Thanks klr,

This confirms that the 39s are probably right for me, as I thought. I found one conversion chart online that said that a women's 39 was equivalent to a US 9, and that just didn't seem right to me as my current bike shoes are a 39, and I wear a 7 (sometimes a 6.5, never a 7.5) in other shoes.

It sounds like your problem might be caused by the shoes being too narrow - or cleat placement. I have pretty narrow feet, which is good when buying bike shoes - very few if any of them come in wider widths.

Your reply really helped - thanks!

Emily