cold feet

tridying

any ideas to keep feet warm currently wearing two pair of socks two over shoes any ideas ?:)

pgibbo

A lad here at work swears by this stuff.

tridying

will try anything did 5 hours Saturday bloody frozen had to stop walk 10 m to get blood flowing again.

Captain Havoc

Wrap shoes in cling-film. Sealskinz socks I like.

Lawr

Saturday, I had a great cycle from Limerick to Killaloe and back, except at Birdhill, I knew that with around 15 miles to go, my toes would be frozen before I even got out of Killaloe.

When I got home, I couldn't feel my toes. They were pale. I tried rubbing them, which hurt. Finally, I stuck my feet in front of a heater and waited for the feeling to come back.

I know that part of the problem is that my feet don't do anything, except push down/pull up on the pedal. I try moving my toes around in my shoe as I cycle, but invariably, on cold (most) days, they just freeze up. I might try those sealskin socks you mentioned, though I hear they make your feet sweaty, then cold.

dubmess

I wear sealskins in work (courier) with a thin pair of socks underneath for comfort and I'm still getting pretty numb feet after a while... always been a problem for me and never been able to find a solution

Beasty

Assos Thermic Socks, Sealskinz, Sidi Gore-Tex boots finished off with Assos Winter Airblock Overshoes - may be expensive, but keeps the cold and water out for me:)

victorcarrera

My winter shoes are 2 sizes up so I can wear thick thermal socks.
I use cling film over shoes when temp is below 5C and spin is likely to be longer than 2 Hours. You could use kitchen foil instead of, or under the cling film as it is an excellent thermal barrier. Finally neopprene over shoes should suffice in most situations.
Make sure shoes are not too tight and restricting blood circulation.
Check that your cleat position is not causing you to push your toes too far forward in the shoes and sqeezing your toes.

10195dragrace

i use to wear a tesco carrier bag over ny scocks then another pait of socks when i was a motor bike courier to keep dry But got to warm , so could help you

Bunnyhopper

I find these pretty good:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=22690

Neoprene will help to keep the warmth in so before I go out I sit the cycling shoes in front of a blow heater for a few minutes to warm them up and then get them and the overshoes on as quick as I can.

I also find that if I put the shoes on too tight or overdo the socks then it restricts the blood flow and makes things worse. I also have blocked some of the vents in my shoes with tissue paper and tape.

If I feel the cold starting to set in then I vary the pedal stroke: concentrate on the pull up rather than the push down, or "drag" my foot back across the bottom of the stroke. I find the variation, even just for a few revolutions, helps get the warmth back into my toes.

zzzzzzzz

I always have this problem - I wear a pair of assos thermic socks and another pair of socks over them, a pair of fleece lined oversocks, and a pair of neoprene overshoes through most of the winter. My feet still go numb almost every spin. Gotten used to it really.

There's always these:
http://brandscycle.com/product/sidi-winter-training-toaster-heated-insoles-9920.htm

Lawr

I wear a size 39, which is tight, but not so tight that I don't have room to move my toes around (when not frozen). And I do wear my shoes pretty tight as I fear that I will have difficulty unclipping when my shoes are loose (too many bad memories there). I'll try blocking the ventilation, for sure, and the blow heater idea sounds right as well. I have noticed that my hands stay warmer longer if I put on my gloves hot off the radiator. The variation in the pedal technique deserves a shot as well. I was trying on my last jaunt to do something that would move my feet around inside my shoe. Two minutes later, though, I was looking for another strategy. None of my attempts really warmed my feet. They just took my mind off of how bad it was getting.

Plastic bags inside my shoes might be an option.

Plastik

My thread from yesterday about socks may be of use to you

cipo

normally suffer withcold feet too...

prendas winter socks are great.

prendas.co.uk

i wear craft half shoe covers and pearl izumi full amfib over shoes....

alot has to do with keeping legs and calf area warm also to maintain good bloodflow to feet.

lots of wiggling toes in shoes and ankling too!!!!!!!!

Rain.... bike shoes on then cover with clingfilm them normal shoe cover regime!!!

LastGasp

I used to think I was bad for feeling the cold, but you lot are worse ! Thick hiking socks, wiggle room, and Neoprene overshoes do the trick for me.

DirkVoodoo

LastGasp wrote: »

I used to think I was bad for feeling the cold, but you lot are worse ! Thick hiking socks, wiggle room, and Neoprene overshoes do the trick for me.

I agree, the most I have done is wear the socks I bought for snowboarding. A lot of winter days it has been regular socks and my SIDI papier mache overshoes. I even wear 3/4 lengths and knee warmers a lot, must be the "blood pipes" but my feet don't get too cold.

Body, neck (a nice buff!), knees and hands. I find if you keep these warm then the pedalling will take care of the rest.

Ryaner

One thing you need to be very careful of is wearing too much socks so that your feet can't move. If they can't they'll get very cold, very quickly. Put it down to a bad mistake ending in blue feet from an early morning spin.

tridying

going out tomorrow for 2.5 hrs going to raid the kitchen's tinfoil and cling film i am glad to see other people have the same problem. thanks for all the advise:rolleyes:;)

seamus

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

A lot of winter days it has been regular socks and my SIDI papier mache overshoes.

In ambient cold conditions (i.e. no wet, no wind), your feet generally won't get very cold once you have any kind of shoes on. However your shoes are breathable so when you start cycling, you create "wind", which in turn gets into your shoes and cools your feet down. In general, anything which can block or even break the wind on your feet will pay off massively in keeping them warm.

Your feet are kept warm by the blood flowing into them. But that blood has to travel all the way down your legs and will lose some heat on the way. A lot of heat is lost where there is less muscle and insulation - such as your knees. So by keeping your legs (particularly your knees) warm, you're minimising the amount of heat lost to the outside.

doozerie

The quality of the socks makes a big difference in my experience. I've worn two layers of unbranded/cheap thermal socks in the past and had problems but for the last few months I've had no problems at all with a pair of Assos Early Winter socks (about £13) and my usual neoprene overshoes. Assos also sell WinterPlus socks for colder weather. I also have a pair of Woolie Boolie socks (about £12) which I have read good things about but I haven't tried them yet as the Assos ones have worked so well. I bought both socks from www.ribble.co.uk.

Something else that may be worth trying is a double external layer outside your shoes. I have a pair of neoprene toe covers (like a full neoprene overshoe but just cover the front portion of your shoes), and these work well on their own in moderately cold weather - you could probably fit a pair of full neoprene overshoes over these. It's also important to make sure that your legs are warm as if they start to feel cold it'll likely affect the circulation to your feet too.