Sandals

[davelodwig]

I have two matching pairs of cycling shoes, so that I have a dry pair when one pair has got soaked cycling to work.

However,

I seem to destroy overshoes and waterproof socks

The drying room at work is shut due to covid.

I am resoundingly fed up of putting on wet shoes to come home.


Dear panel, should I just buy some SPD sandals and be done with it*

D.


* Honestly, this is not a pisstake, I am fed up of wet shoes that take days to dry.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Yes.

I say this even though I don't have SPD sandals. But I do have ye olde toe clippes on one bike, and on ye olde toure I will wear "walking sandals" (tautology!). Mine have a Vibram sole and I've found it plenty stiff enough. And yes, rain in, rain out. Same with wet grass, etc.

[pumpkin]

I treat overshoes as disposable and buy via ebay. Soon as you get in from the ride you need to stuff the shoes with rags or newspaper but keep away from radiators. have a second pair of shoes for the next day. hand dryers good for blowing warm air into the shoes

[fuaran]

Get some silica shoe dryers, they work much better than stuffing with newspaper.
eg https://www.drysure.co/

[davelodwig]

I treat overshoes as disposable and buy via ebay. Soon as you get in from the ride you need to stuff the shoes with rags or newspaper but keep away from radiators. have a second pair of shoes for the next day. hand dryers good for blowing warm air into the shoes

I know how to dry a pair of shoes, however...

I have two pairs of shoes, but it's no good when the overshoes, socks and shoes are still wet through at the end of the working day, it's 16 miles each way so I'm in the weather long enough for everything to get saturated, especially those Cotswold roads which turn into rivers I've already killed one motor on the e bike from drowning.

The drying room at work is closed due to plague*, and I'm not packing two pairs of shoes to cycle to work am already carrying enough crap as it is.

I've gone through about a dozen pairs of overshoes they never last very long, and no matter what I do the water eventually comes through the cleat holes in the sole of the shoe.


* which I find a space people who ride in once a week like to use as a personal wardrobe and guard space like it's their own. I moved a pair of shoes along to get mine on the drying rack and returned to find my shoes in heap in the corner (and still damp) and the pair I moved a bit back in the middle of a space you could fit two pairs in.  This did result in almost everything in the room being ejected by me into the corridor and a very shitty note being stuck to the wall.

[Oscar's dad]

Just buy some cycling sandals, just do it.  I have had mine for about 6 years and love them, I'm a bit worried about reports that the most recent Shimano sandal is way too flexy, I'm now hoping my current pair last forever, they seem to be surviving well so far.

And wear socks with them, super comfy.  It was wet yesterday evening so I wore my Sealskinz socks which work beautifully providing it isn't too wet when I have found rain runs down your leg and fills the socks up!

[Kim]

There are two and a half solutions to wet feet on the bike.  Overshoes are the half.

Get some sandals.  You won't regret owning them.  Waterproof boots may be a better solution for winter.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think Mr Charly is a big fan of sandals and waterproof socks for winter.

[Kim]

I think Mr Charly is a big fan of sandals and waterproof socks for winter.

Another solution that works better than overshoes.  In winter I prefer my boots (they get less sweaty than waterproof socks), but I've used that combination to good effect for late season touring and general hanging-about-on-campsites.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What overshoes do work for is keeping wind and light rain off. Not so good for heavy rain and they don't like being walked in, on the whole.

[Oscar's dad]

There are two and a half solutions to wet feet on the bike.  Overshoes are the half.

Get some sandals.  You won't regret owning them.  Waterproof boots may be a better solution for winter.

Couldn't agree more.  I have Shimano winter boots which I love as well. 

[Wycombewheeler]

Invest in waterproof socks,  doesn't matter if shoes are wet then.  I had to start pbp in wet shoes because of the downpour on bike check day. Sealskins socks kept my feet nice and dry as the shoes dried out on the road.
Lucky really as they were warmer than my normall socks and I hadn't anticipated 5degrees c overnight.

Or keep both pairs of shoes at work as it will be easier to dry a wet pair overnight at home, and any shoes wet at work will have 32hours to dry

[Nuncio]

Yes to sandals. I'm Ok with them until the temp dips below about 8 or 9 C, so my 'yes to sandals' does not apply to winter riding. I have had some of my most pleasant sensory experiences riding in sandals through warm puddles, taking in lungfuls of petrichor.

[Oscar's dad]

And on special occasions you can wear your sandals with over the knee stripy socks featuring individual toe pockets...

[davelodwig]

And on special occasions you can wear your sandals with over the knee stripy socks featuring individual toe pockets...

I must immediately own some of those fantastic socks!!!!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Handy for when you want to count higher than ten.

[Oscar's dad]

@davelodwig  I only bring them out on special occasions as folks go into sensory overload which I find quite exhausting to deal with   Socks with sandals is bad enough, sandals worn with multicoloured sock with toes just blows people's minds! 

Handy for when you want to count higher than ten.

Very handy for me with my grade 4 CSE maths!

[Wobbly John]

I got through to January and -2⁰C with sandals one year, for my 6 mile commute - My boss used to cycle in too, and one morning said "but your feet got wet!"  I replied "I'm not the one who will be putting wet socks and shoes on to cycle home..." 

Mine were the Lake ones with shimano soles, but the soles eventually disintgrated. I bought some identical 'New old stock' ones, and their soles disintgrated after the first ride. 

[davelodwig]

I have ordered some Shimano sandals!!!

My wife is looking a brightly coloured knee length socks on the internet.

D.

[Ashaman42]

I'm quite tempted as well. 

[bhoot]

I think Mr Charly is a big fan of sandals and waterproof socks for winter.

Me too - maybe not in the coldest depths (I have winter boots which are slightly better for that*) but certainly chilly late autumn wet days they work really well for me. The nice thing is that you can layer up the socks (so undersocks then waterproof socks) and just ease the straps enough to not squash the insulation layer.
* but until I had them the sandals were the footwear of choice, with multiple layers of socks and sometimes overshoes too!

[Mr Larrington]

Couldn’t get on with them.  Bought a pair, and pedals to go with them, did The Dean, uttered Bad Swears, flogged ' em to Thing 1.

[Oscar's dad]

I have ordered some Shimano sandals!!!

My wife is looking a brightly coloured knee length socks on the internet.

D.

You've made me very happy!  We're going to need photos 

[Legs]

I never got on with waterproof socks when I was commuting 22 miles each way across the Fens.  IME Sealskinz are poorly fitting and leak terribly.  In the end I'd go for 2 pairs of socks with a plastic bag between them, and oversized shoes, and I carried a stock of dry socks in my Monday rucksackful along with the shirts and undies.

[ElyDave]

I never got on with sealskinz either. I used to use them whilst running, but if it's that wet they just fill up with water and you get blisters.

Injinji toe socks have been superb though with no blisters even in the most extreme bogginess of fell races and ultra marathons. I use them on the bike as well, in the winter, a very thin pair under another pair of socks and winter boots.

I did not know though that you can also get stripy-knee-length versions - my wife will be pleased