Shoes
 

I've been riding the past few winters here in Minneapolis with a too-big pair of 8-eye Vegetarian Boots. I really love them, but, alas, they're REALLY TOO big (3 sizes so). So I need a new winter shoe situation.

I ride a clipless fixie, so I need something with a shallow enough toe to easily get in and out of my toecage. I really prefer boots, too, considering that they're tall and keep snow, slush, and icewater off of my leg up to a higher level than normal shoes.

So, any recommendations? The Half-Year of Darkness is approaching quickly and it's already wet and ****ty outside. Thanks a lot!

Gaiters
 

Well you could choose a shorter shoe or a short boot (like an MTB boot) and cover them with gaiters.

I use the Toe Gloze walker, to strap on over my shoes, for the mountain biking when I vacation in Colorado. Water resistant, with a velcro strap around my shoes, with a Heat Max warmer tucked inside. Work very well, and reasonably easy, even to peddle with. Never had them slip off, even on hard core use. Website is http://www.toegloze.com

You might try a mountain bike or lightweight iceclimbing boot with a lightweight randed gaiter.

Lightweight ice climbing boots are real expensive but if you happen to have large or small feet you can get them for a steal on closeouts from sierra trading post or places like that.

The randed gaiter can be glued to the rubber of your boots sole so it's waterproof and they usually aren't too bulky.

http://gearx.com/product_info.php?products_id=4519

These are the lightest and lowest priced mixed climbing boots that I know of. They have a very stiff sole thats great for biking.

http://www.mtntools.com/cat/alpineic...taculboots.htm

L. L. Bean Snow Sneakers

Actually, those L.L. Bean Snow Sneakers look like about what I am starting to want these days.

CrosseyedCrickt - Do you actually use these? Can you report on them (temp ranges you've used them at, ease of biking in them, general comfort, effectiveness of "water repellency")? Anybody have experience with them at all? I guess LLB's return policy (like that of REI) is such that I could get them and ship 'em back later if I need to.

I want something that I could maybe use with some PowerGrips during the winter (thinking this might be a similar but safer solution to being SPD-clipped on icy roads) AND allow my to put my foot down comfortably in slush or walk a fair distance in an emergency.

These also might be a good option. From Cabella's:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...046&hasJS=true

Or these. Which are supposed to be really warm:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...023&hasJS=true

Or these which are a little less expensive:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...023&hasJS=true

Reflecting back on all the things that I have tried to keep my feet warm, the things that actually worked the best were just an imexpensive pair of oversized insulated leather work boots from K-mart with two thick wool socks. The leather had been treated several times with snow seal.

They were reasonably light but the problems I had were that I wanted to use a clipless pedal. Some workboots have a steel shank in the arch to resist a nail in the foot and these might help in stiffening the footbed. But these boots of mine were not quite stiff enough for use with anything other than wide platform pedals.

However, it would probably be possible to install a thin stainless steel or zinc plated peice of sheet metal between the outsole and the insole in the front of the boot and make a small plate to mount the SPD cleat agains't on the outside of the sole. Otherwise because the sole material is too soft it doesn't make a good surface for the cleat to mount to.

I used to have a pair of snow sneakers, were hand-me-downs from my older brother and I liked them quite bit. This was back before I started biking, but I lived in the mountains and was out in the snow all the time.
IIRC they felt like wearing regular old athletic shoes. As long as I didn't step in 5 inches of water they kept me dry and warm. I've heard of people attaching SPD stuff to them before, but don't know of a site.

I'm currently torn between getting another pair of snow sneakers or some columbia boots I saw in a sportsman rag I just got in the mail.

I have been drooling over these SPD-clipless Answer boots on the Hub website, but I haven't found them yet to try... they didn't even know about them when I stopped at the Minnehaha store a few weeks ago.

The L.L. Bean snow sneakers Glottus mentioned look nice too, especially at half the price!

I've got the Lake 301's myself. Good shoe.

I have a pair of Answer Kasmir's and they're the most comfortable cycling shoes that I own. They are about as warm as wearing a thick wool sock and neoprene overboot over a standard loose fitting shoe.

I've just been wearing my Danner Super Rainforests with studs screwed into the soles. When it gets below zero I'll have to switch to something more insulated, though my bunny boots are probably too thick.