Originally Posted by
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.
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.