Cruel Shoes by Nike

I thought I was getting a good deal on a pair of Nike Poggio shoes:

http://www.bandkbike.com/shoefolder/poggio.html

$99, over 50% off retail. Stiff, super light weight, made in Italy
(should score points with Fabrizzio), carbon sole. When I tried them
on, they fit like a pair of very snug, very stiff bedroom slippers.
A good deal. Or maybe too good.

I rode with them for a few hours. The tongue of the shoe cut deeply
into the spot beneath my inner ankle bone, especially when I stood
on the pedals. Not good. Not fun. Suffering on the bike is expected,
saying "ow!" on every pedal stroke is just distracting to everyone
else.

When I took them into the LBS for advice, they said "oh yeah,
everybody has the same problem with that shoe." Great.

I limped into a shoe repair store today, asking for help. The repair
person said that the tongue comes up too high, and she recommended
heel lifts. That seemed to help a little, but it may require shoe
surgery if that doesn't solve the problem. I'll see on the next ride.

Has anybody else had experience with this model shoe? Were you able
to solve the problem?
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Terry Morse wrote:

I thought I was getting a good deal on a pair of Nike Poggio shoes:

http://www.bandkbike.com/shoefolder/poggio.html

$99, over 50% off retail. Stiff, super light weight, made in Italy
(should score points with Fabrizzio), carbon sole. When I tried them
on, they fit like a pair of very snug, very stiff bedroom slippers....

I made the mistake once of buying a pair of cycling shoes that felt
“snug” in the store, that works for me when walking. The are only
suitable for riding an upright bicycle for a couple of hours (and less
than 1/2 hour on the high bottom bracket recumbent).

As always, YMMV.

--
Tom Sherman

"Terry Morse" wrote in message
...
I thought I was getting a good deal on a pair of Nike Poggio shoes:

http://www.bandkbike.com/shoefolder/poggio.html

$99, over 50% off retail. Stiff, super light weight, made in Italy
(should score points with Fabrizzio), carbon sole. When I tried them
on, they fit like a pair of very snug, very stiff bedroom slippers.
A good deal. Or maybe too good.

I rode with them for a few hours. The tongue of the shoe cut deeply
into the spot beneath my inner ankle bone, especially when I stood
on the pedals. Not good. Not fun. Suffering on the bike is expected,
saying "ow!" on every pedal stroke is just distracting to everyone
else.

When I took them into the LBS for advice, they said "oh yeah,
everybody has the same problem with that shoe." Great.

I limped into a shoe repair store today, asking for help. The repair
person said that the tongue comes up too high, and she recommended
heel lifts. That seemed to help a little, but it may require shoe
surgery if that doesn't solve the problem. I'll see on the next ride.

Has anybody else had experience with this model shoe? Were you able
to solve the problem?
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Yep! I had the exact same experience. They sure seemed great for about 2
miles.

I solved the problem by insisting that my LBS take them back and refund my
money. He did. (It didn't take much persuading. I have a pretty good
LBS.)

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

Terry Morse writes:

I thought I was getting a good deal on a pair of Nike Poggio shoes:

http://www.bandkbike.com/shoefolder/poggio.html

$99, over 50% off retail. Stiff, super light weight, made in Italy
(should score points with Fabrizzio), carbon sole. When I tried them
on, they fit like a pair of very snug, very stiff bedroom slippers.
A good deal. Or maybe too good.

I rode with them for a few hours. The tongue of the shoe cut deeply
into the spot beneath my inner ankle bone, especially when I stood
on the pedals. Not good. Not fun. Suffering on the bike is expected,
saying "ow!" on every pedal stroke is just distracting to everyone
else.

When I took them into the LBS for advice, they said "oh yeah,
everybody has the same problem with that shoe." Great.

So what is it that you don't like about Shimano SH-TO92 after all that
was said about it here?

http://tinyurl.com/a822

This shoe is good enough to wear on your ride to work, in the office,
and the ride back home, as well as a couple of thousand miles in the
alps on tours. I can recommend it.

Jobst Brandt

Jobst Brandt wrote:

So what is it that you don't like about Shimano SH-TO92 after all that
was said about it here?

http://tinyurl.com/a822

This shoe is good enough to wear on your ride to work, in the office,
and the ride back home, as well as a couple of thousand miles in the
alps on tours. I can recommend it.

No wide version (as far as I can tell from the Shimano webpage). I will
pass on Shimano shoes until they decide to start accommodating people
with "E" width feet. Too bad, since the shoes look promising, otherwise.

--
Tom Sherman

Jobst Brandt wrote:

So what is it that you don't like about Shimano SH-TO92 after all that
was said about it here?

http://tinyurl.com/a822

This shoe is good enough to wear on your ride to work, in the office,
and the ride back home, as well as a couple of thousand miles in the
alps on tours. I can recommend it.

I also have the Shimano shoes and like them plenty. They're not as
stiff or snug as the Nikes, though, and I tend to get hot foot
problems with them on long rides. They're also a half pound heavier
than the Nikes. I hope to use the Nikes for long rides and races,
but still use the Shimanos for everything else. But if I can fix the
comfort problems with the Nikes, I may end up using them more often.

Shimano does offer wide widths in some models. Unfortunately the website
fails to mention this adequately. But the dealer catalog in my shop lays
it out plainly. Check it out with your LBS.


--
ahimsa

I thought I was getting a good deal on a pair of Nike Poggio shoes:

http://www.bandkbike.com/shoefolder/poggio.html

$99, over 50% off retail. Stiff, super light weight, made in Italy
(should score points with Fabrizzio), carbon sole. When I tried them
on, they fit like a pair of very snug, very stiff bedroom slippers.
A good deal. Or maybe too good.

I rode with them for a few hours. The tongue of the shoe cut deeply
into the spot beneath my inner ankle bone, especially when I stood
on the pedals. Not good. Not fun. Suffering on the bike is expected,
saying "ow!" on every pedal stroke is just distracting to everyone
else.

When I took them into the LBS for advice, they said "oh yeah,
everybody has the same problem with that shoe." Great.

Terry: Those shoes work well for some, not for others. They were closed out
inexpensively mostly due to fit issues, although the most-common problem was
that they tended to be too narrow for most people. They weren't, by the way,
"over 50% off retail." Those shoes sold for $179.99 when new.

For my feet (11.5 AA), they worked great, about the only shoe I could wear
unmodified to fit my feet (not just narrow, but also low volume).
Unfortunately, my feet have lengthened by almost a full size over the past
four years, so they no longer fit, and I can't get any more of the style you
picked up. Maybe I should check and see if they have 46 or 46.5 in stock?
:)

For what it's worth, I've had to switch over to narrow Sidi Genius 4s. Not a
bad shoe, not a bad fit, but boy, do I ever miss the carbon sole. I had
absolutely no idea what a difference it would make. The Sidis are pretty
stiff, but once you've gotten used to a carbon sole, I think you have a very
difficult time going back to anything else. Darn. May have to spend huge $$$
for the custom Rocket shoes.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

I thought I was getting a good deal on a pair of Nike Poggio shoes:

http://www.bandkbike.com/shoefolder/poggio.html

Terry: Those shoes work well for some, not for others. They were closed out
inexpensively mostly due to fit issues, although the most-common problem was
that they tended to be too narrow for most people. They weren't, by the way,
"over 50% off retail." Those shoes sold for $179.99 when new.

Thanks for the info, Mike. A buddy brought by a pair of his Poggio
II shoes, so I can bring them into the shoe surgeon and say "make
the tongue stop digging into my ankle, like Nike did with the next
year's model". I don't have a problem with the narrow fit. That's
the best part, since I have a narrow heel. I think the cruel tongue
issue is because I have a very high instep.

And yes, the carbon sole is great. What a difference. Off to try
them out again this morning, then probably it's off to the shoe
surgeon.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Terry Morse wrote:

And yes, the carbon sole is great. What a difference. Off to try
them out again this morning, then probably it's off to the shoe
surgeon.

Follow up: Yes, they still cut into my ankle bone on today's ride.
The shoe repair guy took one look at them and said the tongue was
too high, before I even told him what the problem was. He's going to
cut it back about 1.5 cm and restitch.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/