Knowing your own cycling shoe sizing

Why Lake use the Paris Point system  

When it comes to sizing shoes and cycling shoes in particular, there can be many variations. On top of this you sometimes have to contend with proprietary sizing, where a brand will deliberately size their footwear uniquely, so that you only know in truth how their size 44 fits you. You go to try on that size 44 in another brand, and somehow, it just doesn’t feel right, and so you go back to brand 1. It’s a trick that one particularly well-known sports shoe brand used for many years.  

However, here at Lake we create the most biomechanically focused cycling shoes on the market, using the ‘Paris Point’ system of shoe sizing as our foundation. Paris Point is a traditional European system where each full size represents approximately 6.67mm. Historically, this represented the distance of a quarter of a French inch – hence the name of the measurement system. It also has no gender difference between shoe sizing. It uses a single, continuous unisex scale, whereas a size 38 is the exact same length whether it is a shoe for men, women, or children. This small step – pardon the pun – makes it easy to understand for both the consumer and the retailer.  It’s widely used across the European continent and globally, providing a sound base for shoe fitting accuracy, leading to that all-important comfortable ride.  

Why 3.3mm Matters: The Precision of Lake Half-Sizes 

On top of this, Lake goes further, offering half-sizes to help you to achieve even closer accuracy of fit and comfort. Consider that a half size on this system is a mere 3.3mm between sizes and you get the picture. This half-sizing allows our shoe fitting experts to fine tune that length fitting, which when combined with width fitting and volume and shape measurements, ensures that Lake will always deliver the best possible fit for that perfect ride.  

The calculation reflects the length of the shoe last – based on the inner, plus important wiggle room for those toes. Remember, we spoke recently about the problems with narrow cycling shoes that restricted your forefoot. At Lake, those all-important cycling shoe width fittings are provided in   narrow, regular and wide across several of our most popular models, alongside the Paris Point system.  

Shaping the future of cycling shoes 

The shoe last is something that we frequently talk about here at Lake – with good reason. As a shape for the cycling shoe design, it’s the vital foundation of footwear design that dictates a shoe's final fit, the volume, the comfort, and silhouette of the shoe itself.  

Last month we spoke in detail about the variety of foot shapes, and the shoe last defines how your own unique foot will fit into the right cycling shoe with ultimate comfort. The contours of the last control internal volume, arch contour, and pressure distribution. A well-designed last prevents slipping at the heel and pinching across the toes – especially when you’ve also been properly measured for length by the Paris Point system.   

Any variations on the last shape like curved, semi-curved, or straight lasts guide natural foot motion, flexibility, and stability during movement. It can also influence subtle changes to width, instep height, or toe depth, meaning that two cycling shoes with the same labelled size can feel entirely different depending on the last. Now, that’s probably got your attention as something you’ve personally experienced – which is why we always recommend having one of our specialist retail partners carry out a professional shoe fit for you.  

4 pillars that provide the perfect fit for cycling shoes 

In a standard shoe, if you have a wide or high-volume foot, you are often forced by the brand or retailer to "size up" in length just to get enough room. In cycling, this ruins your power transfer and misaligns your pedal cleats, causing significant foot health and comfort issues. Lake avoids this by breaking our fit down into these four separate pillars that deliver the perfect fit: 

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By anchoring cycling shoe length to micro-measured Paris points and separating it from width and volume, we’re able to deliver a bespoke, medical grade fit that stabilises the foot and delivers maximum power transfer for the cyclist, alongside our legendary cycling shoe comfort.  

At Lake, we’ve been shaping the future of cycling shoes for over 40 years. Isn’t it time you allowed us to wrap up your own cycling shoe requirements, too!