Anyone got a solution to keep feet warm when using road pedals/cleats?

[bigW]

My (heavy) Lake winter boots MX304’s work ok but they are SPD only. The lighter MX146 shoes do have a road variant but I have the SPD version and even the ‘wide’ is too narrow and frankly they aren’t very warm.

My feet get cold easily. Tried chemical warmers but they did very little ( not enough O2? ) Using my normal road shoes and heavy pearl izumi shoe covers at the moment.

Sadly most electric socks looked very poorly made and had very few meaningful reviews

Thanks

PS: trying to avoid flipping the pedals back and forth but that’s my Plan B at the moment

 

[goodvibe]

I know that Fizik makes a winter shoe as does Northwave. I had a pair of the Northwave ones, but they didn't do the job and I didn't like the fit. I switched to SPD on all my road bikes a while ago since I do a lot of mountain biking and I don't need several sets of shoes. I just use my 45 North boots with SPDS on my Road bike.

Tempo Artica GTX

Tempo Artica GTX is our road cycling winter shoe, featuring an advanced GORE-TEX membrane and insulated fleece lining to be extra warm, breathable, and waterproof. Built for bad weathe ...

www.fizik.com

EXTREME R GTX

Are you looking for Road? Discover now our EXTREME R GTX discounted on Northwave!

www.northwave.com

 

[rlb]

I’ve had the most luck with leaving my shoes as loose as I can get away with, and using the lightest weight wool socks I can squeeze in without restricting my circulation. Also keeping my legs warmer seems to help too. I’ve always struggled with cold feet and that’s the best I’ve been able to come up with. I have old lighter duty lake road shoes and while they’re not perfect, they are bearable.

 

[Patrick]

I have electric footbeds - they worked well.

I also put my boots in a ski boot warming bag - so they start off warm.
Probably cool off in 5 minutes, but seems to help.

cover your neck and head. (Ok, I said that in my Mom's voice)

 

[Bike N Gear]

Hotronics, Thermic and Lenz all have very good quality heated insoles and or socks that are highly rated for use in ski boots. All would work well, but none are cheap.

Look here.

 

[Dave Taylor]

I wear my normal road shoes(Shimano Sphere) but tape off the vents, use the toe warmers on toes and heels from Home Depot and sphere shoe covers.

 

[jdog]

My (heavy) Lake winter boots MX304’s work ok but they are SPD only. The lighter MX146 shoes do have a road variant but I have the SPD version and even the ‘wide’ is too narrow and frankly they aren’t very warm.

My feet get cold easily. Tried chemical warmers but they did very little ( not enough O2? ) Using my normal road shoes and heavy pearl izumi shoe covers at the moment.

Sadly most electric socks looked very poorly made and had very few meaningful reviews

Thanks

PS: trying to avoid flipping the pedals back and forth but that’s my Plan B at the moment

If the wide from lake isn’t wide enough, I truly doubt you can find a wider shoe

 

[stb222]

Couple tricks:
Plastic bag over toes or entire foot. There is an argument over next to skin or over sock, both have pluses and minuses but both do work. (One way keep sock dry but if you ride more than 2 hours, the plastic against skin may be an issue with “pruning” your skin/easy for blusters to form).

Also, plastic bag over shoe, under bootie. Again, more windproofness and waterproofnessand traps heat into shoe. Sweaty foot cam become issue.

Wrap insole with foil. I have used cold weather insoles and they help too hut room-in-shoe may be issue.

 

[Steve Vai]

Under freezing the old standby is to just run SPDs on the road bike and use Ragnaroks. If it’s particularly windy I’ll throw Gore Alaska socks into the mix.

 

[a.s.]

I had this problem for many years. A fairly cheap and simple solution that worked for me was the Yaktrak foot warmers and 2mm neoprene socks over light wool socks. These keep my feet warm in sub freezing temps for about 1.5 hours.

 

[OddTrickStar]

My trick has always been plastic bags between two pairs of socks; foot, sock, bag, sock, shoe. I don’t use spd pedals but my feet would be warm all day even if my boots/ shoes got wet.

 

[teabagger11]

I have found that if shoes are too tight my feet will never be warm yes toe warmers need room to breathe(react) caught myself on that one

 

[pygmypony]

i have a pair of these and they are like pogies for your feet
GORE WEAR Shield Thermal Cycling Overshoes, Unisex, Gore-TEX INFINIUM https://a.co/d/b4pbukU

 

[iman29]

for my road rides I always leave the shoes indoors and on top of the heat register while I bump the heat up one notch so they warm up. If I’m driving to a ride the shoes go in the front passenger side footwell and I aim the heat to the floor for the drive.

Then if it’s really cold I’ll wear a lightweight regular riding sock, then over the top of that a wool sock. Then I take the chemical toe warmer and put it on the outside of my shoe over the toe area and put my full shoe cover over that.

I’ve used the chemical warmers inside the shoe but one time I got a bad chemical burn on one of my feet (defective one? ) I had to stop in the middle of a group ride and rip off my shoe but it was too late.

 

[bigW]

If the wide from lake isn’t wide enough, I truly doubt you can find a wider shoe

That seems to be the situation. 🙁

 

[bigW]

If the wide from lake isn’t wide enough, I truly doubt you can find a wider shoe

That seems to be the situation.

Under freezing the old standby is to just run SPDs on the road bike and use Ragnaroks. If it’s particularly windy I’ll throw Gore Alaska socks into the mix.

This is my ‘if all else fails’ option. On the plus side the Roubaix has power meter from the crank not pedals…

 

[bigW]

Couple tricks:
Plastic bag over toes or entire foot. There is an argument over next to skin or over sock, both have pluses and minuses but both do work. (One way keep sock dry but if you ride more than 2 hours, the plastic against skin may be an issue with “pruning” your skin/easy for blusters to form).

Also, plastic bag over shoe, under bootie. Again, more windproofness and waterproofnessand traps heat into shoe. Sweaty foot cam become issue.

Wrap insole with foil. I have used cold weather insoles and they help too hut room-in-shoe may be issue.

may experiment will all of these. back in the day latex gloves inside my gloves was a huge help but I sweat big time so plastic preventing evaporative cooling works but I may not want to pay that price.

 

[Patrick]

may experiment will all of these. back in the day latex gloves inside my gloves was a huge help but I sweat big time so plastic preventing evaporative cooling works but I may not want to pay that price.

IMHO, The dampening of the insulation is the problem. Gloves and sox.
If you can wick it away, but keep it from getting the gloves or sox damp, that would work.
Haven't figured that out, but I am a fan of nitrile/plastic layer

 

[bigW]

Thanks for all the real world feedback folks.

I’m hitting full-stop on looking for a new shoe to solve this problem.

Not the end of the world if I put SPD pedals on my road bike but I’ll likely flip back ever time it gets warm so i can have the comfort of my custom road shoes.

I’ll tinker some more with soles, insulation, chemical warmers and shoe covers and see what I come up with. I suspect that better sealing covers works against enough O2 for chemical warmers.

A decade ago I dabbled with electric insoles but battery technology sucked and product quality was poor. Might do more research into electric socks and see if any get consistently ok reviews..

I’ll post back mid-winter with findings…

 

[jShort]

A decade ago I dabbled with electric insoles but battery technology sucked and product quality was poor.

I’ve heard the new stuff is way better. I can’t speak firsthand, but I’ve heard the Amazon electric gloves and socks are worth it