Cycling UK Forum

Hi All,

I commute all year around and in all weathers. Tonights commute was a particularly wet and miserable ride home which involved getting wet feet.

Now up until recently this hadn't been a problem that I suffered from. Up until now during the the winter I would commute wearing a pair of cycling trousers that I bought sometime in the early 90s (yes I do like to get maximum use out of the things that I buy). These trousers were basically just a fleece material and if it rained they just soaked up the water. Now over this winter these fleece trousers were really starting to fall apart having seen better days and so in the January sales I got myself a pair of winter bib tights.

These bib tights are really nice but I've now got a problem that I didn't have before. The bib tights have a bit of water repellence so whereas my old fleece trousers just soaked up the rain now, to a certain extent, the rain runs down the bib tights and straight into my shoes giving me wet feet.

I just wondered if other people have this problem and if so how they've solved it?

I started off by wondering do I need a set of over shoes because I've never had any before. However I'm not sure whether or not this actually solves the problem because wouldn't the water still run down the outside of my bib tights then down the inside of the over shoes and into my shoes in the same way? Or do people try to get their bib tights big and loose enough so that the they can get the legs of the bib tights over the top of the over shoes?

Thanks in advance for any tips & advice!

John

Have you tried waterproof over-trousers? I also commute year round in all weathers and find a pair of Decathlon over-trousers with built in boot/shoe covers work very well indeed.

Overshoes work to a limited extent, but eventually water finds its way into them from the top where they wrap around your leg. If you cycle in heavy rain you will get wet feet.

Worth trying waterproof socks (e.g. sealskins). Easier to fit your trousers over the top, and they fit tighter around your ankles than overshoes.

a traditional solution is to use a cape which keeps your legs drier. No good when it is very windy though.

Also ask yourself if maybe when it is gusty there isn't water blowing off the front wheel onto your feet directly, and maybe a longer/wider front mudflap might be a good idea?

cheers

+1 to a decent mudflap, but you haven't mentioned mudguards which seem to be out of fashion these days. If you don't use mudguards, most other things like overshoes are going to struggle. Anything you do with waterproof togs is OK till the water runs off the edge. Overtrousers on their own just mean more water on your feet. As others have said, water can run down your legs and into the top of overshoes or, indeed waterproof socks. Overshoes that tuck into overtrousers are better (apart from condensation.) One thing about getting fully kitted up in waterproofs I've found is that by the time they are all on and tucked in, the sun has often come out. Sod's law.

Put the bib tights over the top of the overshoe, the water does run down inside.if you tuck them in


Agree with the other comments regarding mud flaps . But to be effective they need to reach to about an inch above the ground.

Neoprene overshoes have been a revelation to me.

Two other things that might help:

1. Use MTB boots which are waterproof and have a neoprene cuff to reduce the amount of water running down your leg into the big hole at the top.

2. Pearl Izumi Amfib bib tights have a double layer at the ankle which may help to divert water on the outer surface away from your feet.

As a cheaper bodge, you could try using the wrist part of washing-up glove to do the same job.

Most of the above plus Seal Skins Waterproof socks. Bit expensive but worth it

Morning All,

Many thanks for the messages and ideas.

I do have long mudguards plus mudflaps and so I don't think that this is the problem because it wasn't an issue that I had before when my old trousers soaked up all of the rain as my feet weren't getting wet with road spray.

It's only started since I bought new winter bib tights which are water repellent. Now this isn't a problem in light rain or drizzle but when it's absolutely chucking it down with rain, such as last night, the water beads on the surface of the bib tights and it just rolls down my leg into my shoes.

Following Cosmicbike's message I can see how over-trousers with built in shoe covers would work and so I'll take a look at those. However I'm somebody who seems to run quite hot and so I've never been a great fan of fully waterprooof jackets that don't breath because I end up sweating a lot and getting the boil in the bag effect which I worry might happen with full over-trousers.

Per Brucey's message I can definitely see how a cape would sort the problem however in my rider home last night it was blowing an absolute gale and I was being blown all over the place as it was and so I'd fear that wearing a cape would be act as a sail and be dangerous because I'd catch the wind and be blown about even more.

I do use MTB shoes (but not boots) so they're a bit more bulky than road shoes.

I'm thinking that potentially an option to try might be overshoes but with the bib tight legs put over the top of the over shoes.

Thanks again for all of the tips & advice which is much appreciated.

John

I had a pair of Sealskinz waterproof socks, but they fill up with water much like wellies do.
I reckon they were useless for cycling.

Other than keeping warm, just allow your feet to get wet. Don't wear thick shoes. Allow the water to run away and not collect in them.

I use two diametrically opposite approaches.

If it's cold, I use MTB boots, with the longs on the outside of the ankle closure so that most water is diverted to the outside of the boot.

If it's not cold, I use SPD sandals, on the grounds that both skin and sandals dry off quickly.

The boundary between cold and not cold is, in my case, somewhere between 5° and 8°.

In the absence of boots, I'd recommend overshoes, with the longs on the outside.

Vaude make calf-length waterproof gaiters. I have some but I haven't tried them: I usually use their neoprene overshoes. I bung up the cleat holes in the shoes with silicone, too - a lot comes up that way.

Re Sealskinz socks, the latest avatar thereof in my possession has tight grippy elastic round the top, which grips the calf tightly enough to cut a groove and impede blood circulation. I can't understand why socks made for cyclists and others who may be expected to have meaty calves are made to fit someone built like Twiggy*.

*for those who weren't around at the time or not paying attention: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twiggy

Sealskinz Socks
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=28777
Useless for cycling.