WANTED: Mountain SPD compatible shoes (and pedals?) recommendation

[Grog]

I just thought I'd provide an update on my shoe/pedal situation.

I have tried to purchase Sidi Dominators from various LBSes around Vancouver. I became quite frustrated with them:
- MEC does not carry many women cycling shoe (I can sort of understand) but I tried the men's sizes which gave me an idea of the size I would need (40 was too small, 41 was not bad but felt too wide).
- La Bicicletta did not carry Sidi yet but they said they would very soon and would give me a call. They did not plan to get the mountain bike shoes but could special order for me once I knew my size exactly (from trying the road shoes). They never called back.
- Campione - the total Italian bike shop - had several pairs of Sidis but it seemed to be an old inventory. They had a Ruby Dominator *drool* but it was a size 36 I think, no good for me. I tried other styles and settled on size 41.5, but they did not have the Dominator. I asked them to special order from Toronto, was ready to pay upfront. The guy said: "I'll have to talk to my boss to see when we're going to make an order from Sidi..." What?? Anyway, I gave my number, and they never called me back either. (It's been three weeks.)

So I came home after that day of shopping and I had a feeling the LBSes would not step up to the challenge. So I simply ordered the shoes from TE. I love to buy from TE although for customs reasons (I live in Canada) I try to buy from my local shops, whose service I usually enjoy. Well TE definitely beat them on this one!!

It took a bit of time for me to get the shoes due to customs delays and Canada Post messing up with delivery, but I got the shoes three days ago. So far they are really comfortable except that my left foot was a bit too tight and I did not want to stop and remove my toe covers to adjust the fit for such a short ride. The shoes also feel really fast for some reason. They are quite stiff, about as stiff as my Specialized carbon road shoes.

I am currently keeping my SPD pedals. I'll see if they give me pain over longer runs, and perhaps try to get the cleats in a better position. Perhaps I'll switch to the Candy, but that would require another online purchase and I'm not ready for that!!

Thanks for all who provided advice!

[VeloVT]

Congratulations on your new shoes. Frustrating that the shops were so unresponsive, but partially in their defense, I think Sidi **IS** slow. When I bought my Sidi mountain shoes they didn't have my size at LBS. They ordered them the next day (I bought the shoes the same night I bought a bike and stayed right up until closing finalizing everything), and it took nearly a month for them to come. They kindly let me keep the test pedals so I'd have something to ride with until the shoes came in . Yay for TE though!

[invsblwmn]

Sidi, aka veltec in the usa, is a little slow. I ordered a pair from a company that was giving me a great deal just as a customer satisfaction deal. They ordered the shoes from veltec, a pair of 2008 women's dominator 5s 41.5. Sidi sent them a pair of 41s. With the whole process, it took about a month, but got my shoes ready for as soon as my body is ready!

[Grog]

Well La Bicicletta just called me today that they have received the shoes! (But not the one I'm interested in.) Too bad for them!

This is the Canadian distributor, not sure which though...

[kelownagirl]

I have these

http://northwave.it/usa/shoes_det.ph...catid=2&area=2

and I love them. Super comfy. However I have no experience with any other shoes, especially road shoes, so I can't tell you much about 'stiffness'.