Keeping feet warm?
Originally Posted by
KC8QVO
I was reminded today of how much of a challenge keeping feet warm is when the temps fall - and I even felt my feet getting cold at 60 degrees F today.
I have put my feet in plastic bags before (like sock linings) inside my shoes to keep the wind from getting through, but the plastic doesn't let my feet breathe.
Another problem area is the soul of my shoes. I use SPD cleats/pedals and the open air, for one, plus the temperature transmission through the cleat, secondly, make the bottoms of my feet hard to to keep warm.
The neoprene shoe "covers" that zip over shoes up to lower legs seem interesting, but they leave the bottoms open for the cleat to attach to the pedal so they do nothing for the bottom insulation - from the open air and conduction from the cleat/pedal. So maybe on the "keeping wind out" front they work well and allow better ventilation/breathabilty than the bag method?
Just for the heck of it I have been looking at some "boots" that have SPD cleats…
If I could ride with...
I suppose toe clips/baskets/straps aren't out of the question entirely, but I am so accustomed to SPD's now its just normal for my feet to use them.
Originally Posted by
ridelikeaturtle
I use toe covers, they're not expensive and work well.
Nice review of the options, @
KC8QVO; my situation for winter riding seems similar though I don’t know where you post from.
I find neoprene boot covers tolerable on my rides rarely below 10° F, even with the open bottoms. Boots seem too expensive for the few times I really need them.
I do find the zippered covers hard to close and Velcro closures are much easier. I also have employed additional Goretex covers for wind protection. [posted before I got a winter bike with clipless pedals]:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…One other comment, especially when suggesting various solutions for winter riding problems. I often recommend on such threads that the poster define their riding conditions, especially
distance, as well as temperature to better evaluate the experience…
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
This past Monday (12/30/13)
I did my 14 mile commute at about 15°F and tried a new set of foot coverings that IMO that kept my feet significantly warmer than usual.
In the past I had bought a pair of neon green shoe covers made by Gore-Tex, for wet riding.
During the winter, I use platform pedals with toeclips, and my usual footwear is thin and thick socks, running shoes and Totes rubber overshoes. I use plastic bags over my running shoes to put on the Totes more easily (see the sequence below).
So with the additional Gore-Tex shoe coverings at 15ºF, I did not perceive cold until about mile 10, and I did not feel cold in the sense of permeating the soft tissues of my foot until about mile 12, but it was tolerable.
At about mile 12 I have a downhill run of several hundred yards that irreversibly drains the heat from my extremities. The next day at 21ºF, I rode without the Goretex, and started
feeling cold at about mile 9 and finished significantly colder at my mile 14 destination than the day before.
Now as noted above, I wear cleated cycling shoes and neoprene shoe covers instead of the Totes.