Winter Boots Advice

[crazyjoe101]

Okay everyone, the boots arrived today and I've gone out for a little dutch style racing around Leicester to check out the bike shops and pop into Aldi.

First of all the one size up to EU46 was perfect, they fit over my summer socks without being to loose and they are not too tight wearing my thickest socks WITH the summer ones underneath; I think there'll be room for my foot to expand as I ride too.
Initially I put the cleat in the middle and as far toward the toes as possible but I had to move it sideways to stop the boots from rubbing the crank.
They're VERY comfortable to ride and walk in compared to my old shoes and I'm almost clipping in first time now too.

I'll get to test them a bit more on my club run tomorrow but I'm not sure if that'll extend to wet weather.

Thanks.

 

[crazyjoe101]

Darn it. I was perfectly happy last winter with mtb shoes & overshoes.
But reading this thread has convinced me I 'must have' winter boots..!

Do it

I've had a chance to ride in them a bit more.
I had slightly chilly feet at 8degC with ALDI's thin wool socks with their thin summer ones underneath, so I'll be trying two pairs of thin wool next time. Otherwise the shoes have kept me toasty warm as of yet.
I love the velcro adjustment as it's so quick to stop and re-adjust the tightness throughout the ride without degloving.
I've not tested these in a proper downpour yet but they've deflected light showers and hefty puddle spray with no issues yet, it's easy to get longs to zip over the neoprene too, so this should prevent excessive water ingress at the cuff.
I'm very pleased.

 

[jagman.2003]

Do it

I've had a chance to ride in them a bit more.
I had slightly chilly feet at 8degC with ALDI's thin wool socks with their thin summer ones underneath, so I'll be trying two pairs of thin wool next time. Otherwise the shoes have kept me toasty warm as of yet.
I love the velcro adjustment as it's so quick to stop and re-adjust the tightness throughout the ride without degloving.
I've not tested these in a proper downpour yet but they've deflected light showers and hefty puddle spray with no issues yet, it's easy to get longs to zip over the neoprene too, so this should prevent excessive water ingress at the cuff.
I'm very pleased.

Ok I did it....I went for the Northwave Arctic Commuter MTB (Hi-Viz) boots. Couldn't justify the cost at first but my wife kindly agreed to go halves for an Xmas present. Which means I can only ride with one new boot until xmas..!

Haven't ridden with them yet but they look & feel the part. As with all cycling shoes I went one size up.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The northwave have a drawstring that pulls tight these days and then two velcro straps

The only problem I find with my Northwave boots is that the velcro sometimes grabs onto my woolly socks when I put the boots on and it's a right fiddle to get it to let go. All in all it can take ... oooh ... 20 seconds to get the boot on. So it's not that much of a fiddle.

 

[crazyjoe101]

Alright, I've probably done over 400 miles with these shoes and I've yet to try them in an all out downpour

I have however ridden in temperatures ranging 2-15degC and with a thin sock I found them almost comfortable at the top end of that range. Geting towards freezing however, and my feet are chilly; this is with a pair of Woolie Boolie 2 socks under a pair of (thinish) ALDI merino blend socks, that said, I am prone to cold feet so this not may accurately reflect warmth. I may have to experiment with some light overshoes to put over these! They should work even though these aren't road shoes as there is a slight recess under the shoes before the tall tread starts in which the bottom seam of an overshoe could sit without being scraped on tarmac.
They have faced road spray and won, keeping water out on long rides with lots of road water being sprayed up at me from the riders ahead. I didn't even realise I was getting spray on my feet until I noticed them caked in mud which had been flicked up onto them (this is on a road ride).

As far as fit goes, they are quite versatile given that they fit comforably with summer socks or two pairs of winter socks.

I will probably post a full review of these boots once we have faced some driving wind and rain together.

 

[Panter]

I've found mine to be extremely waterproof despite their advancing Years. Last weekend did some mud plugging in mine, I hosed them off when I was doing the bike and my feet still stayed dry!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

The only problem I find with my Northwave boots is that the velcro sometimes grabs onto my woolly socks when I put the boots on and it's a right fiddle to get it to let go. All in all it can take ... oooh ... 20 seconds to get the boot on. So it's not that much of a fiddle.

Same here. What's with the length of the drawstrings?

 

[The Rover]

Darn it. I was perfectly happy last winter with mtb shoes & overshoes.
But reading this thread has convinced me I 'must have' winter boots..!

+1, I've ordered a pair of northwave artics this morning via my LBS!

 

[cosmicbike]

I never thought I'd succumb, but after cold toes this morning have a pair 0f MW81's on the way. Hope I got the size right, my normal Shimano MTB shoes are a 46, so I went up to 47 for the boots..

 

[Shooter999]

Are the Northwave and Shimano still considered to be the best winter boots?

I've got to get a pair, fed up of having cold, wet feet.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Are the Northwave and Shimano still considered to be the best winter boots?

I've got to get a pair, fed up of having cold, wet feet.

Yep

 

[Levo-Lon]

My mw 81s are 2 yr old and fault free..superb boots..

 

[cosmicbike]

Yep, my MW81's are fab.

 

[Shooter999]

Just ordered a pair, will be here by the weekend