On Saturday past i rode a glorious 50k lop round Glen Torridon in the highlands. The problem is by halfway round my toes were unbelievably cold. I was wearing sealskin socks and (admittedly summery) specialized bg comp shoes. After the ride was finished my feet remained cold and my toes still don’t feel right. So Singletrackers i’m asking you to share your years of collective experience in sticking two up at the cold and let me know your preferred weapons when it comes to staving off the frost bite!

Cheers, Al

shimano mw01s and endura thermolite socks ….

kept me warm ALWAYS….

Keep your body core warm – slightly too warm. that generally works for me. Don’t do your shoes up to tight and use SPDs so you can pull up – all helps keep the blood flowing

Shimano MT90s – and mibbe sealskinz too if it’s really wet. However, the problem is wearing too many layers if your shoes aren’t big enough. That just reduces any insulation. I find sealskinz on their own too thin anyway. Another advantage of the MT90s is that they’re like a “proper” walking boot with a decent sole. Ideal for scottish hikey-bikey stuff.

Yeah cheers, there certainly was a fair bit of hikey!

Neoprene overshoes are the only things I’ve found that guarantee my feet stay toasty-warm, I just wear my normal shoes and merino socks if it’s cold. That said if you’re walking a lot on hard ground they probably won’t last too long.
I also have some Specialized Defrosters which do a decent job but once water finds it’s way in they can get cold.

I have terrible circulation but found the specialized defrosters with seal skins and some form of nylon mix sock seems to do it, mind you after a long ride it still feels like i have stumps instead of feet!

From years & years of experimenting & asking others….
If you inherently suffer from cold feet, nothing will cure it.
In fact, I’m sat at my desk with cold feet now & I haven’t been out yet –
any time my feet are inactive they get cold.

In the last 5 years alone I’ve gone through 8 different types of Winter boot & various over-boots & I have more socks than M&S
Nothing has worked, tried all the don’t fasten them tight etc. procedures

I just live with it now

Lots of folk will tell you that this or that shoe/sock combination is the business [if anything is too warm]& will for sure cure it – it may well do, for them.

Moon boots (ride with flat pedals) and thick woolly socks! Works increadibly well, although not very stylish! Trick is to have a lot of room in the boots so that the toes have space to wiggle about. I have terrible problems with cold toes but this has completely solved it! Keeps the ankles warm and well protected too!

I get that with seal skin merinos and I think its because my shoes are too tight and so reduces the bloody supply to my toes and thus are cold!

What uplink said.

Except that Merino socks *may* prove the solution for me. Too early to tell though.

It’s the magic number 4.

2 pairs of winter socks. I use Endura Thermolite. They’re cheap and warm.

Then a pair of Specialized Defrosters – like other people have said, don’t do them up too tight – just tight enough to keep water out.

Then a pair of overshoes.

However, I can’t recommend overshoes with the defrosters, as the defrosters tread patterns tend to rip through most overshoes.

Either way, 4 layers and you cant go wrong.

defrosters and overshoes ?? wow i imagine that to be a invinsable combination

defrosters and overshoes ?? wow i imagine that to be a invinsable combination

didn’t work for me 🙁

i also have terrible circulation, always used to get really numb feet and the pain that came with thawing them out

2 things have changed since then;

(1) i ride in flats, don’t care what cycling shoes you have – a pair of comfy shoes on flats are much warmer. havin said that on my road bike i wear summer specialized shoes with endura neoprene over shoes, which do work

(2) i wear sandals or flip flops… a lot even when it’s frosty i still wear my sandals – don’t know why? i just do. Really helped the circulation in my feet

my hands on the other hand – get really really cold ;o)

Your shoes may have been on too tight and cut off the circulation in your feet.

The cure for cold/wet feet for me is a pair of Shimano MW80’s (a size bigger than normal) & a pair of sealskinz socks. Had a blast round Brechfa on Saturday in the wet, windy & cold weather but my feet were fine at the end.

Heated pedals. I’ll be selling them in the classifieds tomorrow.

One of the American tandem boys has an alternative solution – spd sandals several sizes too big worn with woolly hiking socks and sealskins. works for him in well below freezing conditions.

When I was in the army we were told its pointless trying to keep your feet warm if your knees are cold. So I wear oiled wool seaboot socks they come up to your knees. Because they are oiled wool you dont get cold if your feet are wet and the oily wool stops you getting blisters.

Thanks for all your input guys. But i think i’m going to have to go with the heated pedals 😉