new shoes or winter boots?

[Puffin]

This is going to be my second year riding through the winter and I don't want to repeat the frozen hand and feet experience of last year. Ok, so it doesn't get as cold over here in England as it does in some of your States, but I swear I thought I was going to lose my extremities last year...
I guess that my Scott mtb shoes (which I use on and off road) are too small for winter socks as they left me with no air gap for warmth. My DH uses overshoes for both road and mtb riding, as well as Seal Skins socks. His overshoes get in a real mess offroad and I'm afraid they might affect my already very poor unclipping ability.
I have had my shoes for about 4 years and I love them. So, do I buy a nice warm pair of winter boots to complement the Scotts or do I get a new pair of all rounders with enough space to get more layers inside?
Any advice welcome!


If in doubt, get off and walk...

[DeniseGoldberg]

I can't comfortably fit thick socks in my cycling shoes either, but here is what works for me in cold weather.

I use a pair of Pearl Izumi shoe covers - mine are old, but they are the equivalent of the AmFib shoe covers. If it's really cold, I add toe warmers (stuck to the bottom of my socks). The toe warmers I use are called Heat Treat Toe Warmers. Here's a link to the product description on the REI web site, just so you can see the details: http://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...ory_rn=4500521. Maybe you can find these (or something similar) a little closer to home!

--- Denise

[rocknrollgirl]

Given a choice, I personally would go with the winter boots/shoes. We are having the same chat at my house and we are shopping on ebay for some winter mountain biking shoes.

Just my 2 cents...

I did the overboots and they did not work for me.

Ruth

[Nanci]

Winter shoes are _so_ expensive...I really wanted them last year, and I'm in Florida!

The toe warmers are great, but they only last an hour or two for me.

Nanci

[pll]

After a ride yesterday with thick socks and toe box shoe covers (which end up as a muddy mess), I have been thinking about winter boots, too. I found the following reviews helpful and concluded I would want the Gaerne Eskimo MTB boot:
http://www.trailcentral.com/communit...d.php?tid=1319

They are expensive and might be easier to find in England <sigh> at http://www.wiggle.co.uk/

If anyone has any experience with these, would love to hear about it. Same goes for tips on how to keep my hands warm.

[tattiefritter]

The UK may not get "really cold" (cold enough though) as such but it does get wet, wet feet are usually cold feet in the winter.
I wouldn't bother with toe covers/overshoes for offroad. I use Shimano MW02 winter boots, they are Gore Tex lined and keep my feet toasty warm - which is a miracle as my feet are always freezing.

They go down to quite small sizes as well. There are also Northwave Celcius boots which a few of my friends have and rate but I think they only go down to a UK 6/ EU 39. Both pairs of boots are widely available in the UK and both come in road specific versions as well.

Merlin have the Shimano ones for about £80:

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/acatalog/Shoes.html

If you can its worth trying to track some down to try on as I ended up going up a size tobe able to fit in thick socks comfortably.