Keeping feet warm during FS

[MarkinDC]

If you are regularly commuting for an hour in the teens and 20’s (more power to you) it’s worth investing the money in a designated pair of winter cycling boots. I follow the clearance section on the Specialized website very closely and picked up a pair of Defroster Trail bike shoes in October for only $70 instead of the usual $200. I haven’t ridden in them as much as I would like (sorry when it’s in the teens the only riding I’m doing is on nice slow stable bikeshare bikes), the couple of rides I’ve done I didn’t like the stiffness of the hightop boot so I don’t specifically endorse the Defroster trails, but I think if you ride clipped in for the miles are talking about you have to go with a designated winter bike shoe.

[Sunyata]

@gswim18 170902 wrote:

I don’t think this is accurate n18. Yes, your foot will sweat but you will reach a point where that process stops. You will then have dry insulating layers on top.

This is incorrect. I have seen people lose toes and almost lose fingers due to plastic or latex while doing strenuous activity in the cold.

Think of it this way. If I take a piece of raw meat, soak it in water, then wrap it in plastic with a wool outerlayer and leave it in the sub zero wind chill cold for a couple of hours, do you think that piece of meat is not going to be frozen solid when you get back? Sure, ALIVE people have blood flow, but the longer you are exposed to the cold, the more your vessels constrict in your extremities and the less warming blood flow they get.

If this works for you and you want to risk your fingers/toes by doing it, then go for it. But for the love of all things bright and shiny, please stop suggesting that other people do this.

[gswim18]

Sunyata, here is my take:

The idea behind a vapor barrier – create a micro-climate between your skin and the vapor barrier. Nothing in, nothing out. When your foot sweats it will add moisture to the micro-climate, at some point there will be so much moisture in the micro-climate that no more can be added thus you stop sweating. Ideally you wouldn’t sweat at all and have a nice warm and dry micro-climate.

Now protect that micro-climate with a nice warm insulating layer and protect that insulating layer from the wind, rain, snow, etc. with some kind of shell.

This is probably an over simplification of the system, but vapor barriers are successfully used by different user groups to combat being out in cold weather. Others on this forum can research, experiment, and then decide for themselves.

[rcannon100]

FYI: Sunyata is a paramedic.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@gswim18 170954 wrote:

Sunyata, here is my take:

The idea behind a vapor barrier – create a micro-climate between your skin and the vapor barrier. Nothing in, nothing out. When your foot sweats it will add moisture to the micro-climate, at some point there will be so much moisture in the micro-climate that no more can be added thus you stop sweating. Ideally you wouldn’t sweat at all and have a nice warm and dry micro-climate.

That is definitely not how sweating works.

[gswim18]

Hello All,

I have deleted my posts. Don’t want to cause any trouble or give any bad advice.

Best,

Kris

[n18]

I don’t see a difference between waterproof boots, and bags over thick socks. Both act as a windproof barrier. Perhaps this is a job for MythBusters.

[ImaCynic]

@n18 170968 wrote:

I don’t see a difference between waterproof boots, and bags over thick socks. Both act as a windproof barrier. Perhaps this is a job for MythBusters.

This is why Goretex was invented and so popular in activewear. It allows sweat to escape yet remains waterproof, bags can’t do that.

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[ChampionTier]

@gswim18 170966 wrote:

I have deleted my posts. Don’t want to cause any trouble or give any bad advice.

Just a non-bike related editorial…

For the past month or so I’ve been on a social media diet sticking mainly to Reddit, this forum, and little else. What keeps me coming back to the WABA forum — and what sets it apart from other SM — is the sense of community that I see here. Sure there’s the occasional squabble (I’m looking at you, e-bike discussion people) but as a whole, I think this is what I hoped social media would do: bring ideas together, hash ’em out with a little debate, and unite folks.

Gswim18: you weren’t causing any trouble, IMO. Instead, you are an example of social media gone good. This thread, its contributors and what I’ve learned in my ~1.5 years of lurking here are exemplary of the promises that this still (relatively) new tech holds for us.

Cheers,
CT

P.S. T minus 3 days until my bar mitts arrive!

[n18]

@f148vr 170980 wrote:

This is why Goretex was invented and so popular in activewear. It allows sweat to escape yet remains waterproof, bags can’t do that.

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Ok, got it now after checking this Wikipedia article about Gore-tex. There are some who use boots that are not breathable. According to this page, genuine leather is breathable, including genuine vegan leather(Microfiber leather), but synthetic leather is not.

[historygeek]

I constantly struggle with this– my feet and hands will be freezing when my back is sweating, so the “keep your ore warm and your hands and feet will be warm” advice always falls flat for me. My current shoe process is wearing reboks (which have extra large toe boxes) over a pair of thin silk socks and a regular pair of wool socks. I then place a small “hot hands” pack on top of my toes as I slide them into the shoe. Toss a neoprene overshoe over that, and I’m good for 12.5 miles at 7 degrees. I also wear a pair of regular ski mittens and put hot hands in those. Keep a plastic bag around and you can save your hot hands for later– cutting off air stops the chemical reaction creating the heat, so you can pull them out of the ziplock days/weeks/months later and they’ll warm right back up. MY first pair this year were left over from last year. And let them sit in the air for a few minutes before you put them in your gloves/shoes, so they have a chance to warm up with lots of air circulation around them before you limit that.

[n18]

For hands, Bar Mitts are the winner according to others(I haven’t bought one yet, but I will). Walk around your neighborhood with your hands in your warmest gloves tucked in your jacket. You should feel very warm because there is no windchill. My guess is that Bar Mitts gives you the same feeling or close to it, so you could even use smaller and more flexible gloves.

[drevil]

@n18 171131 wrote:

For hands, Bar Mitts are the winner according to others(I haven’t bought one yet, but I will). Walk around your neighborhood with your hands in your warmest gloves tucked in your jacket. You should feel very warm because there is no windchill. My guess is that Bar Mitts gives you the same feeling or close to it, so you could even use smaller and more flexible gloves.

I’ve had Bar Mitts for 8 years. Nothing will keep your hands warmer than pogies/bar mitts IMHO. You definitely need to wear lighter gloves when using them or your hands will sweat like crazy.

4 years ago, I was looking for a cheaper pair, and bought these from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0022ZJJSK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
They’re much thinner and easier to install than the Bar Mitts, but aren’t quite as warm. I actually prefer these most of the time since my older version of Bar Mitts are stiff neoprene and don’t have a lot of height and sometimes hurt my knuckles when riding too long with them. These cheap ScootR ones are more voluminous and don’t cause any discomfort.

The con of the ScootR is that they don’t have any attachment point to the end of the bar, so without modification, they can slip down and eventually leave little coverage for your hands. No biggie, what I did was get snap buttons that I attached to the ScootR hand covers, then screwed in the other half of the snap button into the bar end plug. Works DYN-O-MITE!

[honestmachinery]

@drevil 171133 wrote:

I’ve had Bar Mitts for 8 years. Nothing will keep your hands warmer than pogies/bar mitts IMHO. You definitely need to wear lighter gloves when using them or your hands will sweat like crazy.

4 years ago, I was looking for a cheaper pair, and bought these from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0022ZJJSK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
They’re much thinner and easier to install than the Bar Mitts, but aren’t quite as warm. I actually prefer these most of the time since my older version of Bar Mitts are stiff neoprene and don’t have a lot of height and sometimes hurt my knuckles when riding too long with them. These cheap ScootR ones are more voluminous and don’t cause any discomfort.

The con of the ScootR is that they don’t have any attachment point to the end of the bar, so without modification, they can slip down and eventually leave little coverage for your hands. No biggie, what I did was get snap buttons that I attached to the ScootR hand covers, then screwed in the other half of the snap button into the bar end plug. Works DYN-O-MITE!

I stole these ideas and bought these things after reading this, and love them. The snaps keep the mitts in place, but still allow the mitts to rotate. Thanks for the tips.

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