When buying training shoes over the internet getting sizing right can be the absolute worst.
You wear a 9 in Nike trainers, but what does that mean in Adidas, Reebok, or what about a smaller brand like RAD and STRIKE MVMNT?
Every company has a sizing chart for their shoes. These sizing charts can be slightly different depending on how a company has built and sized their shoe.
In this article, I’m going to cover three things.
- How to Measure Your Foot At Home
- How Your Measurements Translate to Baseline US, EU, and UK Sizes
- What Size Shoe You’ll Wear In Different Companies
The sizing differences of shoes makes your job as a consumer tough because now you have to cross-refernce sizing charts every time you buy. It makes my job as a reviewer difficult, too, and that’s why I usually discussing sizing and fit to great lengths in my reviews.
Every shoe fits slightly differently and then we have to factor in the VAST differences in foot anatomies. To combat this, the best thing you can do is know your foot’s measurements.
Step 1: Measure Your Foot
If you’re at home, the easiest way to measure your foot is to grab a piece of paper and pencil or pen. The two measurements we want to record with this are your foot’s: length and width.
When we say length, we mean from the tip of your longest toe to the end of your heel.
When we say width, we mean the widest part of your foot. For most, this will be at the base of the forefoot.
- Option 1: Place the piece of paper against the wall and step on top. Lightly touch the back of your heel against the wall, then mark at the peak length of your foot and either trace the forefoot or make two dots on each side of the foot.
- Option 2: Place your foot in the middle of the paper and trace.
Pro Tip: Make sure you’re applying weight as you record this as your foot will naturally splay and spread out more when you’re standing.
Step 2: Find Your Shoe Size and Note Your Foot Width
Once you’ve got your length and width measurements, it’s time to plug them into the calculator below.
I built this calculator to provide baseline estimates for US, UK, and EU shoe sizes. You likely already know your shoe size, but there are occasions when athletes realize, “Oh, I’ve been wearing the wrong size this whole time!”
Men’s Shoe Size Calculator
My Tips Once You Get Your Data
- Most training shoes are built for Medium (D) to Wide (E) feet. We’re seeing a nice wide trend at the moment and I credit a lot of this to barefoot shoes growing in popularity.
- If you have an EE (Extra Wide) foot, then you may want to consider sizing up a half-size in most training shoes.
- If you’re pushing 4E+ widths, then you’ll have a tougher time finding shoes that work for your feet. When in doubt, buy the “wider” models and try them without their insoles.
- Just because the calculator gives you one number, that DOES NOT mean you’re confined to that one size.
- It’s normal for different shoes to fit differently from different brands. Remember, this is to gain a baseline understanding, then you can adjust from there.
Step 3: Explore Different Brands’ Sizing
Plug your foot’s length into the calculator below and toggle between CM or IN depending on what you used, then select the brand you’re interested in.
I’ve pulled sizes from 10 of the most popular brands that make training shoes.
On that note, these are all brands that I regularly gear from and I have sizing notes on all of them in my reviews, too, so once your get your estimates you can then reference my notes about foot volume, width, and overall fit.
Shoe Size Brand Calculator
Notes About This Calculator
- This calculator is set to round down on your size recommendation when your size is ~.05 inches or 1 centimeter to a company’s sizing chart.
- Example: Let’s say you plug in 10.2 inches and a company’s sizing chart has 10.16 for a size, then the calculator will size you for 10.16 as it’s within .05″. Otherwise, it rounds up.
- I left a bigger spread for rounding up because having a little more space for toe splay barring heel slip is never a bad thing.
- In general, if you have a wider foot, especially a 2E+ (Extra Wide), you’ll want to go up a half-size in most companies, especially if they’re not known for making wide shoes.
- The exception to the above is if a brand is known for being narrow and you’re an Extra Wide foot, pass on that brand. Sometimes sizing up still doesn’t get the job done.
- Some shoes from companies will size different than others. This is normal and why also only going off of sizing charts can be misleading/frustrating at times.
If you’re switching brands, hopefully, the calculator above can help shed some light on sizes you should at least start with.
As you get more experience with different companies you’ll start to learn how to size their shoes accordingly which will make your job a lot easier in the long run.
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