best shoe covers for MTB shoes?



Strelok

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Apr 12, 2011
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what are the best foot warmth keeping cover things for clipless MTB shoes? durable, waterproof, warm in the coldest of conditions is what i'm looking for.
 
I canNOT tell you which brand of neoprene booties is best ...

What I can tell you is that you want booties which are sized for shoes TWO Euro-sizes larger than your shoes otherwise the booties won't fit over the cleats on the shoe's soles.

There MAY be an expedition weight neoprene bootie, but I'm going to guess that people who ride in [COLOR= #0000ff]sub-zero[/COLOR] temps don't wear their cycling shoes when they ride.

Regular neoprene booties should certainly be good down to about 20ºF ...

Adding a vapor barrier ([COLOR= #808080]plastic bread bags for the economy minded[/COLOR]) underneath your socks will probably get you to 10ºF.

Someone mentioned using battery-powered shoe liners ...

What is the coldest temp that you anticipate riding in?
 
hopefully no less than 20, but there may be a few times where i will ride in the negatives or single digits.
 
FWIW. If 'I' were planning on riding at temps BELOW 20ºF, then in addition to including vapor barriers to my footwear I might consider buying a SECOND pair of Neoprene Booties which were large enough to sleeve over the first pair ...

  • For example, I wear a size 44 Shimano ... my recollection is that I ended up needing to buy size 46-48 booties to use with my MTB shoes ... so, I would track down a pair of size 48-50 booties which I presume would fit over the size 46-48 booties.

ONE thing which you need to consider is that some booties are side entry and others are rear entry. Undoubtedly, there are advantages-and-disadvantages and/or preferences to-and-for either option.
 
Originally Posted by Strelok .

what are the best foot warmth keeping cover things for clipless MTB shoes? durable, waterproof, warm in the coldest of conditions is what i'm looking for.
They're called "booties". 20°F isn't that cold, but that's with my feet. No one has your feet. Have you bothered checking to see what's available? Maybe you try the MTB sub-forum. After all, it's the sub-forum all about mountain biking.
 
i don't mountain bike. i just wear mountain shoes because road shoes make no sense to me.

and i've bothered. i just wanted to know what others had tried and had success with.
 
You may not mountain bike but surely someone who has had the same issues with MTB shoes can help you.
 
I've never had much luck with shoe covers/booties. Maybe if you step on the bike right outside your door and never put a foot down until you're back on your porch.
IME, even a very modest amount of walking kills them fairly quickly, and they're one more item to put on. I'm much happier with my two sizes larger winter shoes and really thick socks.

Oh, and my souped-up electrically heated soles too.
I've got poor circulation, and there's only so much added insulation can do. Eventually you'll have to add warmth as well.
 
Originally Posted by Strelok .

hopefully no less than 20, but there may be a few times where i will ride in the negatives or single digits.
It depends on how long you will be riding. Last winter I used my MTB shoes with neoprene covers and thick wool socks. They were ok in the 20 degree Fahrenheit range for under an hour. Past that my feet were pretty frozen. Another layer of neoprene over the toes might help. I finally got some winter riding shoes (Answer Kashmir) and they were a lot warmer. I guess I can always put the neoprene covers over them. By the way, I added some hot glue on the toes of the neoprene covers so they wouldn't wear out so quickly when I put my foot down. I also used hot glue to close some holes and vents in the MTB shoes.

There seem to be quite a few brands of neoprene covers. This place has a lot of them.
http://www.westernbikeworks.com/search/booties-and-shoe-covers?adl=e771ae2d1d3b06306f042bcb87799c57&gclid=cmoc7ornokwcfcx-5qod5cce1a

I think if I had to ride for a long time in really cold weather I'd consider some very good regular winter boots and platform pedals with half toe clips. Keep in mind that at below zero and single digits even ski boots can leave your toes cold if you don't use warmers. And I find that skiing circulates blood in my feet much better than biking does.
 
Hotronics makes a battery powered insole contraption - $240 available on the internet. I've never used them but I am tempted as my feet were really cold this morning and stayed that way for an hour after the ride. I hate cold.

Anyone ever tried "thermosoles"? I see them on line in a couple of places.
 
Here's a hot tip from mountaineering: sprinkle a little chili powder in your socks. It works. Just be careful to not sprinkle too much in your socks: it can get very hot.
 
Originally Posted by rxter .

Hotronics makes a battery powered insole contraption - $240 available on the internet. I've never used them but I am tempted as my feet were really cold this morning and stayed that way for an hour after the ride. I hate cold.

Anyone ever tried "thermosoles"? I see them on line in a couple of places.

Haven't tried thermosoles, but I've used plenty of heated soles. They all work, but whether they're useful to you or not is another question.
All commercial units I've found have been fairly low-power units, about 2W. That's enough for them to be warm to the touch, but not enough to warm up a cold foot. When I build my own, either from scratch, or by modifying commercially available heating elements, I aim for 3W. That's enough to bring a numb foot back to life, as opposed to merely keeping a functioning foot warm and toasty.
 
I plan to start the rides with them to keep the circulation going. They'll be here next week. We'll see. FWIW I bought some skiing socks yesterday - got them at REI. Loosened my shoes and they worked pretty well. Its been warm recently (50 or so) so my feet aren't hurting like they were.
 
Wouldn't normal booties work on a MTB shoe? they're cheap and very effective.
 
Originally Posted by ambal .

Wouldn't normal booties work on a MTB shoe? they're cheap and very effective.
Again:
"I've never had much luck with shoe covers/booties. Maybe if you step on the bike right outside your door and never put a foot down until you're back on your porch.
IME, even a very modest amount of walking kills them fairly quickly, and they're one more item to put on. I'm much happier with my two sizes larger winter shoes and really thick socks."
 
I'm getting to the same place dabac. The Thermosoles don't fit real well. They are OK front to back, but side to side they are too wide and the smaller size is only 1/8" to 1/4" less wide, so they are difficult to jam in there. And then your feet are smashed inside. I pulled them out but left my shoes very loose cause I had covers on and was too lazy to take the covers off and adjust the straps. Don't ya know that my feet were much more comfy than before.

I am going to look at getting bigger shoes and shoving the thermosoles in there just for winter riding. That might be the ticket when it gets really cold. I'll let you know how the saga continues...
 
So I think I got this thing licked. I picked up a pair of Shimano SH-R087W Road Shoes in my usual size. They are wider and easily accommidated both the thermosoles and my ski socks. I kept them loose and put shoe covers on. Rode for a couple hours this am and it all worked great. It was not very cold today so my feet were actually too hot, but as a test the set up passed. These things turn on and off with a thermostat so I could feel them warming up - it was weird but reassuring for when the cold comes back. No pain or discomfort at all. I am almost positive that this will work great when it gets cold out again.

They are plugged in and charging in the garage for tomorrow's ride.

 
Was 40 today. They worked perfectly. I think they will be good to 30 for an hour or 2 ride. Doesn't get any colder than that here so I'm good.
 
Originally Posted by Strelok .

what are the best foot warmth keeping cover things for clipless MTB shoes? durable, waterproof, warm in the coldest of conditions is what i'm looking for.
After trying several different shoe covers, the ones I've settled on that meet all your criteria are the Pearl Izumi Amfibs.