I bought myself some cycling shoes on Saturday for my Shimano spds, I’m glad I decided to buy them from a cycling shop rather than on the net because of the problems with getting the right size to fit me. The first pair I tried on was a size 9, my size, but felt like a size seven. I looked down at my screaming feet and they had disappeared under my trousers. They looked like a bad fitting pair of ballet shoes.
“Are you sure these are a size 9?” I asked the very helpful sales guy.
“Yeah, what’s up are they a bit tight?”
“I feel like my feet are being squashed in some contraption that the witch finder general would have liked.”
“It’s these European sizes, they’re all different, they’re supposed to be a nine.”
“Have you got a ten?”
He disappeared through a hole in the stack of boxes like a potholer and emerged a few minutes later with a box, beaming like he’d just found some missing relic. “Got some, try these.” I did and they were perfect, my feet began to breathe again. They’re not road bike shoes but mtb, I prefer them because I can walk in them.
I did a quick mental calculation and worked out they were about a tenner more than on the net, I intended to ask for a discount but I was happy to pay extra to make sure I got a pair of cycling shoes I liked and that fit me. If I’d bought off the net I would have ordered a size nine and then would have had to go through all the hassle of sending them back.
Buying cycling shoes can be problematic because different manufacturers produce different widths and sizes, no idea why, I can remember when a size nine was a size nine wherever you went. If I bought a size nine pair of shoes in Leeds they fit me, and if I bought a pair in York they fit me. Now it seems standardization has gone through the window.
The sales guy was really helpful and knew his cycling shoes, he explained all the advantages and disadvantages of each pair, he even fit the cleats for me. I was tempted with a pair from eBay but I’m glad I didn’t buy them now. I think you have to try cycling shoes on to be sure of them before buying. If they don’t feel right and are uncomfortable then they’re pointless. I like to be comfortable on my bike.
As I got to the till I was reluctant to ask for a discount because the guy had been so helpful and without him I wouldn’t have got a perfect pair of comfortable cycling shoes. I didn’t ask, I didn’t need to, he said, “I’ll do you a discount, knock 7% off, prices are fluctuating so much we don’t know where we are at the moment.
I thanked him for his help and left with my new shoes. Eager to try them out, I was just thinking about an afternoon ride to York when my mobile went. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw my wife’s name flashing at me in what seemed to me suspiciously like an angry flashing.
I’d told her I was just going to get some cycling shoes and it wouldn’t take me longer than twenty minutes, a quick look at the clock on my phone showed I’d been through some sort of star trekkie time distorter, I’d been gone one and a half hours. I pressed the answer button and braced myself for some electric shock treatment, but at least I’d got my cycling shoes….
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