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Hi All, My home-made shoe project is on hold for a while. The lexan I ordered turned out to be quite heavy, so I plan on making a plywood prototype first. But since I am supposed to be using carpentry tools to finish the house, and not monkey with bike suff, I punked out and ordered some Northwave Vertigo shoes size 50. They are quite a bit longer than the size 50 Diadora Gekos I have, and WAY bigger than the useless Sidi 50's I got off eBay. They have an internal hard sole that is wider than the external plastic sole. They seem to be made for people with long toes. The cuve of the sole fits well, and everywhere else, but the toe-box is quite long. Two complaints, which may be minor and only apparent because I am not yet used to them: 1. The cleat holes are too far forward, and too far outboard. I have to have the cleats all the way back to get acceptable fore-aft foot placement, and all the way to the side to have enough clearance not to be too close to the cranks. This also makes it impossible to get the toe-out I want without hitting the big plastic heel-cups on the chainstays. When it gets warmer, I can adjust for less crank clearance as I won't need shoe-covers, and then I can toe-out a bit more. 2. The straps are attached to pleather that leads rearward in a swoopy way that looks cool, but when you pull the straps tight, it wrinkles the pleather creating pressure spots. It would be better to have more direct angle pulling toward the sole. Joseph

Clothing for large folks is rife with these sorts of problems.   Manufacturers often just scale things up, not noticing that proportions may be different in larger people than more average sized people. I'm only 6'4 - tall but not abnormally so.  There's a lot of guys who are my height, at least here in Minnesota I'd say I am at the tall end of the average range rather than being outside the average range.  I am relatively lanky at 215 lbs, a bit over the top end of my ideal body weight range but nowhere near obese.  Built more like a track rider than a roadie.  I wear a 45L suit. But jeez, try to buy a shirt!  I need a 17 neck - 36 sleeve dress shirt, but these invariably are proportioned for someone who would fit a 50L suit.  Yikes!  Cycling clothes, on the other hand, are almost always proportioned for whippets which I am not. I wear size 48 shoes (12 UK, 13 US).  My feet are average width, but finding a pair of cycling shoes that fits has been a challenge for years.  The best fit I have found has been with Lake shoes.  Similarly sized friends have found Shimano shoes to fit well; I don't know who makes those for Shimano. Glad you hear you have found something that works at least somewhat better for you.  I wonder if the cleat slots can be extended backwards a bit to give you more adjustability without weakening the sole.

Glad you hear you have found something that works at least somewhat better for you.  I wonder if the cleat slots can be extended backwards a bit to give you more adjustability without weakening the sole. Doesn't look good. But if I replace the wide head bolts that came with the cleats, I should be able to get a few more mm's. I also have a new bike in the works that has a slimmer chainstay arrangement that my present bike which should help. Joseph

I wear size 48 shoes (12 UK, 13 US).  My feet are average width, but finding a pair of cycling shoes that fits has been a challenge for years.  The best fit I have found has been with Lake shoes.  Similarly sized friends have found Shimano shoes to fit well; I don't know who makes those for Shimano. In my experience, Shimano shoes tend to run a bit smaller than others, and always seem to stop at size 48.