Bont Shoes -- experiences...fit...?

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I have a love/hate relationship with my men's LG CFS-300 road shoes. They are about the best fit I have found, but are still a bit narrow once my feet swell (which happens on any longer, warm weather ride). I am stuck wearing thin socks, too. It's not so much that the upper is snug as it is the base of the shoe is too narrow, so my feet spill over and I get hot spots and cramping around my peroneal tendons area (particularly on my wider/larger right foot). I have the mtn bike version of the shoe (the T-Flex 300), which seems to run short and I may bump up a size in these (though it's a relatively big bump, since they only do full sizes until maybe 41.5 and I currently wear a 40, so I'd have to jump to a 41). I like the mtn. shoes, since the toe area still bends a bit and they are awesome for CX races. I also don't generally ride off-road long enough for the cramping to set-in, though being able to wear a heavier sock would be nice.

I'm sorta looking at Bonts, at least for my road shoes. When I use their fit wizard thingy it recommends a men's 40 WIDE for me. There are definitely no deals to be had in this size (and, jeebuz, some Bont models are $$$), so I wonder if the regular width 40 might work, since Bonts are already a wider toe-box shoe.

Any experience with these...?

[OakLeaf]

I don't know about Bont, but you might also look at Lake. No idea if the new Lake shoes fit the same as the old ones, but they're keeping the old model numbers and also coming out with a CX-specific shoe next month. The old ones at least had a very square toe box, the new ones are still available in wide, best fit I've found for my flippers.

[ny biker]

I like my Bontrager shoes, but I was only looking for something wider in the toe box than Sidi, since my feet often fit in regular-width shoes.

At a minimum, there is a 30-day guarantee, so you can return them if you wear them and then decide you don't like them. And there might actually be a 60-day guarantee period on the shoes -- check with the dealer.

I have these:

http://www.bontrager.com/model/09597

I do find that I can't fasten the Velcro straps all the way over as they are shown in Bontrager's photo. I need them looser than that.

The buckle is very easy to loosen while riding if my feet swell on a hot day.

I usually wear pretty thin socks -- DeFeet Aereator or Wooleator. I haven't tried my Woolie Boolie socks in the new shoes yet.

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This is the thing...all the reviews I read of my current shoes is that they tend to run on the wide side. I tried a pair of Northwaves back in the day, since everyone said they run wide, but found the only thing wide on those to be the heels. I'm guessing all WSD shoes are off the table. A women's medium is a B and I am at least a D width (men's medium -- I even wear men's Nike Free running shoes, because the women's are vise-like), if not a EE. My husband wears a men's 11 (4 full sizes than my sizing in men's shoes) and his foot is only 6mm wider than mine. I have flippers.

[OakLeaf]

Well if you can wear Nike Free at all, your feet are way narrow compared to mine. :p I have to go up one size in freakin' Lems to get them wide enough. My running shoes are men's EEEE at least two sizes too long. But I can wear Lake.

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Well if you can wear Nike Free at all, your feet are way narrow compared to mine. :p I have to go up one size in freakin' Lems to get them wide enough. My running shoes are men's EEEE at least two sizes too long. But I can wear Lake.

And Nike Frees are relatively wide -- or at least they were until recently. I could wear the Free Run+ 3 in women's, but when they discontinued that shoe and replaced it with the Free 5.0 they completely changed the fit. The sole is the same, but the upper is WAY narrower. Fortunately the men's fits about like the women's used to fit. Not sure how the Free 4.0 or 3.0 fit. I had always heard those were narrower. I must say I miss my NB 902s. They came in wides and the women's wides were WIDE! Then NB changed all their lasts from SL-1 to PL-1 and I haven't had any luck with any of their shoes since. The NB Minimus line looks interesting, but is super narrow and curved. My feet are freaky straight.

In regular shoes I live in Keens and Dansko. Dress shoes...forget it!

[ny biker]

And Nike Frees are relatively wide -- or at least they were until recently. I could wear the Free Run+ 3 in women's, but when they discontinued that shoe and replaced it with the Free 5.0 they completely changed the fit. The sole is the same, but the upper is WAY narrower. Fortunately the men's fits about like the women's used to fit. Not sure how the Free 4.0 or 3.0 fit. I had always heard those were narrower. I must say I miss my NB 902s. They came in wides and the women's wides were WIDE! Then NB changed all their lasts from SL-1 to PL-1 and I haven't had any luck with any of their shoes since.

Why do they do this??? WHY WHY WHY??? I wore NB running shoes for decades, literally, and loved them. After my ankle surgery they were the only shoes I could wear without pain. And then suddenly they changed the lasts so that now they all feel like there are big rocks under the balls of my feet. I had to get rid of a nearly-new pair of shoes that cost something like $130 because they hurt so much.

I did eventually find one pair of NB cross trainers that I can still wear. I don't run, just need good support for long walks and gym workouts, so the cross trainers are okay for me. But they are leather, not the airy mesh of the running shoes, so my feet get hot in them. I went back to the NB store to see if they had a more-mesh shoe with the same last, but they didn't have anything. Boo.

I tried some Nikes (Air Pegasus maybe?) and they seemed okay at first but after wearing them a while I developed terrible pain in my left foot from having my toes crammed into shoes that were too narrow. Even the wide version was too narrow. Though I had never had pain from my Sidis before, once the Nike caused my left foot to hurt the Sidis made it hurt, too. Which is how I wound up with the Bontragers.

BTW I do prefer the D width for the NB shoes. I might be able to get away with the regular width, but I like to give my feet plenty of room when I'm working out.

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BTW I do prefer the D width for the NB shoes. I might be able to get away with the regular width, but I like to give my feet plenty of room when I'm working out.

Yup, I lived in size 8D NBs for years. I didn't have to do any creative lacing to give myself more forefoot room. Now I often do goofy lacing to allow my forefoot more room in running shoes.

[ny biker]

Just wanted to update this thread -- I am having a quality issue with the Bontrager shoes. The insides of my heels tend to hit the crank arms sometimes when I pedal (I am a toe-out kind of person). This was not a problem with my old Sidi shoes, which show a couple of scuff marks but nothing serious. However with the Bontrager shoes, which I've had less than six months, the outer shell of each shoe has worn away where they hit the crank arms. I will post photos later.

I took them to the LBS where I bought them yesterday, and was told that it was a fit issue. I could not get the manager to agree with me that there was also a quality issue with the shoes, and that it is not reasonable to expect me to either ride with shoes that have holes in them or buy another pair after less than six months. I will raise the issue again when I go back for another fitting, and if necessary I will go to Bontrager directly because I feel this is a defect with the shoe.

In the meantime, I do not recommend Bontrager shoes unless they are literally the only ones that fit your feet.

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Bont ≠ Bontrager (Bonts are handmade in Australia and in no way connected to Trek). But I'm probably going to stick with my LGs and not dump $$ on Bonts. DH stopped at a shop about an hour away that sells Bonts and they are essentially getting away from the brand, since their service is SO awful. And after reading around on the 'net it seems like this is a pretty universal experience. They also have had some major quality control issues over the years that seem to have improved, but there are still pretty recent complaints floating around. Apparently this shop has been waiting for over a year for some replacement part for a customer's shoe. I had a broken strap on my LG shoes when I crashed a few months ago and LG sent me replacement straps for both shoes in a matter of days. When the straps turned out to be the wrong ones for my shoes they made sure to send the correct ones immediately.

[ny biker]

Okay. Then ignore everything I have said in this thread.