Shoes - first pair of cycling shoes - how to get the right fit?

[yankiwi]

To Owlie:
Thanks for your thoughts; hoping it's not that I've bought the wrong shoes but always a possibility ...

To Trista:
Hoping your idea will be the quick solution to the numbness - thanks. Never thought of the cleats since I'm new to such things, so it's well worth a try to see if that's what's causing the numbness. (The LBS put the cleats on the shoes so I just expected they got it right).

Thanks so much; any other suggestions still welcome; especially interested to see what people think about the space I have in the top of the shoe

[KnottedYet]

Is the gap in the toe-box?

Did you buy shoes with a too-deep toe box (top to bottom) for your foot, yet too narrow (left to right) for your foot?

(You should not be pulling up with the toes in any case. You pull up with the whole leg. If your shins and forefoot are getting too excited about the whole pulling up idea, try consciously relaxing everything from the ankle down and pulling up with everything from the ankle up. See if that makes any difference. And for the moment, I'm ignoring all the studies that say there is no such thing as pulling-up for a mechanical advantage... I'll stay out of that debate entirely.)

[HillSlugger]

Do your heels lift as you pedal? It's pretty important that they don't.

I keep extra insole from different shoes and use them to fine tune the fit of all my shoes. You may be able to add a thicker insole to take up some of the extra space.

[JennK13]

I've been told by the LBS, and have experienced this personally, that feet swell as you ride, so when you try the shoes on, they should be a little bit loose to allow room for the swelling.