Suggest some winter mtb boots?

[Shewie]

Scott MTB Heater boots, can't wait to get them on again soon

[Alpinum]

Keeping water out the tops of your boots requires gaiters!

But what's going to keep water out the tops of the gaiters?
Argh, life is so brutal!

[fatbikephil]

Keeping water out the tops of your boots requires gaiters!

But what's going to keep water out the tops of the gaiters?
Argh, life is so brutal!

Strata Florida springs to mind.... (again)

[redefined_cycles]

Keeping water out the tops of your boots requires gaiters!

But what's going to keep water out the tops of the gaiters?
Argh, life is so brutal!

Waterproof event trousers does the job for me really well. Maybe cos it might have been road riding! Gaiters!! Just another thing to add onto the 'weight-list' isn't it. Already sick of carrying overshoes, deep winter gloves and other winter type necessities in the luggage!

[Alpinum]

I must visit Strata Florida. It seems there's something about it every cyclist should've experienced once in a lifetime. Similar to the crossing on the HT in the Fisherfield Forrest.
Does anyone know if SF's on Ian's Wales C2C route?

When snow is deep I too put on gaiters for the pushing. Like such conditions:

Screenshot_20241025_192409_Gallery.jpg (45.38 KiB) Viewed 1835 times

I'm not anti Gaiters, there's moments and places for them.

For the more UK winter (cold and wet, but not freezing) conditions I've come to accept wet feet and just go with shoes and socks warm enough for wet feet. As with wrists for hands, well protected ankles help with warm feet.

[whitestone]

I must visit Strata Florida. It seems there's something about it every cyclist should've experienced once in a lifetime. Similar to the crossing on the HT in the Fisherfield Forrest.
Does anyone know if SF's on Ian's Wales C2C route?

In part. Looks like it uses the top few hundred metres then cuts south on forestry tracks towards Soar y Mynydd, pretty much the same line in the woods at least as taken by the Big Bear (GPX of that available in the routes section here) A rough outline of the route here https://cambriantrail.wordpress.com/route/

[ton]

i like posts like this.
as a bloke who has suffered with cold feet all his life, this thread is pretty informative, But i think IMHO the only way to keep truly warm feet in winter is to ditch SPD cycling shoes.

my theory...... in a stiff soled shoe the foot does not flex much, so to get some warmth in we ride whilst wriggling our little piggies...... to create some warmth/ get bood back into them.
in a non spd shoe with a flex in the sole, the foot is flexing all the time, and does not get cold.... as much.
spd pedals are steel, as are pedals which work as a heat sink.
nylon flat grippy pedals, shoes with a bit of flex = warm feet.

my right ankle is fused solid, with a pretty poor circulation. cold in summer.
so a couple of years ago, i went on a buying splurge to winterproof my feet. very costly, poor results.
specialized defrosters, no or hardly any insulation. filled with water which stayed there. fitting was good.
next northwave arctic gtx. very tight fit in a 12. i am a 11. not very warm, once neoprene was wet, water soaked down. sold after 3 rides.
so next i went serious. 45nrth wolvehammers. wowsers, what a fine looking boot. until i rode in them on a subzero ride. they are so well insulated, they just kept freezing cold right foot freezing, like a well insulated ice box.
and were horrible to wak any distance in. sold em.
all were used with spd pedals.

then i was talking to a mate who lives in Cochrane Alberta in Canada. we played rugby together for years, he is a policeman there. but also rides fatbikes.
so i asked him what he rode in at winters of minus 25.
he said the best boots he had found for cold dry conditions, which they have, were the Columbia fairbanks boots, mated with good wool socks. and in wet cold conditions he rode in Muckboot arctic sport wellies.
soi bought the Columbia's. and they were/are still fantastic, with flat pedals. almost IMHO as grippy as 5 tens. and just so warm.
however, in wet horrible stuff at just above or just below freezing they do get a bit wet inside, but still staywarm.

then, last winter i went to Norway for the fat viking event, and after doing some homework i used some Keen targhee high polar boots, with wool socks.
the event was crap condition wise. minus 5 with wet soft knee deep snow. i spent all morning walking, carrying, pushing my bike in the stuff. and when i sacked it after 6 hours of this, my feet were still warm and dry.

my twopenneth............. sorry for the long reply.

[redefined_cycles]

i like posts like this.
as a bloke who has suffered with cold feet all his life, this thread is pretty informative, But i think IMHO the only way to keep truly warm feet in winter is to ditch SPD cycling shoes.

my theory...... in a stiff soled shoe the foot does not flex much, so to get some warmth in we ride whilst wriggling our little piggies...... to create some warmth/ get bood back into them.
in a non spd shoe with a flex in the sole, the foot is flexing all the time, and does not get cold.... as much.
spd pedals are steel, as are pedals which work as a heat sink.
nylon flat grippy pedals, shoes with a bit of flex = warm feet.

my right ankle is fused solid, with a pretty poor circulation. cold in summer.
so a couple of years ago, i went on a buying splurge to winterproof my feet. very costly, poor results.
specialized defrosters, no or hardly any insulation. filled with water which stayed there. fitting was good.
next northwave arctic gtx. very tight fit in a 12. i am a 11. not very warm, once neoprene was wet, water soaked down. sold after 3 rides.
so next i went serious. 45nrth wolvehammers. wowsers, what a fine looking boot. until i rode in them on a subzero ride. they are so well insulated, they just kept freezing cold right foot freezing, like a well insulated ice box.
and were horrible to wak any distance in. sold em.
all were used with spd pedals.

then i was talking to a mate who lives in Cochrane Alberta in Canada. we played rugby together for years, he is a policeman there. but also rides fatbikes.
so i asked him what he rode in at winters of minus 25.
he said the best boots he had found for cold dry conditions, which they have, were the Columbia fairbanks boots, mated with good wool socks. and in wet cold conditions he rode in Muckboot arctic sport wellies.
soi bought the Columbia's. and they were/are still fantastic, with flat pedals. almost IMHO as grippy as 5 tens. and just so warm.
however, in wet horrible stuff at just above or just below freezing they do get a bit wet inside, but still staywarm.

then, last winter i went to Norway for the fat viking event, and after doing some homework i used some Keen targhee high polar boots, with wool socks.
the event was crap condition wise. minus 5 with wet soft knee deep snow. i spent all morning walking, carrying, pushing my bike in the stuff. and when i sacked it after 6 hours of this, my feet were still warm and dry.

my twopenneth............. sorry for the long reply.

Enjoyed that... Not long enough . I think you're right Ton. I've constantly looked for spd to work in the winters for me and eventually gave up and went for goretex flat hiking boots for the winters.

Last year in the ice-ride to London (Freedom for Aafia Siddiqui Ride for CAGE - in case anyone wishes to join the 240 miler this year to London) I wenwith my standard Goretex setup. This time my Adidas hiker boots (a bit crap in all honesty) and they handled the cold ice conditions nicely. Not really needing to walk to warm up the toes, only when ice/slush wouldn't allow any grip.

Then came the second ride for last Dec. End of the month (and this time for Palestine civilians to try and feed them as they and their kids get exterminated). Because it was a 300 miler in a one-er (this years is the Bryan Chapman if anyone wants to come - just bring baggies) I decided to go with my SPD boots and took the deep winter insoles and overshoes.

Weather obviously wasn't that bad and hovered around the 5c mark and I managed to get through it without heating issues (them insoles are amazing for me as suggested by Gian/Alpinum). Anyway, maybe just I might be over-expecting from myself by going back to spd, especially if it's a deep cold icy winter!!!

Decisions, decisions. I don't want to go back to the heatsink problem of the pedals (CrankBros Ti pedals worked but the angle of flaot and similar stuff caused issues instead) but equally I do enjoy having spd to clip into when the weather gets pitch-black! If that makes sense...

[redefined_cycles]

Anyway, so... Hmmm... sad in Endura burners or not. Or do I just get the spd in the really expensive - but cooler looking and more socklike, Fizik x2, so they are more appropriate for certain ablution needs for prayers - Fiziks.

A wonderful viewpoint of information and inheritance of 2 sets of boots (from Ton and Phil, thanks ). Really informative and thanks again all. Hopefully it all pays off and I manage to actually complete both rides nicely, God-Willing.

[redefined_cycles]

Stop the clock. I just bought these https://www.deporvillage.net/endura-mt5 ... oes-orange

Hoping the sizing will hold true for me as they did The Turtle. So ordered a half size down from my Shimano boots, but the problem is I'm also the same (11) in my current Adidas hiking boots.

So, in plain english. I'm a 46eu in Shimano mw5 and the Shimano ME200. I'm an 11 which also translates to 46eu in the Adidas Terrex. But I've gone with a 10.5 (which is what I used to buy in the previous 5:10s as well as in Arcteryx. Let's hope the price holds true (+£11 snail mail delivery from Grenada it seems).

Estimated arrival between 13/Nov and 15th/Nov.

https://www.deporvillage.net/endura-mt5 ... oes-orange

[godivatrailrider]

They're VERY orange !

[redefined_cycles]

They're VERY orange !

The jacket is very yellow. I always try to buy brighter colours to hopefully wake drivers up a little. When there's no drivers then maybe it helps put the trail 'on guard'. Besides, it'll stop me trying to wear em to work, might last alot longer (and save the floors) and... and... they were £12 less expense.

[yourguitarhero]

I normally go with thick merino socks, goretex hiking boots and if it's really cold some roadie style overshoes.

Hiking boots are comfy and good for when you have to walk. I've seen some insulated terrex ones in TK Maxx recently for about £45. Similar to these: https://www.tradeinn.com/trekkinn/en/ad ... E1GTIhtfTA
Merino socks will keep you warm when/if the waterproofing on the boots fail.
Along with waterproof overtrousers, a hand towel and another pair of fresh/dry merino socks to change into.

[redefined_cycles]

Keeping water out the tops of your boots requires gaiters! Planet X / Carnac overshoes work too (neoprene / velcro ones). But for roady boots my vaude overtrousers keep the rain out the tops.

Anyway, Lake MX146's turned up today. For £155 I'm happy with them, not sure about paying full wack though (£220) Wide fit is exactly like my lace up 300's but a better bet for road and gravel and tall enough for my over trousers to go over the tops. Boa dial is a PIA but much better than the one on the Northwaves, plus its on the ankle not down in the mud, so hopefully wont' clog up.

Shoes arrived. Fit like a glove with my semi thick socks on (double layer Norfolks I think they're called). I'm gonna order some nice DWR spray and see if I can make em do the water shedding a bit...

[redefined_cycles]

[fatbikephil]

First test in anger yesterday of the Lakes - very warm but went a bit thick with my socks so left foot toes were a wee bit cramped. Solid rain for the last hour of the ride failed to penetrate them!

[voodoo_simon]

In case anyone is wanting some winter boots, NORTHWAVE
Mens Celsius Xc Arctic GTX for under £100

https://www.sportpursuit.com/catalog/pr ... id/3926672