loky1179

Ditch the neoprene socks. I've got a pair, had the same experience as you. The little bit of squeeze they put on your feet is enough to make them cold.

I can only ride SPDs down to about 25° F, depending on the length of the ride. My feet are OK for about an hour wearing just about anything, but my commute in the winter is usually 2+ hours. For my SPDs, I wear a thin sock, a medium weight wool sock, and then over booties.

I rode 4 months last winter in Sorel boots, but even those were not warm enough by themselves below 10°F, so I use chemical toe warmers.

As I discovered, the problem is not lack of insulation; the problem is the pressure you put on you feet while biking tends to squeeze the blood out. I figured this out after stopping and walking after my toes went totally numb. Even though my pulse dropped way down, my feet warmed up.

Good luck, but 20°F in SPDs should be doable.

I-Like-To-Bike

Put your closet in between your foot and the cleat. Wear shoes without cleats and that are appropriate for the weather conditions (change pedals as necessary.)

gregjones

I fail to see how any recommendation of switching to platform pedals gets more insulation between a person's feet and SPD cleats.

I must have missed where the OP asked anything about platform pedals being the answer to his question.

Unless, someone knows of a platform pedal that will fit between this foot and the insole of his shoe.

erig007

What the OP' real problem is, not having something between his feet and the insoles or having numb toes?
Once you figure out what the real problem is then maybe you can find options that are not just about how to jump from a cliff.

nkfrench 

You need to block wind, have toe wiggle room and keep feet dry.

My solution was SPD keen bike sandals (can loosen considerably) with the rubber toe bumper (blocks wind), thick wicking wool socks ("Blazer" bought at Performance), insulated Pearl Izumi toe covers between socks and shoes (additional wind blocking).
The back of the sandals allowed moisture to be lost but since those areas of the foot have thicker skin and don't face into the wind, they don't get cold.
The thick socks made the toe cover bottom cutouts more comfortable .
The rubber shoe insole protects against the cleat coldness.
My part of the country 40F is considered cold, it doesn't go below 32F without iced-over roads here. Typically my hands get cold before my feet do. 75 minutes is doable with this setup.
I have closed mountain bike shoes that I am wearing in the fall but I'll go back to the sandals for winter. The shoes just won't loosen up enough for the thick socks.
I also have medium-weight wool socks but they don't seem any warmer than my tightly-knit summer synthetic socks.
I got some motorcycle boot liners but I think the lack of wicking will make my feet too damp.
I tried neoprene socks but they were too tight, the seam was uncomfortable, and my feet stayed wet.

Instead of plastic bags, you can use Glad Press-n-seal wrap to just cover the forefoot over your socks. You can re-use them a few times. They help block wind.

An analogy from when I went skiing - I had better luck with thin socks than thick. I needed toe wiggle room more than I needed heavy socks.

hueyhoolihan

your suspicions are correct. too much stuff, stuffed into your shoes is cutting off the blood supply. it's that simple.

Bizman

I am suffering from the same situation of the cleats sucking the heat out of my toes and I am sure that is what is doing it. Last year I used platform pedals with heavy boots and in the coldest temps down below 15 and sometimes 10 deg F I would use Neos over boots. My commute one way is 12.5 miles and takes about and hour or so. The Neos worked well and my feet were warm during this time duration.

I am riding a trike now and it is a must for safety purposes (leg suck) and pedaling efficiency to be clipped in. The coldest I have rode this year is about 28 deg F with mountain bike shoes, one or two pairs of merino wool socks and Gore shoe covers. My toes get cold by the end of my commute. I have also been using my Lake mountain bike boots which work better than the method I just mentioned but still get a little bit cold.

I have been looking at the Hotronics elec foot warmers, I am surprised no one has methioned these or similar. FootWarmer Power Plus S4 Universal and Custom | Hotronic FootWarmers and Dryers | Hotronic - Keeping Feet Warm, Keeping Hands and Feet Dry!

I am holding off on going these at the moment as my Velomobile is supposed to be delivered in 2 days. I am hoping with being fully enclosed my feet will stay warm enough for my commute without getting the elec warmers. If not these will most likely be my next step.

noglider 

Fancy! And expensive.

TomCat_Ford

I agree. (I posted something similar in the OP's thread on this subject just shy of a year ago.)

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...toes-warm.html

RaleighSport

This is some interesting food for thought you guys are throwing out and if no one mines a slightly to the side question? I don't have the chill issues you guys do, I get water either soaking my shoes or if I wear airtight ones water slips from the cuff into the shoe! Any suggestions for dry feet?

jrickards

It is not perfect but when it is raining hard (and cold enough to wear tights), I zip my tights over the top of my booties and that reduces water from dripping down into my booties from the top.

jrickards

This morning's ride in was 30min at -9C/16F. I wore, from outside to inside, wind-resistant bootie, toe cover (cut the front part of an old, thick wool sock and pulled it over my shoe, cut a slit in the bottom for my cleats), summer MTB shoes, medium weight calf-length merino socks, bare feet. My feet were nice and warm. The only improvement I can think of is either a plastic bag under the booties to reduce even more convection loss or a better pair of wind-proof booties.

RaleighSport

Good thought but I use track rain pants when it's wet and not tights.. I do wear base layer tights but those would just wick the water right to my socks I'd bet. Thanks anyhow.

gregjones

I ordered some cheap China gaiters to see if they would work for both wind and water between shoes and pants. I was thinking over tights and shoes then under outer pants, layered like shingles.

Under six bucks to try. No results.....they haven't arrived yet and it hasn't turned chilly here anyway.

modelmartin

I can't imagine the cleat itself drawing all of the heat out. It is too small. I think that the stiff soles of most cycling shoes just don't insulate very well. I am willing to bet that without cleats the same shoes would be just as cold. Cold air coming in around the slots in the shoes certainly could be an issue. Even when I wear insulated shoe covers my feet get cold because the insulation doesn't cover the bottom. One would have to insulate between the soles of your feet and the bottom of the shoe. Wool socks and enough room to wiggle toes helps as many have already said.

Does anyone make electrically heated shoes??

PatrickGSR94

I have no problems within 30 minutes. It's in the 45-75 minute range that I have issues when it's in the 30's or colder.

Yesterday I went to several stores looking for those Toasty Feet insoles, or similar, but with no luck. So last night I traced and cut out 10-12 layers of newsprint and stuck them underneath the original insoles of both sets of SPD shoes (vented rubber-soled shoes, and less vented MTB shoes). I tried loosening the laces on the former, and using a thin cycling sock and then Smartwool sock over that, but there just wasn't enough height inside the toe box of that shoe. Pretty much the same with the MTB shoe.

So this morning I used the MTB shoes, kept the straps loose, used just the thick Smartwool socks, and neoprene toe covers over the shoes, plus the added newsprint underneath the insoles.

Now it was about 10 degrees warmer than it was on Friday morning, but I think I did okay. Toes only just started feeling cold by the time I arrived at work after 82 minutes.

Another issue I think that contributes to my toes feeling so cold is the fact that I have LONGGG toes. My 2nd toe is about the same length as my pinkie fingers. I did find that Bass Pro carries a 3M Thinsulate thermal insole, so when I can make it up to that store (hopefully this week) I hope to try those out.

erig007

The human heat balance equation includes radiant heat exchange. Wool and other aerogel insoles/socks don't address this kind of heat transfer. Just fold 3 or 4 layers of aluminum foil then tape the layers at the bottom and top then cut it the shape of your insole and you've got yourself a nice reflective insole to add to any other type of insulation.

joeyduck

My wife has a pair of sheepskin insole from her days skiing in the minus forty winters of the Canadian praries.

They would probably works great for you.

PatrickGSR94

hm interesting... I'm going to try things I can get locally, for the time being, though. Otherwise I might look into those.

modelmartin

I can't spare any aluminum foil for my feet. It all goes for my hat!

erig007

There are many reflective insoles available on the market anyway. Since you are in Minnesota there are some at Steger. Though i don't find those i have tried as good as those i make myself. I've found that the number of layers influence how much heat is reflected. Those available on the market often have 1 or 2 thin layers only.

erig007

Sheepskin insoles are warm but they can also be very thick. Not sure there is much room into most cycling shoes.

PatrickGSR94

lol yeah there's no way that would work. A thin cycling sock plus thicker wool sock was too tight inside both pairs of shoes.

Sixty Fiver

For spd shoes, gorilla tape or silicone can seal the bottom of the shoe while a felt insole adds R value but then you have to deal with spd shoes being designed for warm weather riding and then covers and a wool sock is needed.

My solution for temps down to -18 / 0F looks like this... winter footwear should always be sized to handle thicker socks and allow for unrestricted wiggling of dem toes.



I have some Merrell Polartec snow mocs which are also pretty decent with a wool sock... it is currently below freezing here and these are fine for that although they are not good for deep snow.

TransitBiker

Hence the term "wiggle room". Tre importante!

- Andy