Hybrid Help?

That's my next problem, where to find a 9.5 EEE bike shoe. Haven't looked
yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

*That* is going to be a tough one. You might get a recommendation for a good
local shoe repair place, find a shoe that's closest to fitting, and bring it
to them and ask if they can do something to make it fit you better.

Finally, I want to thank those who have responded to this thread. No one
has come out and screamed that the Trek Pilot 2.1 is likely to be a poor
value or is unlikely to stand up to the riding I will do.
This would be my fourth bike purchase from this bike shop, so I can wiggle
a bit of a discount out of them. If it seems to fit me well, I think I'll
buy it.

Rather than try to get a discount out of them, why not try to convince them
to attend the DC Bike Summit, where industry people get together and lobby
to improve things for cycling? Here's the info you can give them-
http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs120104.htm.

It will cost them a bit of money, but it's all about the future... trying to
get kids off their butts and onto bikes, maybe riding to school, fewer SUVs
on the road, designing roads ahead of time with bikes in mind, etc. They
should consider it "customer insurance" meaning that, if they don't go, bike
riding might become a thing of the past, or an elitist option enjoyed by
dwindling numbers.

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


"geemike" wrote in message
...

"Earl Bollinger" wrote in message
...
"The vast majority of bikes are made for people that are 5'5" in size
and
140 pounds tops". That is just plain silly, not to mention wrong.

It isn't when you go to the bike shop looking for apparel and special
clothes and the shops only have those sizes on hand, and they are
reluctant to order "big" sizes for you as if it doesn't fit, then they
are stuck with the item(s).
It's really irritating to see a jersey marked XXXL and it really is for a
5'9" skinny person.
Or riding shorts with a 30 inch waist marked as being XL.
Then there are the shoes, when is the last time any bike shop ever had
real

Like I said, if there isn't a web site offering bike wear for the obese
there should be one. It's damned embarassing to go to the bike store to
try to find spandex stuff when all the help is, well, "intimidatingly
fit". It would be cool if you could pop off some measurements to an
online shop with a reasonable chance of success of having them fill the
order.

American size 12 shoe in stock?

That's my next problem, where to find a 9.5 EEE bike shoe. Haven't looked
yet. Anyone have any suggestions?


Finally, I want to thank those who have responded to this thread. No one
has come out and screamed that the Trek Pilot 2.1 is likely to be a poor
value or is unlikely to stand up to the riding I will do.
This would be my fourth bike purchase from this bike shop, so I can wiggle
a bit of a discount out of them. If it seems to fit me well, I think I'll
buy it.

Mike G

In article ,
Patrick Lamb wrote:
Back to the earlier point about high stems. Ride 'em!

Of course you should use whatever setup is comfortable to you.
However, IMHO a too tall stem could be very inefficient or unstable
when going up or down steep hills.

In article ,
"geemike" writes:

American size 12 shoe in stock?

That's my next problem, where to find a 9.5 EEE bike shoe.
Haven't looked yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

That's exactly my size, too. IIRC Euro size 44 comes
close for width, but there'll be a lot of empty space
ahead of your toes. And of course there can be a lot
of variation in different shoes of the same size, so
try 'em all on. And hope the pair that fits best isn't
the least appealing.

Just finding street shoes in 9.5 EEE is tough enough;
I usually end up settling for 10 D. Shoe trees might
obviate those ugly creases that inevitably occur in
the uppers, if I could be bothered with using 'em :-)


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Earl Bollinger" wrote in message

http://www.rocket7.com/ can make up a custom made just for your
feet cycling

Gads, $559 to have them make a pair of shoes. I tend to buy nice
shoes, but that's way out of the budget.

Thanks for the other sources as well, I'll have to check them out.

Mike G

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:32:40 -0700, "geemike"
wrote:


"Earl Bollinger" wrote in message

http://www.rocket7.com/ can make up a custom made just for your
feet cycling

Gads, $559 to have them make a pair of shoes. I tend to buy nice
shoes, but that's way out of the budget.

Thanks for the other sources as well, I'll have to check them out.

Mike G

Hi, take a look at the Sidi shoes,they offer narrow, regular, and
mega widths. The good thing is that a lot of shops sell them, so you
should be able to try a pair on.
http://www.sidiusa.com/index.html


Life is Good!
Jeff

"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in message
om...
snip snip
The really big size jerseys don't sell as well as the stuff that fits
somebody 5'10 and 165lbs, but they still sell well. I don't see why a shop
would ignore such a big market. Sorry, couldn't resist.

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


Yes I agree, I have no idea why none of the shops around my area don't have
anything.
One basically has to mail order (internet order) just about everything.
I was just at one of the really big stores today, looking at jackets. Yup,
everything was too small like usual.
Even their store branded jerseys were too small, a XXL would fit my son OK
though.
Plus all the salespeople look like Pro Bike Racers, and they are all a good
head or so shorter than I am.

Those SIDI shoes are neat, but the shops around my area that sold them,
didn't seem happy about special ordering a pair for me.
They would but they sure seemed to be reluctant to do it.
I can't tell how narrow their 12 size would be though. Some of the other
brand 12 size shoes (size 46.5 or 47) are incredibly narrow, so narrow I
can't even
get them on my feet.
I guess everything's mass marketing nowadays. only the stuff you can sell
easy get's stocked.

"Jeff Starr" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:32:40 -0700, "geemike"
wrote:


"Earl Bollinger" wrote in message

http://www.rocket7.com/ can make up a custom made just for your
feet cycling

Gads, $559 to have them make a pair of shoes. I tend to buy nice
shoes, but that's way out of the budget.

Thanks for the other sources as well, I'll have to check them out.

Mike G

Hi, take a look at the Sidi shoes,they offer narrow, regular, and
mega widths. The good thing is that a lot of shops sell them, so you
should be able to try a pair on.
http://www.sidiusa.com/index.html


Life is Good!
Jeff

"Earl Bollinger" wrote in message
...
Those SIDI shoes are neat, but the shops around my area that
sold them, didn't seem happy about special ordering a pair for
me.
They would but they sure seemed to be reluctant to do it.
I can't tell how narrow their 12 size would be though. Some of
the other brand 12 size shoes (size 46.5 or 47) are incredibly
narrow, so narrow I can't even
get them on my feet.


In addition to EEE width, I have an extremely high instep. Tassel
loafers? Forget it. Anything made by Nike, Adidas etc, no way.
One with Fred Flintstone feet must learn to worship brands Allen
Edmonds and New Balance.
I went to the SIDI web site and had a look. I can walk into a
Nordstroms and pretty much tell without trying anything on which
shoes will fit me and which wont. From the pictures, it doesn't
appear that any of the SIDI line will cut it for me.

Question: Could one somehow attach the guts of a clipless fitting
onto the sole of say, a pair of cross trainer shoes?

I know there are some important design advantages built into
specialty bike shoes, but right now things aren't looking too
promising for me to locate any that will fit me. Maybe I'll have
to get creative and come up with a short term fix some how.

Mike G

C wrote:
In article ,
Patrick Lamb wrote:

Back to the earlier point about high stems. Ride 'em!


Of course you should use whatever setup is comfortable to you.
However, IMHO a too tall stem could be very inefficient or unstable
when going up or down steep hills.

I'm really not sure how to answer this broad brush. If you've got drop
bars, get in the drops -- so much for inefficient. And I'd rather be
riding an inefficient bike than watching it slowly rust in the garage
anyhow.

Unstable? Just what does "unstable" mean? How high do you think
handlebars should be? Used to be, standard fitting advice was to get
the bars within an inch or so of the seat, instead of your choice of 4"
or 6" below the seat. That's where our (3) bars ended up. I know
they're comfortable, and we don't fall over because of the bars.

I've had or heard long (and sometimes loud) arguments over swapping a
stem to get the bars up. (Mike J's shop is, IME, highly atypical.)
I've even heard a sales clerk tell a customer he would have to pay to
install longer cables if they flipped the headless stem. It sounded to
me like that shop couldn't sell that customer a bike that fit.

Pat