Shimano Wide Shoe Query

[mogwaiboi]

Hi All

I'm wondering if anyone could give some feedback on the Shimano wide shoe versions. I'm looking at trying out the R171 in a wide version when it becomes available at my LBS. My foot is about 100mm at the widest point due to the knuckle of my small toe sticking out. I currently have Giro Factor ACC shoes but after around 2 hours they turn into torture devices, and unfortunately the wide version of these are not available in Australia (can import them but they are over $350 ) I have also tried the Specialized Expert 2014 but they also hurt my feet. I do have some older Specialized that I use in foul weather and they have always been fine...possibly the older Spesh shoes were a bit wider and I think the material is a bit softer and has stretched to accommodate my Hobbit feet.

[upside]

My forefoot measured 104.. which is considered wide. I had a pair of the wide versions and after a season they stretched and had movement in the foot. I went back to the regular size and I was OK with that. The one thing with Shimano shoes is they seem to run one size big and the toe box is wide. Hope this helps.

[topflightpro]

I was not a fan of the Shimano wide shoes.

The shoes I had - R320 - did not have a rigid wide sole. Rather, it appeared that Shimano used a regular width outer sole and slapped a semi-rigid foam sole on top of that to give a wide foot bed. The result was that the sole would bend when torqued, and I did not like that.