Overshoes and oversocks
Overshoes and oversocks
If you don’t like cold, wet feet, you need a good set of overshoes. And if you do like cold, wet feet, you need help.
There are overshoes and there are overshoes. Some overshoes are for aero purposes, and provide very little other than a marginal aero gain as they’re thin enough that they’ll stop pretty much no rain at all.
Shimano S3000R Overshoes – review
The next step up are Belgian Booties or oversocks. These are basically socks with holes in the bottom for your cleats, that fit over your shoes and are primarily designed to keep your feet warm (and your shoes clean). They do a good job because the material should do enough to keep an autumnal breeze off your feet (cycling shoes, like helmets, are designed to be well-vented, which is fine for summer…), but if it starts to rain they’ll get wet and start to leak water, so they’re very much a keep warm rather than keep dry bit of kit.
Vermarc Squadra Windtex Overshoes – review
Full-on overshoes are often made from a neoprene material. Now neoprene, as you know, is what wetsuits are made of, and neoprene overshoes do a similar job to a wetsuit in that instead of stopping your feet getting wet, they warm up the water inside meaning that your feet might be wet, but at least they’re warm and wet. It’s a smart approach because totally waterproof overshoes (that do their job properly, without letting any water get in) are hard to find.
Sportful WS Bootie Reflex Overshoes – review
Which brings us to waterproof overshoes. The main issue with these is that most bike shoes have an awful lot of places for water to creep in from multiple vents on the uppers right down to vents on the soles (and the easiest way to beat these is to literally tape them up), and the fact that overshoes will have cleat holes provides an obvious entry point. Still, a good pair of overshoes, whether made from a waterproof material of neoprene, are essential for much of the year when riding in the UK. Many pairs will also have an additional layer of fleecy fabric on the inside to keep warmth in as well, for when the temperature starts to drop further.