With a soft “plff”, a pair of DeFeet Woolie Boolie socks has landed in the RCUK in-tray. This particular pair is decorated with the words look mum no hands, which London-based cyclists may recognise as the name of a popular cafe/bar/workshop located on the capital’s Old Street. Indeed, the socks are available from the look mum no hands online shop and may be purchased for the moderate sum of £15.
The socks themselves are lovely to wear, their thick all-wool knit offering wonderful warmth in the current penetratingly cold conditions. However, like many such items they fall a little short of the cycling sock ideal in one key respect; the sole is too thick.
The supposed advantage for cycling to be derived from a thick sole is hard to discern; most cycling shoes have a sturdy, thick sole that provides sufficient insulation from the cold outside and the compressibility of the sole not only saps the rider’s power but provides the sensation of doing so. There’s a further drawback; cycling shoes should be a snug fit with the socks regularly worn with them. It is usually possible to fit thicker socks with a thin sole such as the excellent BioRacer Carbon winter socks inside correctly-sized shoes, but the extra material of a thick sole may add enough bulk to make shoes too tight a fit, in which case they’ll close down circulation and achieve the opposite effect to that intended.
Don’t let that put you off; if your shoes have enough spare room, if you don’t care about compressibility or if you won’t be wearing them for cycling, these are fantastically comfy socks.
look mum no hands DeFeet Woolie Boolie socks £15, sizes S-XL
