Cold feet!

pablojag

Hi!
After 1-1.5 hours riding (temp 5C down) I start to suffer from cold feet which can get a little unpleasant, so I'm looking to make my long rides this winter slightly more comfortable. As I've entered the Mallorca 312 sportive next April with friends I'm looking to do plenty of winter riding.

Currently wear Woolie Boolie socks & Specialized winter boots (with wiggle room) & overshoes.

I'm now contemplating warming balms & heated in-soles for the boots. Does anyone have any recommendations???

antfly

Duct tape, apparently.

sickotrent

How about some MTFU pills , I ride in s-works shoes and thin socks in the lakes and seem to be fine. When it is really cold though I find that plastic bags taped on pretty tight make a nice sweaty overshoe substitute, keeps the water out too.

Hoopdriver

Overshoes can help.

because I ride long, and very early on cold dark morning, I bought an extra pair of my favourite MBT cycling shoes a size or so bigger than normal as my dedicated winter shoes, use heavy socks and a thermal liner, if it is really nippy out.

Coach H

I have found Prendas Thermolite socks to be warmer than Woolie Boolies and are thinner so if you are really suffering you may have room for two pairs (be carefull though as if this makes your shoes a bit small you may actually make things worse by restricting blood flow).
The downside is that they do not seem as "cosy" or wick quite as well, but at £15 for 2 pairs it's probably worth a try.

mrushton

Prendas oversocks under the overshoes? Sounds more like circulation problems than lack of clothing. Pedal harder/faster?

chrisaonabike

I have the same problem. I currently have these DHB overshoes, but yesterday at 3 degrees my feet were still quite painfully cold after less than an hour.

Does anyone have these - the extreme weather version? If they're significantly warmer I'll get them.

CarlosDSanchez

I find wearing my shoes a little more loosely, so there is a very small movement of the foot in the shoe as you pedal helps. Also neoprene overshoes are very warm, so should help. Also make sure that your core is warm enough and that you have enough insulation down your legs and shins. If the blood is cold by the time it reaches your ankle, it's not going to keep your feet warm!!

David-Witts

Heated socks? Never tried them. Or you can get heated insoles

http://www.firebox.com/product/4709/Out ... ated-Socks

amaferanga

if you're getting cold feet at 5°C with good socks, winter boots and overshoes then either you just have really poor circulation or there isn't enough wiggle room. If you'd said -5°C then that'd be different, but I'm surprised you're struggling with cold feet with all those on when its >0°C.

alihisgreat

Winter boots, woolie boolies and overshoes sounds like overkill to me for 5c!

Are your feet getting sweaty? That might be the root of the problem.

Ouija

Fold baking foil over a few times to make it thicker, cover in sticky tape to stop it disintegrating and then cut out an insole from it, with a fold over at the end to go up and over your toes and then stick em in your shoes. Reflects the heat back in and the cold back out. Similar to wrapping duck tape over your socks or around the outside of the shoe, but less messy.

2oldnslow

Thought I suffered with cold feet but with thin socks woolie boolies and Specialized Defroster boots I was toastie even after 3 hours yesterday well my feet were at least still working on various other bits

amaferanga

Ouija wrote:

Fold baking foil over a few times to make it thicker, cover in sticky tape to stop it disintegrating and then cut out an insole from it, with a fold over at the end to go up and over your toes and then stick em in your shoes. Reflects the heat back in and the cold back out. Similar to wrapping duck tape over your socks or around the outside of the shoe, but less messy.

Sounds horribly boil-in-the-bag. Might be okay for a short while, but that would get really unpleasant after an hour or two.

ajb72

I have some sympathy as I suffer with cold hands and feet (although perhaps not at 5 degrees!).

Get yourself some Gore Thermo overshoes, you'll never look back. Making sure you have room to wiggle your toes in your shoes is good advice, sometimes thicker sock actually make the problem worse.

passout

Pearl Izumi themal merino wool socks work for me (better than other merino ones I've tried) - not cheap though. Boot covers do help - I like my BB waterproof ones.

pippi_langsamer-2

Find some thin windproof overshoes to put on under your neoprene overshoes. I;ve found this wokrs great with decent pair of socks.

deswahriff

..another wee tip for those who don't have winter boots, tape over the ventilation holes on your road shoes. With woolie-boolies, my spesh comps taped as above and a pair of overshoes, I'm generally fine for up to 2 hours at about the zero degree mark...

pablojag

Apologies for the slow reply folks, many thanks for the many useful tips & suggestions. I'd never considered that my feet could be cold because of damp.
Sickotrent will defo be giving the MTFU pills a try too

mallorcajeff

oversocks would be suffice. Funny I rode some of the route only today and got cold feet and thought had better wear some socks next time. I went from lluc down to soller, then over col de soller and back to inca. Was 12 degree today though. I am thinking of entering too, which are you doing the full 312 or the half one where you turn left at Valdemossa? Im thinking of doing the full 312 but not sure if its beyond me? thats 171 miles in one go inc lots of mountains?