What NOT to do with waterproof shoes

liamo

Hi,

I got a lovely new pair of Shimano RW 80 winter boots for Xmas. I had been out twice so far with them and they kept my feet nice and warm. I hadn't been using overshoes because I wanted to see how the shoes would perform.

I wore them today for the third time. There was rain and sleet and I was cycling through puddles but wasn't at all worried because I was also wearing sealskinz under the shoes. After an hour or so my feet started to get a little cold. After another hour I could feel my feet squelching in the shoes. I couldn't believe it. My feet were swimming. Waterproof my arse!

It took a while to figure it out but what had happened was that the upper ankle portion of the socks (not covered by the boots) were getting soaked from the rain and the splashes. The socks (aided by gravity) acted as a very efficient wick and filled my shoes with water. I spent a very uncomfortable 90 minutes or so and when I got home and took the shoes off the water literally poured out of the shoes.

My shoes are, at the moment, stuffed with kitchen towel and drying out.

I will, in future, wear waterproof overshoes and make sure that they cover the socks. Apart from that, they will protect the shoes from the mud and crud that gets thrown up (my new shoes don't look so new anymore).

A basic mistake perhaps and one that others in the forum may not have made, but maybe someone will learn from my experience today - I certainly did!

Regards,

Liam

niceonetom

liamo wrote: »

Waterproof my arse!

no!

thanks for sharing though.

short circuit

Happens to me all the time in the winter even with overshoes as the leg warmers or the tights are stuck into the overshoes ... the water just soaks through ... but still keeps you warm though

Raam

Unfortunately your feet will always get wet when cycling in the rain. All you can do is limit it. The drainpipe effect will make sure that plenty of water finds it's way into your shoe. The amount of spray thrown up by your front wheel ain't going to help the cause either.

penexpers

Raam wrote: »

Unfortunately your feet will always get wet when cycling in the rain. All you can do is limit it. The drainpipe effect will make sure that plenty of water finds it's way into your shoe. The amount of spray thrown up by your front wheel ain't going to help the cause either.

Unless you use mudguards of course!

Raam

penexpers wrote: »

Unless you use mudguards of course!

Aye. I got me race blades in the post this morning

short circuit

penexpers wrote: »

Unless you use mudguards of course!

I'd rather get wet ... than get slammed by the Euro police ... .. At least getting wet ... the discomfort is only physical ...

Raam

short circuit wrote: »

I'd rather get wet ... than get slammed by the Euro police ... .. At least getting wet ... the discomfort is only physical ...

The Euro police are officially on holidays until March

penexpers

Raam wrote: »

Aye. I got me race blades in the post this morning

Yay another convert!

TinyExplosions

I;m seriously considering full length (possibly metal) mudguards on my Mercian build -even going so far as to have one of these:

On the front. I think it will deserve it

Karma

very handy, of course you can make your own out of old tires-mtb of course.
must put up pics of the merican.

TinyExplosions

Karma wrote: »

very handy, of course you can make your own out of old tires-mtb of course.
must put up pics of the merican.

I haven't got it yet!

It'll deserve the real thing rather than old tyres though