cold feet! Recommendations?

[randonneur]

I've tried all the shoe covers and socks and the rest, and in the end there is only one thing that works:  properly designed gore-tex winter cycling shoes.

Sidi, Shimano, Northwave, Lake, etc all make nice winter cycling shoes -- go ahead and spend the money. They cost too much, but i put them off too long and can't live without them anymore.

[Tourista829]

On the real snowy days, when you don't want to run with studded tires, (people do) do you have a trainer that you could hook your bike up to? Although boring, at least you could keep up your training. I think Surly makes a bike frame, called the Pugsley, that you could put on 4" tires. I hear it is a blast in the snow, providing you can keep your feet warm:) 

[dwnptrl_777]

Just finished my Pugsley this week and ran it through some powdery trails yesterday. And I used a very old pair of Neos overboots with two pairs of wool socks for the ride pictured here. It worked. For about an hour.

On the way home, I stopped by a local bike shop and tried on the Pearl Izumi Barrier GTX. They felt fantastic—but ran small on the sizes. Would love to own a pair of these shoes.

[johnsondasw]

I've tried all the shoe covers and socks and the rest, and in the end there is only one thing that works:  properly designed gore-tex winter cycling shoes.

OK, I think you may be right.  I've tried all the other options, and thought I had it figured out with the chemical warmers. However, on a ride over about an hour, they seem to stop working, probably due to lack of air getting in there.  I noticed when I stopped for lunch and took them out, they were cold again, but then when exposed to the air, heated back up. 

Now that it's almost spring, I'll just tough it out and put off buying the winter boots until next fall.  But that's my plan for future winters.

[dunedigger]

Heat up your feet before putting on the boots and going out, get the blood flowing into them. I used to work in freezing temps and that always worked for me. Use the real wool socks, not the blends. Blends never keep me warm. They may be itchy, but its worth it.