Out last night, yes it was exceptionally cold, possibly -3deg or so but after a short while had freezing cold toes.
Thought I might have combatted this as I was wearing seal skinz merino liners, seal skinz socks, normal shimano spd shoes and then endure mt500 overshoes as a final layer.
But no, the toes still copped it(only part of me that did though).
So is the only answer gore tex winter shoes, do these actually work and make a difference compared to what i’m doing already?

Towny

Did your shoes feel very tight when you put them on? If so you might have constricted your feet a little too much and reduced the blood flow to your feet. It could be that wearing too many pairs of socks is being counter productive. I had this once when wearing 2 pairs of gloves that were tight. took one pair off and they warmed up straight away.
Of note i also wear seal skinz with spds and enduro 500 over shoes and my toes have always been toasty even when wet

have a look at the warm socks thread – lots of good stuff

Alway pays to leave wiggle room
also, be pedantic about making sure your feet, socks and shoes are very warm when kitting up, otherwise you’ll be trapping the cold in

leave wiggle room

Yep.

Very common mistake is to stick on extra socks, but then your blood can’t circualte properly as your feet are squeezed into the same sized shoes.

Your blood circulation is all that keeps your feet warm. Keeping dry & the windchill to a minimum helps retain heat.

As well as warm wool socks, shoes not too tight and overshoes I’ve recently replaced my insoles with Woly Astro Therm insoles which have helped a bit.

Heaven in a packet

http://www.heatpacksuk.co.uk/toe-warmers/heat-factory-toe-warmer-40-pairs.php

Not sure I’d buy winter boots just so my toes didn’t get cold a few times a year 🙂 Replace a pair of those socks with a plastic bag, I sometimes use those tie handle sandwich bags that supermarkets sell.

it does depend how much you suffer from cold toes. Some rides I’d get home and be in agony for 15 mins while my toes defrosted.

Now have a set of diadora winter boots and they are suitably lined and roomy for my toes to wiggle about in thick wooly winter socks. was out the other night in sub zero for a couple of hours and my toes were comfy.

My Sidi winter boots were not warm in the slightest by comparison.

Ghetto winter boots – thin layer of split inner tube insulation under the sole to help prevent cleat-conduction cold, maybe a layer of that thin foam you get as a pizza base.

Cleats and the plates conduct a lot of heat out of normal spd shoes, it’s one thing I find winter boots suffer from less. Shimano winter boots still rated as one of my all-time best purchases, £ very well spent. Still need 2 layers of thin wool socks etc when it’s sub-zero but compared to normal shoes they’re great.

I got a set of the rose winter boots (http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose-winter-mtb-shoes-rws-02/aid:589868) and finally used them for the commute this week, very impressed, warm and comfy and hoping to try them off road this weekend. I have some of the northwave road boots and the rose ones feel warmer

Shorts or tights? If the blood going down cools down your toes will never warm up! Thermal longs under baggies once it’s below zero for me.

Gravity-slave – you might be onto something there. I was out with TownyDC last night and my feet were ok. Left foot a bit tingly, but not too bad. I had long bibs with football socks on.

He needs to man up 😉

I’ve got a pair of Northwave Celsius winter boots, get them a size bigger than normal so you can wear a thick sock and they’ll keep you warm in pretty much any conditions you’ll find in the UK.

I guess it depends how much you ride in the cold whether you think it’s worth it but they are a much better option than any overshoes I’ve tried.

Planet-x overshoes. cheap and effective. You can use them on top of your existing gear, so no faff.

Only if you clip in

cold toes not really a problem for me…just regular socks and a pair of mid-height waterproof hiking boots adorn my ‘plates of meat’.

though, once you have changed into your kit, i find that it helps to sit for 1/2 hour or so and drink a hot beverage (maybe catch up on e-mails etc) before dashing out.

Bought myself waterproof karrimor walking boots from sports direct and some smartwool 85% wool socks from TKmaxx….ended up taking the insole out of the boots to make that wee bit extra “wiggle” space to accommodate
my 2 pairs of socks….

Shimano winter boots bought a size bigger with an extra pair of thin insoles below the shimano ones. I can wear any thickness of merino sock in there with no restriction and it’s the best combo I’ve had in 20 odd year.

I stood around for half an hour in snow a few years back (with it being -10c) and still managed to continue a ride after stopping to take pics. In the 90’s I rode with Axo missions a size too small with summer socks through the winter and I remember taking them off mid ride,and walking about next to icy puddles to get the circulation going! My toes were all marked with compression and black,red,blue..