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Just bought myself a pair of Vaude Moab Am's as they were coming out top of the pile from my weak googling, but is there anything else I'm missing?
As many have pointed out, the Vaude's don't have a gaiter so plenty of slosh over the top of conditions dictate, or long trousers.
So who does cater for this market? And please, no sealskinz!
I should add that I got a very good price off Amazon. With vouchers factored in.
If it's not on Amazon, it's gonna cost me a lot more.
On recommendation for here, I picked up a pair of These
Bloody good they are too, super light, really waterproof, delighted with them. Spent Sunday trail building in them too, in proper wet, manky slush, dry as a witches tit.
If you really want a wee gaiter, Montane trail running ones are great.
I don't necessarily'want' a gaiter.
I do want dry feet.
The reviews on that link weren't exactly glowing and that's about as much as I paid for the Vaude's.
Just want to be sure before I christen them.
There was a thread last week on this, have a search. Quite a few folks on here use them, folks who's opinion I'd take over amazonians tbh. But it's just a suggestion, I couldn't care less if you buy em or not. 😁
Tbh it's not really that clear what you're looking for.
I hjave had my VauDe Moabs for about 2 years now and i reckon they are probably about as good as you are going to get from the current crop. I give mine a quick spray with fabsil every now and then and can still step through streams several inches deep without getting wet feet. It really is only water running down your legs that will get them wet inside. And I even had that today with some borrowed Lake winter SPD boots which are as good as it gets, full-stop.
@Nobeerinthefridge you ride in similar surroundings to me have you found them proper waterproof
Seen some right poor reviews saying not waterproof and poor build
Was up the Kp hills the other day and 5-10’s like wet sponges and feet were baltic
Proper waterproof so far @hainman, was riding the local tracks last night in the slop, feet toasty and dry, sole seems pretty grippy on my flats too (penthouse MK4).
A bargain at 70 quid.
Nice one
Like normal for me. Size 42 like all my other boots etc. That's 1/2 size up from trainers just to allow for thicker socks.
Aye, size is pretty spot on.
Any fellow flipper feet tried the Fairbanks? Curious to know how wide they are. I usually have to massively size up to get shoes to fit.
I've just got a pair of those Fairbanks boots and they had their first ride yesterday. Paired with knee length sealskinz my feet were toasty the whole time, the only downside is that I need to switch to my better pedals as they aren't quite as grippy as a proper bike shoe and the crank bros composites that I'd nicked off MrsPs bike have got a ridge in the middle that won't help.
They’re pretty good. Not much else on the market to compete with them.
They’ll never keep all the water out as the big design flaw is the huge hole at the top where your foot goes in (same with waterproof gloves).
Anything for smaller feet? Mrs NBT needs something but is EU38 / UK4.5 and the columbia shoes only start at 6.5
I've been using these through last winter and this and have had warm and dry feet. I had to reduce the Vibram tread down a bit with a sharp knife ,but after that they've been great.
@submarined how wide are your feet? Gimme a size and I'll measure up, mine ain't exactly slim. I'm a size 10 in dress shoes, but like to size up a size in my 5 tens, these were the same, 11 perfect with a bit of width to keep feet warm too.
Same with running shoes, always go 11, for ultras even up to a 12.
S/H German paraboots
I'm 10.5 in Fairbanks, 11 in Freeriders. If that helps.
Like my Fairbanks. Cosy. Work well with V12s.
I recently bought the Vaude Moab AM STX boots from amazon, they're proper waterproof, as in as long as water doesnt come in down your ankle feet stay dry. The sole is fairly grippy on flat pedals, but not quite as good as my five ten free riders, but they are grippy enough.
All in they're pretty decent.
ta for the recommend. Got some Columbia Men's Fairbanks Omni-Heat Winter Boot arrived from amazon today - super light and on first go seem comfy.
used amazon wardrobe to get UK 11 and 12 - went with the 12 (says EU46 btw)
Not my shout tbh, @scotroutes and @ton have been beating the drum for ages now, I just listened!.
Do you not do the research before you purchase? Have I been getting it wrong all this time?
Lol, I did think that too Grum!
Not my shout tbh, @scotroutes and @ton have been beating the drum for ages now, I just listened!
Ok ta to them chaps then! 🙂
just seen this.
the fairbanks are great. got some new ones for Xmas.
i have a good condition pair to sell cheap if anyone wants to try some. size 12.
As many have pointed out, the Vaude’s don’t have a gaiter so plenty of slosh over the top of conditions dictate, or long trousers.
buy a pair of these, cut them up, make your own gaiter.
https://www.lomo.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000088.pl?WD=socks%20latex&PN=dry%2Dsocks%2Ehtml#SID=28
I tried an overshoe type thing with a pair, with a cut out in the sole, but the toe flipped off the sole as soon as I made a couple of steps off the bike. I'll take the scissors to them again next time I'm planning a long wet ride (god knows when that might be!) Cut them down a bit and add a clip at the front so they cover the laces
just seen this.
the fairbanks are great. got some new ones for Xmas.i have a good condition pair to sell cheap if anyone wants to try some. size 12.
@ton I'll give 'em a go if no-one else has taken you up please. Been thinking I must look for something like this for a while (wish I'd done it before winter TBH). How much do you want for them?
@ton I’ll give ’em a go if no-one else has taken you up please. Been thinking I must look for something like this for a while (wish I’d done it before winter TBH). How much do you want for them?
Posted 6 minutes ago
£20 delivered mate, with some superfeet insoles.
email me please thoss20@hotmail.co.uk
i think keeping feet dry and warm in certain winter conditions is a pipedream and no footwear exists.
I've found adi terrex tivid boots (gussetted tongue) with long MT500 burner trousers over the top can be good, unless your tracks are like river beds, which many of mine tend to be..
changing riding to a slower pace, avoiding the worse bits, avoiding boggy woods and open moorland
all help keep feet warm and dry. shorter rides.
but sometimes you just have to accept frozen wet feet and plan accordingly.
Nobeerinthefridge
Free Member
@ton hope you’re keeping well fella, nice to see you pop in. 😁
all well and good Greg. hope you are too.
just doing more riding than surfing on here mate.
Grand, sounds perfect big yin. 😄
Last weekend my feet were cold in FiveTen EPS shoes and Sealskinz socks.
Today they were effing baltic in Merrell walking boots and Brasher socks. Grip wasn't too confidence inspiring.
How warm are the Fairbanks and how well do they grip the pedals compared to FiveTens?
They're toasty, but I've not ridden more than 2 hrs in them yet.
Not as good as 5tens on the pedals, but nothing is.
Actually, never mind, they're now £105...
I had mine on today for 3 hours or so. Air temp was -3C but there was a very cold wind too. Toes were toasty.
Of course, that's often the case anyway when it's so cold that your feet stay dry. It's wet cold that's the real bummer.
Bought a pair of the battery operated heres socks from Amazon
Had them
On last weekend and it was baltic,kept the piggies warm,but ran on full power and out for 4 hours and last hour I felt feet get colder as the end of the ride turned in
Today I ran in 100% for 20 minor so before I left the house to get heat going
Out for four hours and they last the ride
With dropping down a power level
So far so good with sealskinz over them to keep dry
Finally gave the Fairbanks a proper wet test in the snowmelt/slush earlier this week. I was also wearing waterproof socks and woolie boolies, so it's not all the shoe, but, they were absolutely ace. It was that sort of deep slush that constantly gets chucked up off the front wheel so frame, feet, even my trouser legs were covered in ice, and basically as wet as if they were being hosed down. They did wet completely through after a while, though no doubt a lot of that came in the top (my riding trousers are too short!). But my feet stayed pretty much dry with the dexshell/shoe combo and never felt wet, and more importantly, stayed comfy and warm despite the wet.
Still not perfect but I'm very impressed, need some longer wet rides to really be 100% about them but I'm pretty comfortable that they're going to end up my favourite winter shoe, and possibly by quite a lot. Only real downside is that once wet, they take some drying- I thought they were going to stay too wet to want to wear them the next day but with shoe dryers at full blast and in front of a hot radiator they were almost perfectly dry. My Guide Tennies wouldn't have done that I don't think.
I think it could be very pedal dependent- I can't fault the grip or feel at all, in fact I've had worse "proper riding shoes". It's in the "less than a Stealth sole, but more than enough" camp. But I think quite a bit of it is from the tread pattern working well on the pedal spikes rather than the rubber and that's always a bit dicier. (My pedals are pretty standard Nukeproof Horizon Comps)
Main downfall was the madison riding trousers tbh, which are built for fat people with short legs! With them covering the boot tops I'd have been drier and warmer, or at least dry for longer.
I use some 2.5mm neoprene wetsuit socks. No more cold feet. Plus they are cheap. A tight cuff on my trousers to stop any flush through and I’m ok all day.