but that may change as well.
By

Bont has good width in toe area, with normal overall volume. They are actually shaped like a human foot (there's a novel idea). I wear same size in both shimano and Bont. Avoid Fizik, unless they've redesigned their shoes over the last couple years.

I have wide forefoot and narrow heal. Tried few shoes, including older Shimano and sidi mega and was not happy with either. I’ve had good luck with specialized. I think they are moving more toward the Bont, without the moldable thing

I like a wide toe box and a nice grippy heel. Specialized shoes have never let me down, particularly in conjunction with their line of insoles. Perfect fit for me, every time. I think they are worth a shot for you and are easily available used if you want to give some a try for less $$.

Everywhere I looked said Lakes for wide but I couldn't justify the price for my first road shoes. I tried UDogs based on a review that said the toe boxes were wide and haven't been disappointed. I need them for preventing bunions. For reference, I wear Altras for hiking/running shoes and can no longer wear Vans, Converse, Nikes... most off the rack shoes.

My experience is the older Shimano 9 series roads were wider...but the new Phyre's are not. I want to try specialized but the ones I like require an account in the Caymans....Bonts felt sloppy.....Sidis are for Skinny Italian feet....even the wide sizes. It is a problem....I also wear Topo's and Altra's all the time. WHY do companies make shoes with such pointy toes....Ina world wherre everything is ergo and size driven (ie. Bikes).....Makes no sense.

Last year, I got a pair of Lamson shoes. See the top banner. They were the price of a mid-range set of carbon wheels, but I did the custom fit session with Don in AZ while my wife was doing an equestrian event an hour away. I have neuropathy in both feet, and some nerve damage in my left leg (20 deployments), and the shoes are my best cycling investment yet. I went with two-bolt cleats and put SPD pedals on my main road bike.

Sidi's Mega sizing has a wide toe box.

Lake makes wide shoes.

the RX801 are more road shoe in fit than other mtb shoes. I have the XC901 and they are quite roomy in the toe box. Have not tried the new XC902 but if it's anything like the RC902 compared to the RC901, the fit got narrower

The Lake Competition last features a wider toe box, but is not wider in the heel. I use them and love them. I don't run unless there's a fire, but I wear Altra Superiors if that's of help.

I've been using Specialized/S-Works mountain shoes for ~18 years specifically because they check off all ^^^those boxes. Been through three different pairs and they all fit better than any of the SIDI Megas that I've owned or tried.

My Lake MX238 shoes arrived today! They fit very well with plenty of toe room. I did not think that I would spent so much on new cycling shoes but they seem worth the price. Thank you all for your input.

Yeah the one I got were more narrow.

Bont and Lake, but in the WIDE sizes only.

That's a whole lotta consecutive posts for one day. Makes sense now --classifieds.

Sure does. I have found this very cheap shoe stretch device works wonders to adapt cycling shoes that are almost-but-not-quite:

https://www.amazon.com.au/KevenAnna-...fbe772630&th=1

Everyone's feet are different, but Lake wides were not wide in the toe. They were voluminous, but the taper of the toe box still meant my pinkie toe was squished.

I ended up with with wide Specialized Recons for more toe room. I believe only the Recon 2.0 and S-Works offer a wide variant.

UDog

https://udog.cc/

Great toe box width with normal proportions through the mid foot and heel.

I have to wear wide toe box shoes cause Vans and Chuck Taylor’s ruined my feet through my 20s-30s. Altras for sneakers/hikers and UDogs for riding.

Bont in Wide works really well for me

I have a set of Shimano gravel shoes in wide that I sized up half a size or so. They work ok for my wide feet but I haven't ridden with them for more than 4-5hrs at a time.

I have wide forefeet with a small Taylor's bunion and have tried different combos of 'wide' model shoes, footbeds, etc and the low to zero drop style shoes with a wide toe box has been the single best solution.

Why can't a bike shoe company catch up with the times like running and trail shoes and start offering actual footshape (e.g., wide toe box) performance shoes, rather than just a wide model (e.g., wide at the ankles but still pointy toe shape).

Specialized Recon 2.0
 

I wear Lake CX241 wide road shoes and love them.I tried the Lake MX242 wide mountain bike shoes ands disappointed, they were not wide enough.I looked around and then tried the Specialized Recon 2.0 regular width and they fit great! I didn't evened the wide. I found the Rs-Works Recon to be a bit narrow.The Recon 2.0 revery comfortable and even with only one Boa dial tighten up well and allow my toes to move around. Good luck.

https://udog.cc/blogs/about-us/technology

Attachment 1698079244

Really digging my UDog Tensiones. A rather new company, read about the wide toe box in a shoe review article and decided to try them. 15% off first order. No affiliation, just sharing so more people will learn about them and hopefully help those with foot problems or simply wanting a shoe that is designed like the human foot. Also, would love to see this brand succeed so their shoes stay in business.

I was going to buy Lakes originally but at the price, I didn't want to take the gamble after reading mixed reviews and all the different models of shoes is overwhelming. At under $150 shipped (with the 15% off) I figured I'd try these instead. Glad I did.

Fast forward a few months and I get an indoor trainer so I bought a pair of clearance Shimano RC100s for indoor use because the description mentioned the wider toe box and for $50 with an easy velcro closure I said why not? They arrived and I tried them on and was disappointed. While my big toe seemed less scrunched my pinky toe had no room for movement and was pushing inwards. Returned them right away.

I've been through this trying to find MTB flat pedal shoes for years. Mostly comparing toe boxes in pictures and reading as many reviews trying to figure out what has a wide toe box. There was a pair of Five Tens that was discontinued, a pair of Fiziks that were okay but finally found some lower end Shimanos that about a year ago that work but are now being phased out. Not sure if the new replacement model will have the same generous toe box width. Not sure why there isn't a brand pushing human foot shape tech in MTB as they do it for hiking and trail running. Happy that UDog has done it for road/gravel cycling. Maybe they will make a flat pedal shoe one day.

Well there isn't a single MTB shoe currently that doesn't look like an early 00s era skate shoe meets star wars paratrooper, which as a grown adult I have no interest in looking like. I've found any flat soled vibram trail runner shoe fits better and looks normal usually for less than the cost of MTB brands. Altra Grafton for example work great and the soles are just as good as 5.10s I've tried. I've also had okay luck (on the wide fit) Salomon trail runners, topo athletics, and even Sense of Motion (best foot shape imo, but best suited for mellow XC riding).

I wear Altra Lone Peaks daily and love their width. I’d check out those Grafton (great trail btw) but if the sole is super soft my pins would tear them up pretty quick. Currently using Shimano GR5s which have been great and can be had cheap right now since they came out with a replacement model. They look less like a puffy early 2k skate shoe. Before that I had Fizik tensors but for the price they didn’t last and the toe box was slightly less wide than my current Shimano. Previous to that was 5.10 Freeride Contacts(zero tread under the pedal so the pins grab anywhere) which were great for the toe box but discontinued and the regular Freeriders are slimmer. Mostly ride trail/enduro with a lot of rocks in Vegas so I don’t mind a burlier shoe for protection.

Yep I hear you. The graftons held up great when I rode a lot living in Tucson for about 2 yrs on a set of large Shimano XT flats.

Nice