Winter Riding Footwear

So since switching to flat pedals on all my bikes this past year I am noticing a complete lack of any proper winter shoes for this application…. I found these from Five Ten (Guide Tennie GTX mid) that are actually waterproof approach shoes with what looks like a decent sole for mtb… ordered a pair to give them a try on the not too crazy cold days here in the Koots this winter. For really cold days I am going to have to make due with a more traditional winter style boot…

Good find for the flat pedal guys.

Back in the play ground to keep our feet dry when playing foot hockey we just took plastic bags and wore in them in our shoes. Ive carried this with to to this day when winter riding. Works the trick and your saving one last plastic bag from the landfill ;-) If you can find a bright enough bag you call call it enduro and no one would know the better.

So since switching to flat pedals on all my bikes this past year I am noticing a complete lack of any proper winter shoes for this application…. I found these from Five Ten (Guide Tennie GTX mid) that are actually waterproof approach shoes with what looks like a decent sole for mtb… ordered a pair to give them a try on the not too crazy cold days here in the Koots this winter. For really cold days I am going to have to make due with a more traditional winter style boot…

Just a quick review after one ride on these…. initial impressions:

OUT OF THE BOX: These things are crazy light…. 530grams per shoe for a size 12 is impressive… for comparison my Five Ten Freerider VXi's are 460g per shoe. This is a plus for the weight weenies out there.

FIT: fairly true to size… I am a 12US/46EU in other Five Ten shoes and these fit quite well. Maybe a touch bit narrower than their bike shoe line as they are meant for hiking but all in all they fit my wide feet nicely even with a winter weight sock. These are Goretex lined but they don't have a dedicated winter liner.

ON THE BIKE: Tested with HT AE01 pedals on my fat bike… conditions were -5 Celsius with dry compact snow, ice, and a few shallow stream crossings. For the most part the ride was completely normal.. grip with the Stealth C4 rubber is slightly reduced over the Mi6 (or whatever its called) on some of the MTB shoes, but as these are meant for hiking I can understand that. Re-positioning my feet on the pedals was relatively straightforward but the grip was still excellent. My feet stayed completely dry and relatively warm… I probably wouldn't go much below -5 Celsius however due to the lack of a liner.

OFF THE BIKE: On rock/dirt, traction is excellent. On snow/ice you can fahgettaboutitt…better off strapping banana peels to your loafers… once again these are not meant for interior winter riding conditions per se. If you have any off the bike snow/ice scrambling to do as I did you will be frustrated with the lack of traction. For fat bikers a dedicated low cut winter sport boot would probably be more effective.

OVERALL: For the right conditions, such as wet transition season rides in the interior these could be the ticket. I would think though that on the coast these would make a perfect all-winter riding shoe as long as you are not walking on snow and ice…

pretty cool. looks like a great option for flats riders thanks for the review. if you don't mind, where in the interior are you located?

pretty cool. looks like a great option for flats riders thanks for the review. if you don't mind, where in the interior are you located?

Nelson/Castlegar area…

looks like they may be a perfect winter shoe for us on the coast where we get more rain than snow and extreme cold .

looks like they may be a perfect winter shoe for us on the coast where we get more rain than snow and extreme cold .

Agreed.

looks like they may be a perfect winter shoe for us on the coast where we get more rain than snow and extreme cold .

A second update on these as I just put them through what would be equivalent to a "VERY" wet west coast ride. The rain in the interior has kept some of my local valley trails open and today I set out to test these shoes. They spent 1.5+ hours basically being fully splashed through puddles and creeks and I intentionally fully immersed them in any standing water when I had to do a hike-a-bike section. The shoes absolutely shrug off water and stayed dry to the end. I will also add they are extremely well-mannered on the pedals… the sole is thin and has reasonable stiffness and pedal feedback so that you feel like you aren't sacrificing anything to regular five tens made for mtb. The best part is I got home and hosed them off and they are ready to go for the next ride!!

So….I just ride with 5.10 Freerider in spring/summer/warm autumn on flats but use spds on my commuter/hybrid.

I would love to go riding outside now and am looking at shoes for winter riding, spds. Temperature between +3 down to -9ish.

My search has been narrowed to Giro Alpineduro and Shimanos newest winter offering.

Now…the reviews are good/great with both, but Giro seems to be narrower than usual.

Shimano should be up at least one full size as well.

I currently have size 9.5 in my freeriders and plan to wear wool socks as well so I guess I should order accordingly.

I would greatly appreciate any input/review/long term experience on either the Giro or Shimano MW7.

I switched to the Shimano AM7 and after some very wet rides earlier in the season they proved to me that they are a very functional shoe in the wet and muck . The flap over the laces does a great job of keeping the majority of the water and muck out , not fully water proof but when compared to the 5/10,s I had before a huge improvement .

Anyone here tried the Shimano MW7 shoe yet?

Yes picked up a set BNIB private sale. First ever dedicated winter shoe. Put it to test this winter with the 6 week deep freeze (couple of Galby snow rides -7 to -10 with many ankle deep snow pushes) . I wonder why I never invested in these sooner. Lots of traction when walking/hiking due to great rubber and sole design. Fairly stiff (not a race shoe obviously). Size 44 has roomy toebox so my toes have never gotten cold. Works well with a thin merino sock. Have kept feet warm and dry on MTB and cx/gravel (so glad I don't need to wear booties anymore) on rainy muddy rides after the thaw too. Highly recommend this shoe from mid-October to March riding

Yes picked up a set BNIB private sale. First ever dedicated winter shoe. Put it to test this winter with the 6 week deep freeze (couple of Galby snow rides -7 to -10 with many ankle deep snow pushes) . I wonder why I never invested in these sooner. Lots of traction when walking/hiking due to great rubber and sole design. Fairly stiff (not a race shoe obviously). Size 44 has roomy toebox so my toes have never gotten cold. Works well with a thin merino sock. Have kept feet warm and dry on MTB and cx/gravel (so glad I don't need to wear booties anymore) on rainy muddy rides after the thaw too. Highly recommend this shoe from mid-October to March riding

Thanks. This is greatly appreciated, since I have a case of cabin fever and really want to go riding. Only thing missing are proper shoes up to the task. Guess I am really in the need for a dedicated winter shoe.

Do you wear 5.10 as well? Just asking because of the proper size. I got them in 9.5.

This might seem like an odd suggestion but Ive ridden a few times in these babies over the winter: http://nativeshoes.com/ca/adult-boots/jimmy-winter-jiffy-black-solid-plaid (the name is just coincidental)

They are lighter than pretty much any other shoe and stick to flats incredibly well not to mention totally waterproof. I even modeled them for some of the nsmb boys during parking lot beers last sat on Seymour.

They looked sweet right guys??! lol

Thanks. This is greatly appreciated, since I have a case of cabin fever and really want to go riding. Only thing missing are proper shoes up to the task. Guess I am really in the need for a dedicated winter shoe.

Do you wear 5.10 as well? Just asking because of the proper size. I got them in 9.5.

Yes and my 5.10 are 10.5