What socks do you wear

DonDaddyD
DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
edited May 2009 in Commuting chat
When cycling, if at all any, what socks do you wear?

Where did you get the socks, how much, but most importantly are there any cheap packs of cycling socks?
Food Chain number = 4

A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game

Comments

  • biondino
    biondino Posts: 5,990
    If anyone can tell me what benefits cycle-specific socks will give me over a 7-mile commute that justifies the faff of packing, washing, carrying and changing them, I'm all ears!

    Obviously in winter I want warmer socks, but I have warmer non-cycling socks which appear to do the job. Again, educate me if I'm missing something!
    My Focus / My Bob Jackson
    Blog (incl. bikes)
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    Normally wear work socks when commuting, saves me taking a spare pair. Any kind of weekend / leisure rides usually I wear cycle specific, have a few pairs but find the ones from Aldi are as good as anything, £3 a pair they may still have some in stock from the cycle sale a week or two ago. They are left / right foot specific, Coolmax, just above the ankle, stay up nice and snug and even look quite good IMO.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41991871@N ... otostream/
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    As a lad, I used to ride the winter with cycling shoes and no socks. My feet and especially my toes would get very cold - painfully so. I graduated to wearing thin trainer socks (of the sort I've just bought from Next - see the Sock Hunt thread). My toes still got very cold.

    A few years of that and I'm now in the unenviable position of having toes that feel the cold very easily, and won't warm up in a hurry once they're cold. They will tingle and burn during the day in the winter months if I get them too cold on the bike.

    So now I save the trainer socks for warm weather. If I'm wearing full length leggings, I wear thick woollen socks (most recent pair from Condor). Proper snuggly. Toewarmers or overshoes go over the cycling shoes as appropriate.

    If I'm in 3/4s or shorts, then it's trainer socks.

    Commando feet = smelly shoes very quickly.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • _Brun_
    _Brun_ Posts: 1,740
    I got a pair of Sugino ones that have padded tabs at the front and back of the ankle. Can't work out exactly what they're for, but the concept impressed me so much I spent eight quid on them (reduced from £11, so obviously a bargain).

    I don't wear them on the 3.75 mile commute tho', that would just be silly. They'd also smell quite bad by Friday.
  • coffeecup
    coffeecup Posts: 128
    I wear Woolie Boolies in the colder, wetter months... which is pretty much 9 or 10 months of the year!!! I wasn't sure about the benefits but thought I'd give them a go and noticed the difference straight away. Much warmer when comared to normal sports socks.

    In the summer, ankle length sports socks are good enough for me. I have a couple of pairs of cannondale socks but I don't notice much difference between them and normal ankle length sport socks
    Time you've enjoyed wasting, hasn't been wasted

    Bianchi L'Una, Bianchi 928 C2C 105, Dahon MU SL
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    _Brun_ wrote:
    I don't wear them on the 3.75 mile commute tho', that would just be silly. They'd also smell quite bad by Friday.

    Dude do you wear 1 pair of socks for the week?
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    So basically sport sock on the weekend, thin/thick as weather demands.

    Work - thin black Primani/next socks (as I've been doing) for commuting.

    Question: Where can I get a (cheap) sport/cycling sock bundle?
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • Aguila
    Aguila Posts: 622
    I use these for my commute, they are excellent, and cheap too.

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Endur ... 360025665/
    www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=6277
  • blu3cat
    blu3cat Posts: 1,016
    In summer:
    Debenhams sports socks 5 pack (they were about £3 on sale I think).

    And the reason I use sports socks is so I don't have normal length socks running up my calf or bunched round my ankles.

    In Winter:
    Normal cotton socks, tights over the tops - tried the sports socks and had an ice cold 1cm gap on my ankle.

    The only advantage I could see with specific cycle socks would be the seam positioning.
    "Bed is for sleepy people.
    Let's get a kebab and go to a disco."

    FCN = 3 - 5
    Colnago World Cup 2
  • _Brun_
    _Brun_ Posts: 1,740
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    _Brun_ wrote:
    I don't wear them on the 3.75 mile commute tho', that would just be silly. They'd also smell quite bad by Friday.

    Dude do you wear 1 pair of socks for the week?
    I can't work out how you might've got that impression, but the answer is no.
  • White Line
    White Line Posts: 887
    Sports socks. The ankle height ones. From Primark. They're about 1/16th of the price of cycling socks.

    I would buy cycling socks, but just can't justify the cost. I seen a bundle of six somewhere for a fairly good price before, but I can't remember where. Might have been CRC. :?
    Emiliana the CAAD9
  • Aguila
    Aguila Posts: 622
    White Line wrote:

    I would buy cycling socks, but just can't justify the cost. I seen a bundle of six somewhere for a fairly good price before, but I can't remember where. Might have been CRC. :?

    See my earlier post £3 each for endura cycle specifics.
    www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=6277
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    White Line wrote:
    Sports socks. The ankle height ones. From Primark. They're about 1/16th of the price of cycling socks.

    +1. The ones I get from Primark have 2 layers, and little tabs on the front and back of the ankle and are nice and soft.Also v cheap!
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • shoulder_of_orion
    shoulder_of_orion Posts: 529
    ffs! socks!

    what pants do you wear???

    1) none
    2) frilly, girly
    3) boxers
    4) briefs
  • artaxerxes
    artaxerxes Posts: 612
    M & S sports socks (not the ankle-less ones - I still think of those as girly socks not fit for grown men)
  • blu3cat
    blu3cat Posts: 1,016
    linoue wrote:
    M & S sports socks (not the ankle-less ones - I still think of those as girly socks not fit for grown men)

    Tried the M & S ones, and although they fit, the ankles always slip into my shoes - most annoying.
    "Bed is for sleepy people.
    Let's get a kebab and go to a disco."

    FCN = 3 - 5
    Colnago World Cup 2
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    linoue wrote:
    M & S sports socks (not the ankle-less ones - I still think of those as girly socks not fit for grown men)

    +1, good value and just the right amount of padding, although I am a girly as I wear the ankle-less ones. If it's cold I wear my old walking socks, and if it's wet I use Sealskinz waterproof socks. Your feet still get wet as the water tends to run in the top, but they act like a wet suit and still keep the feet warm.
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • artaxerxes
    artaxerxes Posts: 612
    Tried the M & S ones, and although they fit, the ankles always slip into my shoes - most annoying.

    You need to grow some man sized ankles :D
  • White Line
    White Line Posts: 887
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    White Line wrote:
    Sports socks. The ankle height ones. From Primark. They're about 1/16th of the price of cycling socks.

    +1. The ones I get from Primark have 2 layers, and little tabs on the front and back of the ankle and are nice and soft.Also v cheap!
    Tabs? :o I want tabs. :(

    All I have are the go fast stripes on the sole and running up the heel! I swear, they add a good three or four mph.
    Emiliana the CAAD9
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Slight variation. Cycle-specific or running socks.

    Will wear old sports socks over the shoes, but under the overshoe when temperatures fall.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    Shoulder of Orion wrote:
    ffs! socks!

    what pants do you wear???

    1) none
    2) frilly, girly
    3) boxers
    4) briefs

    (2), but I have to be careful they don't get caught in the chain.
  • blu3cat
    blu3cat Posts: 1,016
    linoue wrote:
    Tried the M & S ones, and although they fit, the ankles always slip into my shoes - most annoying.

    You need to grow some man sized ankles :D

    or less man size heels!
    "Bed is for sleepy people.
    Let's get a kebab and go to a disco."

    FCN = 3 - 5
    Colnago World Cup 2
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    trainer socks which I'll then use at the gym, in the winter I've got winter cycling socks but only worn with longs
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • philbill1973
    philbill1973 Posts: 83
    Soaking wet ones, just got caught by a cloud burst soaked to my pants !

    Otherwise woollen ones from asda.
    FCN 11, Hmmm
  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    philbill1973 wrote:
    Soaking wet ones, just got caught by a cloud burst soaked to my pants !

    and were those pants the frilly/girly ones, boxers or briefs? :wink::wink:
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

    H.G. Wells.
  • tardington
    tardington Posts: 1,379
    Depends on the weather. 8) After footy socks, I have normal sports socks, and proper cycling ones.

    Btw, shouldn't we be avoiding Primark - children working in sweatshops and all that?
  • snellgrove
    snellgrove Posts: 171
    +1 vote for cycle specific.

    Ankle height.. got two pairs (only!! in fact now I think about it, I think I *need* more!)

    cannondale somethings and some defeet aireator. Both good, prefer the cannondales material though.
  • Stuey01
    Stuey01 Posts: 1,273
    Only advantage I can see of cycling socks over common or garden trainer socks is that they may be made of a technical wicking fabric as opposed to cotton. As I have never found cotton ones to be a problem I will continue to use cheapo next socks until such time that I do.

    Overshoes, over cycling shoes over trainer socks shoud be more than warm enough for any winter day in London!
    Not climber, not sprinter, not rouleur
  • ris
    ris Posts: 392
    in this weather - waterproof socks! i have some sealskinz that keep the worst of the torrential downpours and rivers from soaking and freezing my toes.

    the only downside of warmer weather is a small amount of rain runs into the socks where it can't get out.

    in clement weather, ordinary cotton trainer socks do just fine. i think mine were from some budget sports outlet.

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