improving warmth of Shoes
 

I've got a pair of the specialized defrosters, and although they're pretty warm down to about 30F, or upper 20s, once in gets down into the teens (as it finally has) they are no longer very warm (even for relatively short periods of time). But what i've noticed is that most of the cold seems to be coming in through the bottom (but not just the cleats). When I stand on the cold ground it's very cold on the bottom of the shoe, especially the heal and the arches.

I was wondering if there are any ways to improve the warmth of the bottom of a shoe. Thermal insoles, some other type of DIY insulation? Any experiences?

The shoes are otherwise pretty damn warm (that is they don't seem to lose a lot of heat from the top despite their minimal insulation), and are big enough for a REAL thick sock (or some more thickness on the insole). And they're completely water proof - thus far at least.

Try some Toasty Feet insoles. That should add about 10 degrees warmth. The newest version is 3/16 thick. An older version would be 1/4 inch. If you have got the room I would highly recommend them. My buddies got Lake road shoes and they still use their Toasty Feet.

I wear Aussie Dogs Trekk hiking boots with sheepskin insoles barefoot. My feet are toasty warm even in blustery winter weather. I can't recommend them highly enough! :thumb:

I use thermal insoles and love them.

I use wool felt insoles. I find them at Army/Navy stores and sometimes outdoorsy stores. Very comfortable and amazingly warm. My whole body is warmer when I use them

if you can find one of those mylar bags that hard drives are shipped in, the tough
metallic mylar with air bubble sandwich. not the easy to pop air bubbles, this stuff
is tough

anyway cut one of those into an insole and slap it down on the lowest layer of show bed

second to this, cut an ordinary metallic mylar footbed non-air bubble. go to a computer
store or shop if you can't find mylar, should be able to find lots in the trash



specialized defrosters standard footbed it not as well desgned as lake, for instance. lakes work great



also,

if you have room in the toebox (and you should)_ tape a handwarmer on top of
your toes on top of your sock. that will keep your whole foot a lot warmer.

You mean these things? http://www.sahalie.com/jump.jsp?item...T&itemID=10974
I was just looking at those the other day, wondering if I should try some in my Answer cycling boots.

Yes.

ok I am sold

forget what I posted.

I am gonna go to wally-world and get me some toasty feets
and test them this winter

So far my Sidi Hydro GTX shoes have kept my feet warm with two pairs of socks, but I just got them and haven't tested them on longer rides. I hear good things about Toasty Feet so I may opt for those if the Sidis alone can't keep my feet warm in the below 32F weather.

I should search the forum, but ... I just got wind of the Sidi Toaster battery-powered electric insoles.

http://brandscycle.com/merchant/278/...ge/sidikit.jpg

Wow.

I've been using a pair of Superfeet Wintergreen insoles. I don't think they got me as much as the Toasty Feet would, maybe an extra 5º instead of 10º, but they are thinner and I need the arch support. I wear my Lake MX255's all day at work and I dare say they're probably more comfortable with the Superfeets than they would be with the Toasty Feets.

Do the Toasty Feet insoles go on top of the existing insoles, or do they replace the existing insoles?

On top

Patrick,

If you go to my thread entitled "My quest for the ultimate winter cycling shoe" , I discuss some methods for dealing with this that I intend to try out. Read the last three or four posts regarding the aerogel insoles.

One other thing that I seem to have noticed is that carbon fiber soled shoes are warmer than plastic soled shoes because the carbonfiber/epoxy composite material does not conduct heat as well as hard plastics. Unfortunately none of the current crop of winter cycling shoes use carbon fiber soles which would add to their cost.

One of the reviews of the Specialized Defrosters lamented the fact that they just were not warm enough. So if you have enough room for an aerogel insole that should improve matters to some degree.

great jarheads think alike. ;)

My new method (tested to 15 degrees) is to wear a thin smartwool sock, then a plastic grocery bag, then a thick wool sock, then my cycling shoes.

The outer sock prevents the bag from being visible. Be sure to use longer socks (inner and outer).

You need to got the store and get some pack boot inserts. Then go get a pair of cheap cycling shoes so you can fit these in there. If you don't like the height you can trim them down or just use the bottom felt.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...x/Photo126.jpg

Thanks for all the responses! I think I give the toasty feet a try to start with since by far the biggest problem is the bottom! I'm already wearing smart wool, but I haven't tried a thin liner sock or vapor barrier, so I'll give those a go as well.

When I decided to get the defrosters I knew that they wouldn't be the warmest option, but they were the only shoe I could actually try on in my area, and so far I think they'll work out so long as the toasty feet's help some. Thus far I've the most trying use of the shoes has been a total of 45min. out 25min. of which was spent standing/walking in 4 inches of new snow at about 15F. So really not that bad, but winter is my favorite season, and it's only because I try and always be well prepared enough that I'm never cold.

i got a pair of the lake winter boots to test out. there awesome. i feel like an idiot for not buying them years ago. they probably the best piece of equipment i have.

yes a thin liner sock under a wool sock is the ticket. feet need layering like anything else

I use thin wool under a fat defeet wool on the coldest rides (plus handwarmer on the toes)

So, I picked up some toasty feet, and today I got to ride in ~ -5F temperatures for only about 15min. Which isn't long, but for commuting purposes I can get pretty much anywhere in my town in about 15min, and -5 is about the coldest it has gotten in quite a few years.

So toasty feet = quite effective.

(although I haven't yet had a chance to test them with just standing in the snow, and I could tell that my feet were beginning to cool off when I'd gotten to my destination)

yes i noticed a big improvement with toasty feets. they win over other insoles.

will they solve every cold problem ? probably not by themselves. [can't work magic on a poor shoe],

but are they better than any other winter shoe insole ? yes in a big way

worth 12 bucks. in a big way, damn yes