Man, these boots are enjoyable. I think the fit is about RIGHT on the money here, though, if you use large socks you may want to increase the size one half. Where some of my Teva's need a 11.5 I went with 11 here and it seems perfect. They hold your foot in place tight and fit a normal foot pretty well. I have arches and not too wide feet but these things feel snug and comfortable. If you have wide feet you may need to get that size as really the only place I can feel tightness, not bad at all, is by the pinky toe. I have about a half-inch of room maybe to the front and it seems like my toes do not scrub it at all unless I really try to make them slide up.

These have the best lacing system I have come across. Easily variable and strong while also nice to look at. All the stitching was great on my pair. The colors and design are fabulous. The soles look tough and ready for a grueling 5 day hike. I would not hesitate to get a pair of these.

After break-in I still think they are 5 stars and truly great boots. Larger winter socks made of wool may take some getting used to if that is your main line of hiking. These are mostly for non-winter things and I do like to wear them with slimmer Thorlo socks. For that I think you should go with your normal shoe size unless your feet are super wide or you really need the extra toe room. I think going 11.5 would have been okay for me, but in the end would have made wearing my normal one pair of Thorlos less comfy and also may have been just too big for normal wear with too much movement inside the shoe on longer hikes.

With your medium coolmax/acrylic Thorlo hiking socks I think the fit is great. So that would be my analysis of the situation. I feel this issue is discussed without much thinking sometimes with hikers. You can touch the front of ANY shoe if you want to. A 75 degree decline isn't somehow going to keep your foot 100% in place with any shoe. I can brush the end with my big toe but again it's not painful and it's only on STEEP declines. If I were to go bigger I can already tell they are going to feel looser around my foot and that is something I will not put up with as my foot will just slide to the front even easier than with the 11.

Also toenails.... keep them trimmed on any kind of hike. Nothing worse than long toenails and no clipper lol. Going bigger is just as bad as going too small. For these I feel my normal size 11 was right but others may need to fine tune and go a half-step up. Always test shoes with the pair of socks you will be wearing in them consistently. There is no such thing as a pair of Winter hiking shoes that are also okay for summer IMHO. Hardcore Winter boots require larger socks and it's not worth buying a pair of these too big unless you are hiking regularly in -20 weather. Even then Thorlo mediums are great for up to zero degrees or even more I'd say. All around fit is the most important thing for expensive boots so do your homework. Good luck!