Well, it turns out horrible bike stores have a positive purpose after
all. I did a search and discovered that only Cycle Laurent, the most
horrible bike shop in Paris, was the only reasonably close bike shop
carrying the shoes I was interested in, so I decided to go there and
try them out, so I could later order them via internet. The abuse I
previously suffered there would relieve me of all guilt. I asked my
wife to come along so that I wouldn't lose my cool before I could try
on the shoes, and I gave her instructions to prevent me from telling
them after that I was going to order them online, so that I could
return to the shop is a similar need arose. Well, it worked great, and
I now know exactly which size will fit me. My wife told me that the
owner wasn't that annoying but just plain retarded. This was confirmed
by his statement that Shimano road shoes are no good because they don't
allow you to use standard cleats (isn't it about 5 years since they
switched to Look spacing and since Armstrong used them to win the
Tour?). In case anyone still thinks I did something immoral, my wife
pointed out to me absolute proof that this is a totally unacceptable
shop that merits contempt: there is a sign near the entrance that
states that inflating tires is free for people who bought their bicycle
at the shop but 1.50 Euros (1.94 $US) for everyone else.
-ilan