Bike Sandal Question
 

Hey Gang,

This is going to sound like a really stupid question, but for those of you that wear bike sandals, do you have to wear socks with them? I don't mean when it's wet and rainy, or cold, but just during a summer ride. The reason I ask is that I'm thinking of getting a pair, but wonder if they rub or cause blisters without socks. There is just something about "Sandals with Socks" that make my flesh crawl, but If I must I will.

Your comments appreciated,

Steve W.
Who promises that if he does have to wear socks with Sandals, they won't be calf high black ones... (yes, he's seen that done)

Socks? Never. But as i think back, it took a week or two to get used to the sandals. Now, I just about live in them from May through Sept. They're very comfy.

Hi Steve.

I never wear socks with the sandals in summertime conditions. Some people wear oversized sandals with wool socks and goretex oversocks for winter time riding.

I haven't had problems with blisters etc as a result of not wearing socks. Often any rubbing issues can be resolved by changing the tightness of the straps for a period of time. This hasn't really been an issue for me either. The only tour where I had a slightly rubbed area was my Round Lake Michigan when conditions were hot and I was riding 80 - 113 mile days.

~Jamie N

Moleskin ;)

As bad as it might look I do wear socks when I am riding with my sandals. I have found that my feet stick to the rubber and I feel better with the socks. If I'm just walking around the camp ground in the sandals I take the socks off. I am one of those people that wear sandals for biking all year long with more socks and Gortax when I need it.

GbentH

I don't have personal experience, but my friend wears her Shimano sandles and Tevas for riding year round. When it's cold or wet, she just puts on socks and/or gortex over-socks. She's used the sandals for two longish tours as well as daily commuting and loves them.

I understand the Pina Colada (don't know how to spell it though) perspective on sandals: If you are in the tropics, and your feet don't look like they were stepped on by too many horses, why wear socks.

But I don't know where this crap about not wearing socks with sandals comes from, when it makes sense to do so. From Japan to England, there is nothing unusual about wearing sock with sandals, and it is just comon sense, where the conditions allow, require it. Up here in the run of a year we have winter, bugs, extreme sun, poison ivy. Talk is cheap, the no socks with sandals crew mostly just aren't wearing their sandals when the going gets tough. Even in the best weather only a few people in a hundred are wearing sandals. I wear mine all year round, and just as I cover my other flesh for a variety of reason, I wear socks.

I always wear socks with my sandals. I mean, I want my shoes to last, not get all funky because I was too proud to deal with the comments. I could care less about what it looks like. At the end of the day, I've worn these sandals for a couple of years, and there's no funky smell or anything.

Koffee

I wear very short gray wicking socks with my Shimano sandals. Like gbenth I don't like my feet sticking to the rubber of the sandals. Also, makes for a dang interesting tan line. During warm weather and heavy rains, I sometimes don't wear socks, just the sandals. We'll see what this winter brings.

Anyone have a url for Shimano sandals?

yeah: www.performancebike.com.

You can get your shimano sandal on there.

Koffee

I haven't had any blister/rub problems with Shimano sandals and barefeet. I've done two monthlong tours and a lot of commuting in them, but do wear sock or sock combinations when the conditions warrent.

You get a really funky suntan if going barefoot in them, but do remember sunscreen on the exposed bits. Skin cancer risk aside, I'd imagine a sunburn around the sandal strap area to be excrutiatingly uncomfortable. Once my "funky foot tan" sets in I no longer need sunscreen to prevent burns (in the areas I've cycled so far anyways).

Sockless all the time. Shimano sandals were my major clothing purchase this year (apart from the extra shirts, strange patterned socks and shorts etc etc etc) and they've been wonderful. Far cooler than shoes (which do need socks), and the plastic sole means you can always scrub them down in the sink if they do get smelly. They don't actuallly seem to -- it's like wearing clever Tevas that clip nicely to the pedals.

Oh yes, and there is the Shimano sandal tan -- a strange sideways D with a curvy back section. Goes nicely with the hard tan line across the legs and the bizarre fact that my hands are less well tanned than my arms. Luckily I mix sleeveless and short-sleeved tops, so have been able to avoid the dreaded farmer tan.

Speaking of interesting tan lines, try wearing the sandals all summer without socks. Your feet will look like a checkerboard.

I wear socks with mine. I wear Smartwool ultimate sandal socks in the summer, and heavier one as the temps fall.

I wear sandals year round: SPD's or Lake's (new) on the bike and Teva's off the bike. I shower right off the bike. I use antibacterial soap on shorts, sandals, shirts, occasionally gloves, socks and even helmet.
For the record I shower with my biking clothes on and THEN without (sun don' shine...).

I also wear my sandals year round, and when I was in Chicago, I wore them throughout the winter. The reason why I feel like my sandals have longevity is because I wear socks. I'm sure others have methods for keeping their sandals clean, but I'd find it a drag to always have to wash my shoes when I got back from every bike ride I'd take. Yeah, it's only a few minutes, but those few minutes could be used doing something else.

Koffee

I never wear socks with my sandals and have never felt the need to wash them. Mind you my feet never smell, not even the hottest of days....well maybe the smell of pine needles or freshly mown grass on occasion.
:rolleyes: