Like you, I was also blessed with wide feet. I still have a pair of Fizik, but have worn several Fizik shoes as well as Specialized and Shimano. Last year, I bought another tri bike from a friend and decided to also get a new pair of shoes. My shoe size is 10 1/2 US, which translates to a 45 European. Since my feet are wide, I typically buy a size 46 because my foot is "squished" in size 45's. After searching high and low, I decided to buy a pair of wide Lake shoes. Oh my, what a difference.

Before, my foot always felt like the outside of my foot by my little toes was bulging out while riding. Also, when standing, my foot really hurt from my big toe, little toe and it felt like I was "over pronating" and pushing on the outside of my foot.

I've been doing tris for 25 years and am not a sponsored athlete and do not work for Lake, but the next pair of cycling shoes that I buy will definitely be Wide Lake shoes. While riding on Speedplay pedals, when I climb on a hill and get out of the saddle, it is a huge difference because it feels like my foot is pressing down on the pedals and my feet do not hurt.

Hope that this helps,

Can you go somewhere to try them on? That seems like the obvious way to find the right shoe for you?

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You say you like wide shoes... are you wearing the wide version of the Bonts, or the standard last?

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Just regular. Maybe they aren’t wide.

Unfortunately not. I live about 5 hours from any major place that carries that variety. Maybe on my next trip.

The standard Bonts are still fairly wide, but the wide version are *really* wide, enough so that there aren't many other shoes available that will suit folks that like them.

That said, the fit of the Bonts is fairly unique. Folks that they work for they tend to work really well, and it's a big change moving over to something else. I'd probably recommend sticking with what you know works, especially if you won't be able to try anything on.

Definitely not the Giro shoes, though. It's difficult to find a more narrow fitting shoe than theirs, generally speaking. Even the high volume versions aren't any wider at the last, they just add more material to the upper.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Thanks! That is great advice.

You can order a lot of shoes, have them shipped in then try them on for 2-3h around the house while scrolling the interwebs. I did that with about 20pair. Sure I had a big cc bill but then it got reversed. I called the competitive cyclist and asked if it was ok and they were "it's fine, order as many pair as you want."

Ended up with some Lake 403's wide. Shoe doesn't have quite enough height over the tops of my foot. The width is spot on!

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

i have struggled for about 10 years to find a comfortable set of road shoes. I had some Giro's from 15 odd years ago that i loved but they changed the fit. I a fairly wide foot - i blew though specialized, shimano, giro, vittoria, lake wide and a few others - i even found a set a shimano mountain bike shoe's that are very comfortable (use them for gravel) and figured ordering the road model would work....nope!!! last weekend i happened to be in a trek store (and i typically am not a trek fan) to pick up a new rear der and get wheel repaired (snapped rear der hanger and it ended up trashing the der, a few spokes and cracking the seat stay in 2 places but thats another story) and saw a flashy pair of red Trek's. The sales person convinced my to try them on saying that Trek has a 30 day return it policy even after being used. They felt comfortable in the store to i purchased them and have ridden in them 4 times without thinking once about my feet being numb or sore or etc.....solved a 15 odd year annoyance with these

As I hear you mention your foot shape, you should try the Lake 242. It's a somewhat wider last and has multiple "fingers" to make the fit better than the usual shoe. The heel is moldable and you can do it multiple times should you not get it right at first. We sell a ton of them and once people put the shoe on their foot they realize why Lakes are so popular, especially that model. Carbon sole is amazing for light and stiffness,,,I think you'd love it. If there's a store anywhere near you, try them or else I would think they have a great return policy as their customer support is awesome.

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Kiwami Racing Team

I had run Bonts for a few years and just picked up the Velovettas. They fit me way better and love the heel closure, set it once and it works.

Those velovetta look really interesting. I've kind of been looking for a different pair then my Bont Tri shoes that I picked up.last year. I generally really like Bont but this pair just seem to dig into the outside of my mid foot right where the tub line is.

Does that extra latch on the back drag on the ground with the shoes on the pedals in transition?

Probably would drag, I don’t remember right now. Closing it after you pull your foot out would help. I have a large foot so even my Bonts would drag on the ground.

Youtube videos by Ed suggest closing it so it doesn't drag & could potentially damage the heel. I will say that I have tried on the VV and just based off the transparent/honest way Ed has conducted himself, and after meeting him at a race this last summer...I would want to place it as 1 of 2 "front runners" of shoes just based off him being such a stand up guy to work with & know he really cares about customers & doing what is right. I have not been able to find the size that actually fits me in the store and need to find those in between sizes--which, I will be trying on as soon as my car's squirrel damage gets repaired...so I can drive over to try some on. But if they don't fit your shape foot, it doesn't matter, you'll have to try another on. I tried the Fizik Hydra Aeroweave & liked it a lot but it was way too long. Very light & breathable...but comfort wise I'd have to try both on with the right size--which I have yet to do.

The random CS guy probably didn't care one bit. The returns team, warehousing, ESG (if they have one), and finance probably weren't fans of that.