La Sportiva - Women's Cyklon - Scarpe per trail running

Be sure to size UP!

for most brand of shoes i normally fit comfortably a women's US 10 or European 42. I purchased the 42.5 or 10.5 to be safe, which happens to be the maximum size Sportiva makes for women apparently.
The fit feels more like a US 9- 9.5. Not sure why- as the inner sole is a suitable size (took it out and measured it against my ASICS 10.5 glideride runners and it matched almost perfectly- perhaps 1 or 2 mm smaller. The very tight fit might then be the result of the “envelope” of the shoe and the elastic ankle fabric sleeve causing the foot to slide towards the toe end ?? And this brings another problem. the outer sole and protective toe edge isn’t made from very stiff material. Ok- it’s not a hiking shoe. I decided to chalk it up to this being a trail running shoe. But I felt on my recent hikes in the Dolomites that I could probably seriously hurt my toes banging into rocks or boulders if I wasn’t careful. Climbing uphill on the trails offered some reprieve (foot would slide back towards the heel a little) but then descending the trails walking or running would cause the foot to slide down towards the shoe tip thereby pushing the toes against the tip more making the descents quite painful, and so i felt the need to write this review.

Such a lovely design - it's light -and ultra breathable - and the construction is really top quality. But, it's way too tight a fit.