Posts Tagged "Buying Guides"

Ordering shoes online does not have to mean repeated returns. Measuring against a shoe you already own, reading the fit details that matter and checking within minutes of delivery can settle the fit the first time and save the postage.

Two measurements, taken in the evening on a sheet of paper, will tell you more about what size to order than any size label. Here is the method, and the mistakes that make it wrong.

Trail and road shoes are built for different ground rather than different levels of ability. Lugs, rubber, cushioning and waterproofing all change, and the route you run decides which trade-offs you actually want, rather than the label on the box.

An insole can change cushioning, fit and the feel of the surface underfoot, but it cannot lengthen or widen a shoe. Knowing what it does and does not change prevents a lot of pointless buying and a lot of disappointed expectations.

The word leather on a label covers a wide range, from full grain hide to reconstituted scraps, and the differences show up in how a shoe creases, breathes and ages. A few simple checks will tell you what you are actually buying.

How a shoe is built decides whether it can be repaired and how it ages. The upper, lining, insole, midsole and outsole each do a different job, and the way they are joined matters most of all when the sole wears through.

A well-fitting shoe is not a tight one. Three clearances matter, at the toe, the heel and the instep. Knowing which tightness disappears with wear and which never will saves a lot of returns, and a lot of uncomfortable weeks.

A size number quietly describes length and little else. Width across the ball and the volume of the whole shoe decide whether a pair pinches, and the two are not the same problem. Each has a different remedy, and going up a size solves neither.