My 510 freeriders are spending a lot of time stuffed full of newspaper under a radiator after getting soaked on rides. In an ideal world I’d keep them for summer and buy a more appropriate wet weather flat shoe, but with Christmas and other bills that’s not an option at the moment. I do use sealskinz socks which is half a solution, but I have wondered if spraying them with a fabric waterproofing treatment would work? Not expecting miracles obviously, but wonder if it may help them shed water a bit more, or go a little longer before becoming properly drenched? Anyone had any success with this? What product did you use?

Sealskinz half a solution? Not for me, as long as I’ve got my ss, doesn’t matter whether shoes are dry or not!.

Sealskinz half a solution? Not for me, as long as I’ve got my ss, doesn’t matter whether shoes are dry or not!.

They do help, but I still have the chore of drying out wet shoes after every ride. I also find on very wet rides, if I’m out for a while they are not 100% waterproof.

I’ve been using Diver Dave water repellent (search eBay for it) after it was recommended on here. I’ve used it on my waterproofs and shell layers and it beads water nicely. Not tried it on shoes but it’s bound to be worth a go. Diver Dave

We use Out and About on them. It will survive a shower or a splash but anything more and eventually it will get through. Im also a big believer in Sealskinz knee highs and 3/4 Madison Tempests

Usually buy a few cans when Aldi are selling it off

That’ll be water over the top, i wear kneehigh sealskinz with kneepads an inch over the top, works great.

Buy some shoe drying heat tubes

I did this with my old 5:10 Impacts and it did make a noticeable difference, obviously not waterproof but it stopped them being complete sponges.

Only works to a certain point, it passes the watering can test but after a while it stops working, Ive used spray for shoes from a variety of brands on fiveten, timberlands etc with same results,frequent spraying is needed, but nothing really works as you want it to.

Did a bit of Googling and saw a suggestion to use candle wax. You use the candle like a big crayon, leaving a thin layer of visible white wax on the shoe. You then give it a quick blast with a hot hair drier and the wax disappears into the fabric. I’ve given it a go. I then put some old Nikwax spray I had lying around on them. The shoes are well used and will need replacing before much longer, so I reckon there’s nothing to lose. I shall report back! 🙂

I spayed my 5 10’s with waterproofer when new but I don’t think it made much difference.

Like the candle each idea though mate. Look forward to the report back.👍

Nikwax do a footwear specific spray. It’s called Fabric and Leather Proof. It costs less than a fiver so worth trying. I use it on my Vans

Mix beeswax in with candlewax. Candlewax goes brittle in cold so you’d get microleaks. Whatever’s used on Belstaff & Barbour jackets these days may be worth a look.

The older freeriders had a lot more material to them, the pair i got on black friday are a lot lighter (theres little or no lining/padding forward of the opening) so even splashing through a puddle results in instant wet socks.

On the upside they should dry near much quicker than the originals which took days, on the downside theres no way you can make a mesh pannel water resistant!

Waterproofing sprays and wax work, but only on material that is tightly woven or non woven (e.g. gore windstopper is made of a very tightly woven outer that effectively blocks the wind and showers, and a lighter inner layer. Gore-tex is a non woven membrane between two woven layers, treating the outer of either is only intended to help them shed the water droplets before the woven layers wet out).

Sealskin and gripgrab gaiters keeps your feet dry, but doesn’t help the fact you still have a big wet and cold shoe on the outside sucking all the heat out of it 😨.

when I got sick of my 510’s sucking up water I picked up some roadie overshoes a few sizes too big, only some cheap £10 ones of ebay they were made by Tenn and would just pull them over my 510s, it worked quite well and also kept my feet quite warm. They lasted through one winter before getting tore up by the pedal pins on the underside and opening up.

This worked well enough for me to copy it when I went clipless the year after.

I can’t imagine anything really works. The uppers might be water resistant, but if you splash through a puddle and a load of water gets in the top, then you’re gonna have a wet shoe.

Overshoes the best option I guess.

Nothing really works. It’s a case of keeping long rides to dry days, wet days are short ride only at best or not at all, for long rides on wet days it’s a case of put up or shut up

Can Ye still get the old Dubbin stuff ye used to put on walking boots and football boots
Was some form of rub on wax

Ride in a full divers dry suit. 🙂