Are overshoes for mountain biking any good or even acceptable? I only ask as buying specifically winter boots is very expensive and my poor tootsies are starting to freeze!

I used to buy Endura MT500’s and wear them over my (only) shoes in winter with wooly socks

They did the job and generally lasted 2-3 winters till I had to replace them

After wearing out my third pair I bought some boots which will hopefully last longer and do a better job for less money over the years

Depends on the terrain – rocky, techy with walky bits; forget it.
Rides where you don’t have to walk around much, soft ground etc. then they work really well. Also have the bonus of keeping your shoes clean.

I use Endura MT500s and am only on my second pair in about 6 years. But most of my riding is on soft, loamy soil with not that many techy section or rocks and I very rarely have to do any hike-a-bike bits.

I am a Surrey hills pootler so suspect they may be the way forward. Shall give them a go!

I prefer the BBB ones to the Endura’s, I always found the enduras a right game to get on, and the zip only lasted one winter for me.

The BBB’s have a open bottom with a velcro strap across the middle so they’re loads easier to get on and off (and you can use them with skates, those crazy dutchies!)

I had Endura MT500s but found them less than practical and they wear out quickly. Now I just wear waterproof socks inside my regular spd shoes and that works better for me.

Endura road neoprene overshoes and merino socks for me. Better than the MT500’s IMO as I found the rubber cover section rub on my cranks. Never cold, wet or uncomfortable. Shoes stay clean, chuck the overshoes in a bucket when I get home, no need to set up cleats on 2 pairs of shoes… dozens of advantages. Is it cool? Probably not but then the rest of what most of us would wear for winter MTB hardly qualifies as cool 😀

I’m using the same PX Neoprene ones on and Off-road… £10 I can’t say I’ll cry if they do get wrecked, but they seem pretty robust thus far…

take the plunge and buy a pair of specialized, shimano or northwave winter boots. i tried to do it cheaply and bought a set of overshoes for about 30 quid, they lasted one ride/crash before they were destroyed. ive got shimano MW81 i think, couldnt be more happy with them

Don’t bother with overshoes and especially not the Endura’s. More so if you’ve got any kind of bike hike to do you are wasting your time. Any abrasion with the ground and the stitching on the soul (yes stitching on the soul-whoever decided that was a good idea ?!) comes apart. The stitching also comes away when you’re trying to stretch them over your shoe. Snow gets between the overshoes and the soul of regular shoe. water still gets in your shoes via your cleat and over the top of the over shoe and, they don’t really keep your feet warm.

Northwave Goretex Celsius boots on the other hand are amazing and just the price of 3 sets of overshoes !!!

[Quote]…stitching on the soul…[/quote]

😯

Crikey you really don’t want your soul coming unstitched!
I’d better buy some £150 boots right away then…

You can find a good set for under £100 if you shop around. Cheaper than buying a new pair of overshoes every weekend. Seal skins waterproof socks are another way of doing it. Not as warm as a goretex boot, but much better than overshoes

If I am going to be doing any hike a bike ,I just wear boots with my walking gaiters .

+1

Overshoes just get trashed in no time if you do any serious carrying.

Winter boots for me.

My endura 500s are lasting reasonably well, probably because I rarely use them. My 12month old on-ones are battered, they quickly got scruffy, they were never waterproof but they only cost a tenner and they are still keeping my feet warm on my commute which involves a little bit of pushing each way (fairly high gear SS + short steep hill). I just got a new set but haven’t used them yet as the old scruffy ones are still useable.

For commuting nowadays I go with thin shoe and overshoes that way you’ve a reasonable chance of them being dry for the ride home/next day. For proper offroad riding winter boots really are worth the money and keep some overshoes for when it’s stupidly wet/cold. If you very rarely push overshoes are a cheap way to keep your feet warm but if you regularly hike a bike they get trashed quickly.

I’ve got some cheap Planet-X/On-One neoprane overshoes which do the job. Just starting their second winter of commuting/MTBing.

For the sake of £10 I’d give them a try and see how you get on.

no right answer, depends on how much walking you do, if you don’t walk then overshoes are fine, if you walk then not so.

I tend to use overshoes boots and when cold overshoes over boots. The boots are a set of Northwave Artic’s (about 10+ years old(have shimano soles)?) so the insulation has seen better days.

Love Endura neoprene overshoes for the road absolutely hate them for mtb. They come off the toes, are a right pig to get on, make a hideous noise on the cranks and are warn out after a month. NW celcius good enough my winter road bike now has spd pedals!

Got some Endura 500 mtb ones for my road riding and they are coming apart underneath the toe and heel and that’s just from walking up and down the drive before and after each ride.Can’t imagine they’d last five minutes on rocky off road trails.I also noticed that when I stepped in a shallow puddle the water migrated up the inside of overshoe and soaked my feet even though the puddle was shallower than my shoe last.
My drive 😉

I recently bought some BBB Arctic Duty overshoes and have been running them for about 6 weeks on my daily commute. They are working really well and keeping my feet toasty warm whilst showing no signs of wear despite daily use in the Northern Irish weather. The sole is rubber and a good thickness. At the heal the rand goes around the back so is out of the way when on foot and the front is clear of most of the tread apart from at the front two inches or so. I have not walked much in them but they seem pretty well designed and robust. Much better that my old MT500s which showed signs of wear quickly and were re-stitched many times.

Dogsby

A good pair of thermal socks or two and a plastic bag works well.

Bought a pair of Shimano MW80’s about 6 years ago thinking they’d be an expensive luxury, but as I was earning decent money at the time I thought so what.

Can honestly say that they’ve made the single biggest difference to my riding of anything I’ve ever bought! Having warm and dry feet whilst conditions aspire against you means that winter MTB rides are not only less of a chore, but they actually happen whereas years ago I’d just not bother. Even the best overshoes are only a fraction as good as a proper winter boot. Tried on a Lake MXZ303 the other day… Wow! If I lived in the arctic circle there’d be no excuses not to ride with those bad boys! Bit overkill for the UK though possibly, but awesome nonetheless.

I tried the mt500’s last year. I live in the north peaks and do a little bit of walking with my bike- not much. The zip broke on one , the bottom split on the other in no time. I also found they took far too long to take on and off, not ideal.

I’d get some gore tex shoes.

My MT500’s have lasted well. I leave them on my winter shoes all the time.

I used to use them in the UK, but only over my winter boots if it was raining all day and/or already really wet and muddy.

I’m not sure if people still suggest this with winter boots, but get a size up so you can wear thick socks or 2 pairs of socks even. In full winter mode I used to wear thin thermal socks to keep my feet warm (even if some water eventually got in), Porelle Drys, Shimano winter boots, neoprene overshoes. It probably sounds like overkill but we used to take trains in and out of London to ride or race so we’d be in our gear all day.

Another option of you don’t get on with overshoes (like many on here) is to use flat pedals instead. Eliminates the heat-sink effect of the cleats and gives you lots of options for footwear. I did this out of necessity a couple of winters ago and also just really enjoyed the different riding style for flats so it was a double win for me.

Only downside of winter boots is the size of them, with the mud they scuff up your cranks and chain stays pretty quick unless you tape. Definitely worth the investment if you ride off-road in winter.

I have Endura overshoes and wouldn’t recommend them for frequent MTB use. I use them for a long(ish) commute that I do once or twice per week and they’re well-frayed at the back.

Coincidentally, I’m selling an unused set of size 43 Shimano MT90 Gore-Tex boots on eBay. I don’t think I’m allowed to post a link, but I’m sure you could search for them easily enough. 🙂