MTB shoes

[foo on patrol]

how is the width, I have wide feet being of an age that never wore shoes until high school, reviews are good on them..

These are a 44 and across my foot is 95-97mm and fit nicely so maybe that will give you an idea.

Foo

[foo on patrol]

I gave the Giro's a run this morning and very happy with how they feel.

Foo

[Navii]

I got some cheap hiking shoes from Kmart. Their soles are grippy enough when I need to get off the bike in a tricky area and I don’t want to lose my footing.

[warthog1]

Shoes turned up today and wow, they are very stiff.





Foo

They look comfy Foo! Done well there.

Just got some shimano RX8 goers from Pushys.
Seem to fit well in a 45 which is good.
Will test them out tomorrow.

[warthog1]

Did a road hunjy on the gravelly today with the RX8 shoes.
Yep very happy.
Easy to get feet in and out of (my Giant MTB shoes aren't), secure and comfy.
I do have narrowish feet though.

[Mr Purple]

I'm using the RX6 Shimano shoes for gravel biking. I figured I'd save the $60-70 odd and thought they might be a bit easier to walk in.

Very happy as well. Also have exceedingly narrow feet though, and even then I'm in size 44 despite being a not particularly big guy.

[warthog1]

I'm using the RX6 Shimano shoes for gravel biking. I figured I'd save the $60-70 odd and thought they might be a bit easier to walk in.

Very happy as well. Also have exceedingly narrow feet though, and even then I'm in size 44 despite being a not particularly big guy.

I liked the colour

They look like a good buy Mr P
https://www.pushys.com.au/shimano-sh-rx ... black.html

[MichaelB]

Ended up buying some Shimano 502 kicks in 46 wide as the ones that I had ridden a fair bit with just don’t fit after 18mo on the sidelines.

Really annoying as they fitted fine before.

I guess its a sign of ageing

[MichaelB]

Ended up buying some Shimano 502 kicks in 46 wide as the ones that I had ridden a fair bit with just don’t fit after 18mo on the sidelines.

Really annoying as they fitted fine before.

I guess its a sign of ageing

Got the Shimano shoes, and whilst they look great, same issue with the RH big toe. Can only surmise that when I broke it 18mo ago, there is a change where it is really sensitive.

Need to try properly this weekend again and see if I should keep or return. Part of the issue seems to be the MTB upper are a lot stiffer than the road shoes.

[foo on patrol]

Ended up buying some Shimano 502 kicks in 46 wide as the ones that I had ridden a fair bit with just don’t fit after 18mo on the sidelines.

Really annoying as they fitted fine before.

I guess its a sign of ageing

Got the Shimano shoes, and whilst they look great, same issue with the RH big toe. Can only surmise that when I broke it 18mo ago, there is a change where it is really sensitive.

Need to try properly this weekend again and see if I should keep or return. Part of the issue seems to be the MTB upper are a lot stiffer than the road shoes.

Can you not, use a leather conditioner/softener and pressurise that point of the toe area too make it expand a little?

Foo

[Retrobyte]

You can also jam the tight shoe with scrunched up wet newspaper and put the shoe in the sun - as the newspaper dries out it expands and can stretch the shoe slightly

[MichaelB]

Thinking of that option (stretching slightly) but the shoes are not leather (the Lake CX238’s that Aus Post are taking forever to deliver (3 days since they arrived at Adelaide airport and they are still yet to move from there …. are leather).

It may be something I try with the existing MTB shoes that I have as the Shimano shoes seem to have some excessive volume above the toes as well.

Hmmmmm

[Olderfart]

To diverge slightly what sort of underpants for mountain biking? Would you have the pocket in the groin area for spare socks like lycra road shorts?

[MichaelB]

I need to replace the current MTB shoes with something that fits my ageing feet a bit better.

I want to get some Lake MX238 wide, but can’t bear to part with more than $350 !

I’ve tried some Shimano 502 wides but they didn’t fit well either.

They need to be a wider toebox so happy to look at pretty much anything, but any suggestions ?

[MichaelB]

I need to replace the current MTB shoes with something that fits my ageing feet a bit better.

I want to get some Lake MX238 wide, but can’t bear to part with more than $350 !

I’ve tried some Shimano 502 wides but they didn’t fit well either.

They need to be a wider toebox so happy to look at pretty much anything, but any suggestions ?

Well, a shout out to Mr Purple & Warty1 for their feedback on the shoes they have. After trying a few options via the 'buy, try, groan & return post' method, I think I may have found the right ones. Sort of.

The key issue is that I get a pinch/pain pint on the RH joint between the Proximal & Distal phalanx joint (only on the RH side) which I reckon is from when I broke my big toe a few years ago. See the image below.




It started with the with the Shimano XC502 shoes that were on special. I think it lasted all of 30 sec on the foot before it went back in the box. The upper is quite stiff (compared to road shoes) and the toe box has high-ish stiffer sides that just impinged on the outside of the joint. Bugger. Back they went.

I kept searching for the Lake MX219/238/242 shoes in wide at a price I could afford, but kept being shocked by the price.

Then I tried a pair of the XC702 Shimano shoes, as maybe with the twin Boa and slightly different toe box, they would be better. And indeed they were. The upper was slightly more supple, and the boa front worked better, but it still had that higher stiff side like the XC502. The only other item to note, is the top of the tongue is a bit longer and rubs and creates a slight pinch point on the front of the ankle which creates slight discomfort on longer rides. The sole is great, and has rubbery wide spaced tread.

Just after I ordered the XC702, Pushys had a DAD sale, with $25 off, so based on Warty1's feedback, also plumped for a pair of the RX801's in the 46E size as well. Per the Dire Straits song "One of them must be right" (from Industrial Disease), and indeed the RX801 is a tad comfier. The stiffer part of the toebox isn't as high, and the upper appears to be a bit more supple as well. The velcro strap at the front is next to useless. Interesting, the toebox 'height' is less on the RX801 vs the XC702, the sole tread is more hard plastic and the block spacing is a lot closer together.

In the end, the RX801's won out, as the toebox fits that little bit better, as well as the top of the tongue being a bit further away (hence more clearance), so the XC702's will be going back in the post.

Both pics - RX801 on left, XC702 on right



I also managed to finally track down some width dimensions for the Shimano shoes - for the 46E - the width is 109.5 - 111.0mm, whilst the Lake shoes in Wide (for the 219/238/241/242) are 118mm. Lake (& Bont) have been the ONLY manufacturers that provide proper sizing charts.


Oh, and found the Lake shoes at a more reasonable price so will still get some, but just gotta decide which ones I get - MX219X, MX238X or go whole hog and the MX242X

Phew

[MichaelB]

Oh, and found the Lake shoes at a more reasonable price so will still get some, but just gotta decide which ones I get - MX219X, MX238X or go whole hog and the MX242X

Phew

HA !!

Finally went to order, and the prices didn't change for the MX219, but went up by A$75 for the MX238 and A$74 for the MX242

Seems to be a bit of a lottery with the pricing, so will just keep checking .....

[Mr Purple]

Glad you found some that suit you - strange that there's so much variation between shoes from the same manufacturer!

I must admit the first pair of Shimano shoes I bought just fit me perfectly so I just default to ordering them in the same size now.

Somehow I've ended up with different cleats on my road, trainer and gravel bikes so I just have a row of three pairs of size 44 Shimanos lined up and I pick the right ones. There doesn't seem to be any difference in the sizing with the RC5, RC903 and RX600.

[MichaelB]

Yes Mr Purple, it was.

So put the cleats on the RX801’s and have done a bit of a ride.

One annoying thing that I didn’t notice on the trial fits, was that I have a small bony protrusion on the Left inside part of the Navicular, and if shoe is tight, it gets annoying real quick.

Never had the issue on any other shoes !!!

Will have to work out something around it that doesn’t require an angle grinder and plenty of blood and pain !!!

[warthog1]

That sounds like a pita Michael.
Hope it gradually improves with use as it forms to your foot a bit.

[MichaelB]

That sounds like a pita Michael.
Hope it gradually improves with use as it forms to your foot a bit.

I’ll make it work

[MichaelB]

So, a few months have passed and the RX801's are working well, and the R Big Toe isn't complaining.

HOWEVER .......

With the passage of Xmas and using the Wide Lake CX238's, it's made me realise that I should finally get off my clacker and order the MX238X's and use some of the 'Xmas money' to buy them.

I'd been watching the various sites (bike24, Bob Leisure Aus, Lake US & bike.discount.de) and with combining an order of a couple of extra bits (extra Commuter roadie tyres and mudguard set), made the most of the stupid expensive freight and got a pair from bike24.

They are on their way now, so will use them for the longer rides and keep the RX801's for commuting duties.