Bigger Shoes and Thick Socks or Shoe Covers?
 

A second set of shoes 1/2 size larger and thick socks, or good quality shoe covers?

I have a second set of shoes for my fixed gear bike and thick wool socks with toe covers are perfect for North Georgia. My fixed gear shoes are $50 though and second pair of Sidi Genius Mega (wide, 3E feet) for my road bike would be much more expensive, over $225.

Shoe covers are another option. Grip Grab Arctic shoe covers are consistently reviewed as "unrivaled" in terms of warmth and are $56 from Wiggle. Review: GripGrab Arctic overshoes | road.cc.

Note - to the extent that it is possible I avoid wet rides in winter and waterproofing is not a concern for shoe covers. I'm only concerned about warmth.

Which would you choose? A second set of shoes to accomadate thicker socks or shoe covers? Why?


-Tim-

Both, bigger shoes, layered wool socks and covers when lower.

My Sidi shoes are oversized enough that I wear thick wool socks all year (and they are fine in 90F weather.) In cooler weather, thick wool socks and thin sock liners.

I need shoe covers anyway. The Sidi shoes have effective vents. I like the wind resistant fabric covers, I've never tried neoprene, but I expect the fabric ones breath better. It's not that easy to find non-neoprene ones these days.

Even though they aren't waterproof, they are pretty effective in keeping my feet dry. I got a lot more water running down past the top of the covers, but even though the covers were soggy, they kept water from getting through to my socks. Perhaps tights "over" the covers instead of tucked in would help.

(I rarely ride much below 40F, so the thin fabric covers with some fuzzy insulation work for me. Very warm at 40F, and not too hot if the day reaches upper 50s.)

If I had so much difficulty deciding what to wear, I think I would hire a personal shopper.

Difficulty deciding what to wear are your words, not mine.

I'm in a position where I can afford some new winter gear and am trying to decide where best to spend my hard earned money, that's all.

The phrase "seeking wise council" comes to mind. Apparently some are wise and some are just wise asses.


-Tim-

Just to be clear, are you calling me a wise ass? I find that insulting. Maybe I should report you. :foo:

I have those shoe covers. My shoes are a bit tight so I cannot wear thick socks without restricting my toes. What I do when it is below freezing is wear my regular shoes with my regular socks, the shoe covers, and throw a hand warmer in between the shoe cover and the shoe, above the toes. Above freezing I skip the hand warmers. So far I have managed to do 4+ hour Z2 rides without any feet discomfort. I haven't tried anything else though, so I don't know if my system is 'the best,' but so far it has worked for me.

Another vote for all of the above. The biggest failing of my old shoes was they only fit if I wore thin socks. I can wear Wooly Bullies in my current shoes, and paired with some Pearl Izumi all-weather covers, I'm comfortable (as proven this morning) down to 25º.

Don't know where you are, but unless you get four months of bitter cold, I would imagine that investing on new shoes is not really worth it.

But a guy can't have too many pairs of shoes,right? Seriously, you can't wear those white ones after Labor Day....

Shoe covers! I call them booties. With booties, I can use my regular summer Sidis with wool socks down to about 45° and raining or 40° and not raining. Below that I use winter boots.

Sugoi Resistor booties are nice.
These are warmer: Search results for BBB HeavyDuty Shoe Covers

We have a Winter Cycling forum where all these things are discussed. :)

Winter Cycling - Bike Forums

Seriously, the covers will be better than thick socks because you need something to block the wind. I also get the little chemical toe warmers that are like hand warmers but have sticky on one side and are shaped to fit inside your shoe. I stick them to my socks above my toes. Some people stick them to the top of their shoes, under the cover. Yes, better in Winter Cycling.

Boom!

IMO all rides involving even a tiny bit of walking will chew up shoe covers pretty darn fast. Once I got My first winter shoes I never looked back.

Covers if your shoes are ventilated, otherwise, warm socks. I got some marketed for skiing that are incredibly warm and effective. And see, you can wear them other times, off the bike, when it's cold out. Shoe covers, not so much.

I live in NC, so I presumably see the same temps (if not slightly cooler) than you. My extremities are notorious for getting cold. So, I'll share what works for me -- I've ridden in temps down to 20F with warm feet, and just yesterday rode in a light wintry mix (31F) with feet that were slightly cool.

I have Sidi Genius 6 Mega carbon shoes.

I use Defeet Woolie Boolie socks:
http://defeet.com/images/WB_6D_charcoal_12_L.jpg
They're thicker than summer socks, but not too thick. They're not quite as thick as Defeet's Blaze socks, which are slightly too thick for me. I find the Woolie Boolie's to be just as warm as the Blaze socks, but less bulky.

Over my shoes I use Defeet Slipstream shoe covers:
http://defeet.com/images/SSBK_L.jpg
I find I can use this combo down to about 40F.

Over my overshoes, I use Gore Windstopper Thermo Overshoes:
http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/WLGO...93&;hei=493&;/

20F is the coldest I've ridden, so I can't really say how cold this combination is good down to. That said, unless we have a winter vortex AND you're riding pre-dawn, you're unlikely to see 20F temps in north GA.

Hope this helps.

Did you pick these up locally? also kudos on riding in that crap yesterday.

Up until this year I've always used my regular shoes with the warmest socks I can fit plus booties. On a really cold day I'd add some toe warmers to the mix. That has served me pretty well, but the lowest sustained temps I ride in might be mid 20s Fahrenheit. That's pretty rare for me. It usually gets up to low 30s.

I've seen some pretty good deals on Shimano winter shoes this year, so I went ahead and bought a pair. I'm actually going to try them out for the first time today.

If you want booties, here are the ones I use: https://www.amazon.com/Endura-Mens-R.../dp/B007577J3C

A little expensive, but better than plain old neoprene.

Amazon Prime for the win! That said, I know the Trek store at Northlake carries Gore products . . . don't know if they have the overshoes or not.

Yeah, I thought riding yesterday was a great idea until I was approaching a bridge downhill at ~30mph and saw the "Bridge ices before road" sign. Everything turned out fine, but my pucker factor increased on that one!

Thin skinned much?

Doooo eet!

;) Some folks here do run to the mods when they get their feelings hurt. I'm a big boy, I'll just take it like a man....

+1, unless the person throwing around the insults is the type that runs to the mods when they feel insulted.

Well you never know do you? I sometimes get "infracted" and there is no way to know if a sniveling crybaby reported me or an overzealous mod jumped in.