Can you get liners to keep your feet warm?

sergen said:

My toes have nearly frozen on my last couple of rides as temperatures have fallen around -1 degrees during the daytime. This despite the fact I was wearing two pairs of wool socks and neoprene overshoes.

I have some Altura liners that I wear on my hands and underneath my winter gloves. They keep my fingers really warm. But I haven't seen a similar product for the feet. Can you get liners to place around your toes?

thanks

-1 is pretty cold so I'm not sure anything will work for too long however I have had excellent luck with these:

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One warning, they are fairly bulky so make sure you have room in your shoe. Poor circulation can be the biggest cause of cold feet.

sergen said:

My toes have nearly frozen on my last couple of rides as temperatures have fallen around -1 degrees during the daytime. This despite the fact I was wearing two pairs of wool socks and neoprene overshoes.

I have some Altura liners that I wear on my hands and underneath my winter gloves. They keep my fingers really warm. But I haven't seen a similar product for the feet. Can you get liners to place around your toes?

thanks

I think that keeping the toes warm is very tough under those conditions because circulation isn't that great down there. When I lived in Chicago and regularly rode in such conditions, I used a polypropylene sock liner under some neoprene socks which was OK for about 45-60 minutes.

What worked better was wearing some hiking shoes (which allowed a bulkier and warmer sock) and using a non-clipless pedals. Not elegant, but warmer.

You could try a ski sock and skiers sometimes spray an antiperspirant on their toes so they don't get cold because of sweat.

http://merinogold.com/socks.html

sergen said:

My toes have nearly frozen on my last couple of rides as temperatures have fallen around -1 degrees during the daytime. This despite the fact I was wearing two pairs of wool socks and neoprene overshoes.

I have some Altura liners that I wear on my hands and underneath my winter gloves. They keep my fingers really warm. But I haven't seen a similar product for the feet. Can you get liners to place around your toes?

thanks

Every pair of shoes I own has vents to keep your feet cool, soooo ......, these have to be blocked off in the cold weather. I ride regularly in sub-freezing temps. Pearl Izumi has a couple of products you may be interested in - one of them is specifically a toe warmer:

pearlizumi.comproduct.phpOpen ↗

But, what I highly recommend is a full foot thermal bootie, like this:

pearlizumi.comproduct.phpOpen ↗

This type of bootie allows you to wear your regular shoes year round, and, they keep your whole foot warm. Cold toes can also be caused by shoes that are too tight. You need a little space in there to allow some air to circulate. If you have three pair of socks and everything is jammed into the toe, they are still likely to get cold. A very thin base sock with a thermal sock (I use the high tech snowboard socks - not thick and very warm) is the way to go. Put a bootie over this and your feet will stay warm and you can still wear cleated shoes. You may need to go to a slightly bigger shoe. The trick to keep your toes warm is to keep good circulation in them. If you crush them into a shoe, they are going to get cold. Give them a little space and think out a good system. With current technology, there is no need for your toes, and/or feet, to be cold. Personally, I like the Pearl Izumi stuff. They are expensive, but very good. You can get similar products from other vendors, although I have not seen anyone else with the toe warmers. BTW, those toe warmers are specifically to block the vents found on most shoes. I don't use them unless it's right around 40F. When it gets colder, I start getting fussy about booties and the right socks.

I've found the Pearl Izumi booties to be great for keeping my feet warm on long rides of about 2 hours. I also double up on breathable socks. I also stop for feeding and water to walk around and build circulation on longer rides.

sergen said:

My toes have nearly frozen on my last couple of rides as temperatures have fallen around -1 degrees during the daytime. This despite the fact I was wearing two pairs of wool socks and neoprene overshoes.

Without knowing where you live, I hope that the -1 means -1 Celsius; -1 Fahrenheit is mighty cold for cycling! Anyway, as mentioned, there are thin polypro or silk liner socks available. Fitting 2 pairs of wool socks into cycling shoes probably cuts off circulation unless you bought the shoes oversized to allow for the extra socks. Two suggestions: you can layer 2 pair of overshoes (when it gets what I call cold, around 18-25F, I layer the overshoes just like I layer my clothing). Second, you can get foot warmer packets (they're typically sold for hunters or alpine skiers) which you put inside your shoes when you ride. They're good for 2-3 hours, discard when you're done, I think cost is around $1.50/pair. (Its a chemical reaction of some sort.) Some of my clubmates actually have battery-powered foot warmers, but I don't know the details, just that they exist as well.

In Sweden it´s rather cold in winter... 🙂
This is what I use:
A very thin, kneelength alpine skiing sock from BOLA.
Shimano M221 MTB shoes.
Shoe covers: GORE Bike Wear, Race Overshoe (without thermoinsulation)
Between the shoe and the shoe cover I use: Helly Hansen, BURGDORF STOCKINGS (06464)
http://www.hhworkwear.com/

I have no problem doing 5 hour rides in -10 celsius.
My experience with neoprene covers is that they are only good when you are going to get really wet anyway. In winter they just soak my socks and shoes from perspiration.

I have had great success with Sealskinz Thermal Liner Socks

Just the job!

A traditional low tech solution is to slip plastic sandwich bags over your toes.

I've used SealSkinz with good results. Plastic bags work too but eventually your feet get wet from trapped perspiration.

They say "if your feet are cold, put on a hat". What are you wearing under your helmet?

As temperatures drop, I use the following:

1. Pearl Izumi Neoprene shoe covers

2. Pearl Izumi Fleece lined booties

3. Hotronics shoe warmers

I clip the batteries for #3 to the top of the booties ... so far I haven't been out in colder temps than 22F, but at that temp my feet were warm but not hot (hotronics were set to temp setting 3 where 1 is the lowest temp and 4 the highest). The are expensive but worth the money if you intend to ride throughout the winter.