Shoe Question

I'm going to get a pair of Solutions, and I have some questions

I wear a size 11 street shoe, and I have a pair of size 11 Defys

I'm debating between getting a size 43, or a size 42.5

I can't figure out if I want them to be super tight or just tight.

To those of you that have them, how do you wear them? How tight?

Do they stretch much?

As tight as you can get your foot into.

There is no point in having comfortable solutions. If you size them looser, you lose their advantages.

And they stretch. A little. More like, they break in.

Definitely go as tight as you can. If you can wear em for more than 20 minutes, you did it wrong. And mine stretched a good bit, they were nearly impossible to get my foot into at first but now they're perfect.

As as point of reference, I wear a size 10.5 - 11 street shoe and I wear size 40.5 solutions.

Edit: The fit for solutions is going to be quite different from your Defys. Since you are asking, I am assuming ur buying these online, but if you can, try them on in a store first, or buy from Zappos so you can return them when they dont fit.

As tight as you can go - even if you can't wear them at first for more than 30 seconds. I wear size 14 street shoes and size 42 solutions. Typically it takes me 5 minutes and significant effort to get them on the first couple times (a scrap of plastic like a cliff bar wrapper is helpful for slipping the heels in). I usually cannot wear them for more than a minute or so. Eventually they stretch and re-form to be perfect. I've even worn them on a 300-foot 5.3 slab (painful, but not the end of the world).

I've broken in 5 pairs and observed a little variation from shoe to shoe and pair to pair. In fact, I bought a friend's 41.5's off of him because they fit as well as the 42's I have. A salesman at EMS told me they hand-stretch the shoes, so there can be variation there. I'd recommend trying before you buy, or ordering multiple pairs and choosing the best left shoe and right shoe, then returning the rest.

Agree with all of the above, if you don't go tight enough you'll end up with useless sloppy, baggy shoes. Get the smallest pair you can get your feet in to, they will break in. Shoes like these are an investment, you need to take the time to break them in slowly.