Totally agree, S.C.
My very first shoes were a pair of Five Ten Spires, size 7(39 1/2 UK), which is about the same as my street shoe size(I wear 7 1/2's for running). I found that the Spires were perfectly comfortable right out the box, and only after about a year did I consider them to feel too "sloppy" for me.
Now I wear size 37.5UK in the Five Tens. But that wouldn't have been a good place to start.