Shimano Custom Fit Shoes

I called my Shimano Rep today to see the viability of becoming a Custom Fit Dealer. Shimano makes some awesome shoes and yes I will wear Shimano shoes on a full Campy bike.

Last year when I called my rep, he told me I need to buy 10 12 pairs of R300 or R210's. In that deal, we get the custom fit vacu-oven. Cool, 12 pairs of $350 shoes.

So I called today to see my options, since I really want to get a pair of R310's and possibly M310's for cross. Since I'm running a team now, I could also offer the shoes to the team guys at great prices.

So the number? 24 pairs of custom fit shoes! I honestly don't think we sell 24 pairs of shoes at the shop, let alone $350 shoes. I then asked if we could just buy the oven and buy ones of shoes. Sorry no. Damn this really sucks. My rep said Shimano's justification was they now offer a wider range of custom fit shoes, especially in a lower price point.

So can I EP shoes for myself? Yes! But what good does me getting some sweet shoes do when I can't get them for my customers? I don't think Shimano offers a non-custom fit carbon soled shoe anymore. I know for sure the only two carbon soled mountain bike shoes are custom fit only.

It's a real bummer that small shops can't help out their customers anymore. If our shop was in Columbus with lots of shops around, we could deal around and have other guys pool in for a purchase. Do that every year until we all have our own ovens. But since we are located in a small town, that is not an option (and it would probably be frowned upon by Shimano)