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Stretching Giro Empire Toebox
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I have a pair of Empires that I could use just a shade more length (the 1st metatarsal on the L foot and the 2nd on the R foot rub up to the end of the shoe, and I think 1 mm more length in each would do the trick).

Any tips on successfully stretching the toebox to get the extra length? The toe seems to be constructed with a hard plastic, which I have manually softened up a little, but what I would really like to do is stretch em.

Would softening the toe and plastic work? Maybe heating with a heat gun or hair dryer? Or dipping the toe (just the upper, not the sole) in hot water work? Or something else?

The shoe repair guy sez his normal stretching techniques wouldn’t really be suitable to a plastic toebox.

Open to advice or ideas. Help?
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [davetallo] [ In reply to ]
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I did similar jobs on several shoes with a heatgun. Just be sure to move it up and down so you spread the heat. When the material feels plyable get a teaspoon and just press this from the inside of the shoe at the desired spot. After a minut or 2 of pressing cool the hotspot with some cold water. Works perfect on most materials.

Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [davetallo] [ In reply to ]
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Just smash the heck out of it with a hammer or mallet. Time-honored method.
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [davetallo] [ In reply to ]
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for my Bont vaypors I bought a shoe expander thingy from Amazon for maybe $10-15 and used that with some hard foam & tape to keep the shape while cooling down. Might be worth a try.
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [TRIPRO] [ In reply to ]
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TRIPRO wrote:
I did similar jobs on several shoes with a heatgun. Just be sure to move it up and down so you spread the heat. When the material feels plyable get a teaspoon and just press this from the inside of the shoe at the desired spot. After a minut or 2 of pressing cool the hotspot with some cold water. Works perfect on most materials.

This was perfect and did the trick. Thanks for the tip.
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [davetallo] [ In reply to ]
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I never did it with my empires (although I might soon) but I usually have difficulty with shoes that are too tight in the toe box. My mother taught me this trick.

Take a wod of newspaper and soak it. Get it nice and wet. Put it in a plastic bag and then jam it into the toe of the shoe and then put the shoes in the freezer. The wet newspaper will expand and the shoe will to. I've done it with shoes like vans and other work dress shoes but never with cycling shoes. I was nervous of the adhesive coming apart from the sole since the uppers would be expanding while the shoe was cold.
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [davetallo] [ In reply to ]
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davetallo wrote:
TRIPRO wrote:
I did similar jobs on several shoes with a heatgun. Just be sure to move it up and down so you spread the heat. When the material feels plyable get a teaspoon and just press this from the inside of the shoe at the desired spot. After a minut or 2 of pressing cool the hotspot with some cold water. Works perfect on most materials.

This was perfect and did the trick. Thanks for the tip.

No proble, glad to be of help:-)

Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [davetallo] [ In reply to ]
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Shoe tree, leave in car.... in Phoenix right now. No heat gun needed. Lol. I would use a tree with heat gun otherwise
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Re: Stretching Giro Empire Toebox [Sbernardi] [ In reply to ]
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Interesting- anybody have any luck stretching Sidi Wires in vernice material? I have been getting right foot pinky toe pain at 1+ hours.
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