Wednesday, February 14, 2007

In search of bike shoes

After many fruitless hours in search of new bike shoes, I have come to the conclusion that there really must be drastically fewer women cyclists than men. Although running shoe manufacturers realized years ago that the feet and running mechanics differ between men and women, bike shoe manufacturers--or at least retailers--seem to be ignorant of this information. Or else, they just don't care. I battled San Francisco, Valentine's Day, rush-hour traffic in the Mission to go to Performance Bikes, only to find that they had only one "women's specific" road shoe. Saying "women's specific" is just a not-so-clever attempt at implying that all of the men's shoes would be perfectly fine for women. Argh! I've tried all 3 Sports Basements in the Bay Area and can't find the right shoe there, easy. Does it have to be so hard? I am losing my infinite patience. Someone suggested I try Lombardi Sports, but by the look of their website (only 4 or 5 shoes even listed), I am not so hopeful.

I just took a moment to find the local dealer for SIDI shoes, which, for San Francisco, is City Cycle. Their website looks promising, and I know that they are one of the most popular and well-respected places to get a bike fitting. So I will check them out tomorrow. Wish me good luck!

2 comments:

Chrissie in Belgium said...

I have a winter jacket made by Wild Roses - it is the one I am wearing in that picture on my blog where I am drinking coke. Their products are "for women by women"! I have never been so pleased! They have thought of every little detail. I am small, and the Italian small is SMALL. Maybe they make shoes. Check out on the internet!

Anne Findlay said...

Thanks, Chrissie. I finally found some shoes. My problem is not that I'm really small, but that they just don't carry a lot of sizes for women. It's funny that at least 2 salespeople (guys) told me to try men's shoes. This would not happen for any other type of shoe I can imagine. Women are not smaller men!