I've got cold feet!!

samcrx3 said:

Pardon the pun, but my feet are frozen on rides. We are in winter where we live and both days I've gone riding, my feet are very cold. I'm warm everywhere else except my feet. The last couple of days there have frosts and my computer said it was 0 degrees C both days. And it will get colder from now. The coldest it has been overnight is -10.
What do you put on your feet to keep them warm? It is very unpleasant having cold feet 🙁
Regards, Sam

Everyone has different tolerances and mine has varied over the years. This past season (northern Hemisphere here), I typically used:
- Medium weight wool cycling socks down to about 43°F (6°C)
- Neoprene Socks down to about 28°F (-2°C)
- Add windblocking neoprene overbooties if much below that.
I usually have a somewhat arbitrary rule not to do any meaningful distances below 17°F (-8°C), though I did one this year at about 14°F (-10°F). Biggest problem was having condensate vapor from breathing into my balaclava freeze on the inside of my eyewear (bugger to wipe off).:o

[font=Times New Roman]I ride in the winter here, and so far I quit riding outside when; 1) the roads are snow covered, 2) there is ice on the roads, or 3) it’s below 30F (-1C).[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]I purchased a pair of Sidi Freeze road shoes (2 sizes bigger than my normal road shoes), and I wear 1 or 2 pairs of wool socks (that’s why the shoe is bigger). My feet are warm down to 30F.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]If I was going to ride in colder weather, then I'd ditch my clipless pedals, and swap them (only for the winter) for some flat pedals (maybe with toe clips). Then I would wear my hiking boots with 1 or 2 pairs of socks. [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]But… since I have a set of rollers, I just ride the rollers until it’s warmer and the snow melts.[/font]

serenaslu said:

I have a somewhat arbitrary rule not to do any meaningful distances below 17°F (-8°C),o

WOW, you guys are good. I'm "tougher" that most when it comes to the cold, but this rule applies to me at +8 degrees C🙂 If it's around 8ish C, I'll rarely do more than 30 miles (50km)

samcrx3 said:

my feet are frozen on rides.

I dunno how you can live there when you must have the temptation of much warmer cities all around you.😄

I assume you have booties?

Unfortunately, it's not simply a matter of covering up because the restriction of firm shoes cuts off some blood, obviously contributing to the problem. So, cover up, and maybe loosen the straps a bit.

samcrx3 said:

Pardon the pun, but my feet are frozen on rides. We are in winter where we live and both days I've gone riding, my feet are very cold. I'm warm everywhere else except my feet. The last couple of days there have frosts and my computer said it was 0 degrees C both days. And it will get colder from now. The coldest it has been overnight is -10.
What do you put on your feet to keep them warm? It is very unpleasant having cold feet 🙁
Regards, Sam

I'm in New York, and the winters here are not exactly user friendly; I've had the same problem. This year I tried putting a pair of wool socks over the regular socks and it worked out just fine.

This winter I found a new secret weapon that allowed me to do long rides all winter in NYC: hand warmers. They're little chemical pouches that heat up when exposed to air, cost 1-2 dollars at any hardware store, and work great either btw your sock and shoe (my style cause my feet get super-cold) or btw shoe and bootie (my friend's style, he doesn't get as cold as me). Either way, these things last for hours, long enough for any winter ride. Also, they're very small and you can barely feel them, usually only my toe area gets cold anyhow so they do the job...amazing how warm feet make the high 20's on a ny night more bearable than low 40s with cold feet. Try them!! (also heard something about electric socks that hunters and wading fishermen use but I haven't tried them out yet)

I switched to thin wool socks when it drops below freezing and I put some ducktape over my shoe vents to keep the wind out. That is all I do and can bike to around -10C if the days is sunny and wind is low.