Sidis vs Specialized Shoes

I have both shoes in a mountain bike type. I have been switching between the two lately, and have noticed some differences.

The Sidis conform to the foot more, and I do find I pedal more efficiently with them. These are not carbon soled like my Specialized. Thus, the benefit of carbon soles may not be as great as I thought.

The Specialized shoe is more roomy, and does not squish my foot as much as the Sidi.

Bottom line. If I could find a shoe with a fit just in between the two, that would be perfect!!

Sounds like my LG T-Flex 300 shoes. They have carbon blend (of some sort) soles and a heat moldable (in the oven) upper. But they don't squeeze my forefoot like my Sidis did.

I would love to get some Louis Garneau shoes, but no one carries them!!

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Originally Posted by itself

I would love to get some Louis Garneau shoes, but no one carries them!!

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I had to order mine online. I found a few reviews re: fit and took a gamble. They were perfect! I have the road and mtn. version of the same shoe in men's. Usually men's shoes have heels that are too loose on me (women's Sidis were too loose in the heels, even), but these are perfect. Very roomy forefoot, but snug heel. I have duck feet, so they are ideal for my foot.

I have a Specialized foot I guess. I love, love the wide toe box, but the shoe conforms to my foot perfectly everywhere else. I think I really noticed the difference when I switched from Sidis - more comfort and more efficiency.

I recently bought a pair of Sidi Ergo 2's (men's size 42.5) after wearing a pair of size 42 women's Northwaves for 2+ years. After wearing the Sidi's for about 3 weeks now, I have to say (sadly) that I'm about ready to give up on them and go back to my Northwave shoes. I just cannot seem to get comfortable in them. For some reason, they felt good in the store (go figure) but once I got them home and started riding in them...it feels like my feet are being strangled. I literally cannot wait to get home from rides, just to take them off and let my feet BREATHE. They don't specifically "hurt" my feet...I just don't feel comfortable in them. My Northwaves did not have a full carbon sole (just carbon-reinforced) and the Sidi's do...so maybe it's the additional stiffness that makes them feel uncomfortable...I'm not exactly sure.

I'm going to wear my Northwaves on tomorrow's ride and see how they feel in comparison to the Sidi's.

Linda

I have read that the Northwave shoes are super nice. Again, not a lot of dealers.

There's a Northwave dealer not too far from me and I tried a pair on - WAY too narrow. Speaking of duck feet.

I'm not sure if I've ever tried on LG. I'm going to try to make my men's wide Lake shoes last as long as I possibly can. Maybe by the time I need a new pair they'll be importing them into the USA again. A girl can hope...

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

There's a Northwave dealer not too far from me and I tried a pair on - WAY too narrow. Speaking of duck feet.

I'm not sure if I've ever tried on LG. I'm going to try to make my men's wide Lake shoes last as long as I possibly can. Maybe by the time I need a new pair they'll be importing them into the USA again. A girl can hope...

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Isn't Lake part of Shebeest/Descente (or am I remembering that wrong)? Could be about a year if that's the case.

Yeah, I tried a pair of women's Northwaves...they fit about the same as the women's Specializeds I tried--too narrow.

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

Isn't Lake part of Shebeest/Descente (or am I remembering that wrong)?

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My recollection is that it's a separate brand and Descente had been importing them. They now list Stage-Race.com as their North American importer on their website - but Stage-Race.com doesn't list Lake as one of their brands. We'll see. Barring some footwear catastrophe, it'll be a while before I need a new pair anyway (but maybe the other duck feet here will be able to find a pair ;)).

Interesting that some of you find Northwaves to be too narrow. I consider myself to also have "duck feet", in addition to having hammertoes...so I really need to be able to "splay" my toes out in my shoes. My Northwaves are as comfy as a pair of slippers to me. Much more accommodating in the toe box than my Sidi's or the Specialized shoes I've worn in the past. Perhaps I just have a freak pair of Northwaves that happen to be wide in the toe box...I don't know. I just wish my pair weren't so beat up and worn...otherwise, I would not be looking to replace them.

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Originally Posted by nscrbug

Interesting that some of you find Northwaves to be too narrow. I consider myself to also have "duck feet", in addition to having hammertoes...so I really need to be able to "splay" my toes out in my shoes. My Northwaves are as comfy as a pair of slippers to me. Much more accommodating in the toe box than my Sidi's or the Specialized shoes I've worn in the past. Perhaps I just have a freak pair of Northwaves that happen to be wide in the toe box...I don't know. I just wish my pair weren't so beat up and worn...otherwise, I would not be looking to replace them.

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I had a pair of Shivers, I think...they were silver and a mountain bike shoe. I think I had 39.5, so maybe a 40 would have been better, but the heels were too roomy, like my Sidis, so I didn't feel like they'd be a good fit in any size.

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

I had a pair of Shivers, I think...they were silver and a mountain bike shoe. I think I had 39.5, so maybe a 40 would have been better, but the heels were too roomy, like my Sidis, so I didn't feel like they'd be a good fit in any size.

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Yup, I have the Shivers for spinning and the Venus (the road version of the Shiver) for outdoor riding. I think my Shivers are a size 42.5 and my Venus are a 42. I can't seem to dial in the heel fit (even with the adjustable heel cup system) on my Sidi's...which is part of the reason why I can't get comfortable in them. I am truly regretting my purchase of the Sidi's now. :( They were expensive and I doubt my LBS will take them back after I have worn them a handful of times (plus they were a closeout item). I'm hoping to try and sell them to get back some of the money that was spent on them.

I sadly wore Sidis for almost 9 years, because that seemed to be the brand to buy, and they are one of the few companies that make women's shoes in small sizes. I had to wear 2 sizes up, but my feet always hurt.
I now have Shimano shoes, both road and mountain. I love the wide toe box. Even the slightest change in thickness of socks (I have several types of wool cycling socks) make my feet ache, and this has been mitigated a lot. The road shoes had the molding process, which was OK, but the inner liner that came with the shoe strangled my foot. The LBS told me to wear the shoes without the liner until they figured out what to do. I went to the Good Feet store and bought a pair of ultra thin liners like the Sidis had and that was that. Perfect. The mountain shoes also had a problem with some nails poking up through the sole, but DH and the shop woman mechanic figured it out. I like these shoes even more. This is good, because I will be wearing them on our trip to the San Juan Islands.
Nothing ever comes easy for me, but once I had the initial issues solved, I love my shoes.

Three shoes on my list to try are:

Northwave

Bontrager

Diadora

I had a boot fitting a year ago, and learned that I do indeed need a wide toe box.

I used to use Sidi shoes and found them to be less and less comfortable the more I used them. I needed more space in the toebox, and the soles began to flex and make my arches ache. So I got some CF reinforced soled Shimano shoes; the mens 230, which come in size 38. I find Shimano run true to size and have more room in the toebox than Sidi. I had them vacuum heat molded to my feet at the LBS and they feel custom made now.

On the road bike I use the Specialized Pro woman's shoes. Their footbed comes in varying levels of arch support with 'varus' (cant) wedges. Overall the shoes fit great and the footbed is ok, but I replaced it with the LG heat moldable footbed which I find feels much better. Just heat them in the oven, put them in the shoe and stand in them for a few minutes.

So I would suggest getting the LG footbeds and molding them in the Specialized shoes that you have and seeing if that improves the feeling.