I have the shimano shoes now and am looking at the sidi models. I’ve read in a couple of places the Shimano entry level shoes have very thich soles and that moving to newer composite shoe will have me lowering my seat (some say as much as nearly half an inch).
I had Sidi showes previously that lasted 5 years, when I bought ths bike I bought the shimanos and after 1 year they look like crap. If I move my seat for this I won’t have to move anything else, right? Anybody else have shoes that had that much variance in the soul?
Sidis win every time by pure sexiness. If they fit you it is always better to get the lowest level Sidi then the top level of any other shoe. Awesomeness and being Italian count more then people want to admit. There is one exception to the rule,
PRETTY!!!
1/2" sounds like a huge variance (but I don’t wear Shimanos). I’d guess 3-6mm would be more typical. Also there are different sole thicknesses between sidis (the braided carbon soles are thinner than the carbon composite are thinner than the nylon/fiberglass ones).
Just moving your seat should be fine (due to the small change).
An easy way to measure sole thickness is to use a small dowel (or the ink tube from a cheap pen) of a known length (say 10cm) and stick it in one of the cleat holes until it hits the insole, then measure how much it is sticking up.