Just finished a ride. Weather is in the low 20s. I rode for 40 mins. And the majority of those minutes were painful. I’ve always had trouble in the cold with my feet. I wore wool socks, not necessarily very thick, but wool nonetheless, and LG shoe covers. They are the Neo Protect, so not very thick at all.
What are you cold weather people wearing? Sock and shoe cover wise. I would like to be able to ride through the winter at least once a week. The rest of my body was warm enough where an hour is doable, but I’m not battling the cold for a 40-minute pain filled ride.
I bought winter cycling shoes and wear good wool socks with them. I used to use those thick neoprene type covers, but after mine eventually broke down, it seemed no one was making them anymore. My shoes are Exustar, but I know many other companies make them (not cheap).
I have a pair of fleece-lined neoprene shoe covers. They’re not perfect, since the cutout for the cleat lets some cold air in, but they’re pretty good. Otherwise you need a dedicated winter cycling shoe like tkos mentions.
Any of the cheap chem warmers… Some of my recent ones have sticky backing, so I just stick them onto the top of the shoes (outside the show) and then pull the shoe cover over them. It seems to me that the cleat vent in the bottom lets enough air into them to keep them functioning, and you also get a nice warm insulating layer of air trapped by the neoprene shoe covers.
I have the Pearl Izumi neoprene ones also, but the Gore with the fleece lining is much better.
Also don’t forget to put some tape on the vents on the soles of your shoes if you have them. A little bit of electrical tape will help keep the cold air out.
I go with wool socks (not too thick), toe covers and then a neoprene shoe cover over that. I wouldn’t say my toes are toasty, but they’re nowhere close to painful. They stay warm enough that I don’t think about it during the ride. Coldest so far this year was 2 hours at 24 degrees.
I got these for Christmas and am looking forward to trying them out.
I wear a pair of wool socks and a some Pearl Izumi shoe covers. I don’t remember the model name, but they are mid-weight. A couple of key things to think about: make sure the socks aren’t too thick. If they are, your shoes may be too tight and this could make your feet colder. Also, if your shoes have vents in the soles make sure you tape over them. My road shoes have some venting in the toes and mid foot. The shoes covers block the toe vents just fine, but the mid foot vents are wide open so I put some duct tape over them for the colder weather.
Here in Vancouver it doesn’t get too cold but it gets cold and wet. I wear a light sock and then neoprene socks that I bought at Mountain Equipment Coop. Got them in the paddling department. I then wear my neoprene shoe covers as well. Feet still get cold but takes about 3 hours.
I put on my shoe, put a plastic bag (like a grocery bag) over the shoe, and put a shoe cover on over the plastic bag. Then I rip a small hole in the bottom of the bag where my cleat is so that I can still clip in and out. It gets me into the teens without having cold feet issues.
Thanks for all the tips guys. I recently got a pair of covers that are 5mm thick, wrong size so I couldn’t wear today, but I’ll get the bigger size and hope they work. I’m definitely going to take a look at taping vents and trying that plastic bag trick. Hopefully it works!