Roadie's Ramblings

A ride with cold feet isn’t a good ride.   It doesn’t matter if your legs are sweating, you’re wearing a layer too much on the top, and your head is wet with sweat from a balaclava — cold fee ruin the ride.  Ruin it!   It seems like hardcore winter cyclist have their very own “custom made” shoe cover that include Duct Tape, maybe plastic baggies, chemical toe warmers, or maybe a combination of toe warmers with shoe covers.   It doesn’t really matter what it looks like or how nutty the idea is, if your feet stay warm it’s a worthy over shoe.

Castelli Diluvio Shoe Cover

Finagling your own version of a winter shoe cover is all fine and well, but I’ve found something that takes the MacGyver out of warm feet.  They’re called the Castelli Diluvio Shoe Covers.  Really, there isn’t anything to special about them — they just keep your feet warm.   They’re not made of NASA engineered fabric, they don’t require batteries, and aren’t constructed of 6 different fabrics; they’re made of 3mm Neoprene, plain and simple.  Think wet suit.

The beauty of Neoprene is several fold: 1)highly wind resistant  2)insulates when dry  3)insulates when wet.   So Neoprene has taken the wind chill out of the equation, it’s an insulator for cold winter rides when wind chill isn’t an issue, and when your feet begin to perspire they actually use the wetness to increase the insulated properties.  Beyond the Neoprene, all sewn seams are Thermosealed to keep the elements from leaking through and a Velcro closure is in the back to close everything up.

I’m not just spouting off about a shoe cover I’ve never worn; this is what I’m currently wearing.   Every time I’ve worn the Diluvio Shoe Cover I’ve ask myself the same question mid-ride, “Are my feet warm right now?.”  My answer has been, “I think so.” just about every time.   I’m not exactly sure why I can’t quite tell whether my feet are warm or cold, but it doesn’t make any difference; I know they’re not cold.   And then oddly enough when I take the shoe covers off, my shoes are radiating heat and my socks are wet with sweat.  Every single time this has happened.  I would assume this means my feet were warm during the ride.

Tip for extra warmth: Make sure your feet are warm before putting the shoe covers on.  Maybe even warm them up with a hair dryer.  Seriously, this makes a difference.