Socks and overshoes
Cycling socks for every season, plus overshoes and toe covers for cold and rain. The sock stays thin, the overshoe brings the warmth: the shoe keeps its fit.
Socks should not change the fit
A fitter's tip: set up your shoes with the socks you ride in. A thick sock forces you to loosen the dial, and the foot moves around every time you accelerate. In winter, the warmth therefore has to come from the overshoe, not the sock. The Super Termico, Q36.5's warmest, weighs just 46 g in size M thanks to a PrimaLoft yarn blended with silk: thin enough for a close-fitting road shoe.
One sock per season
In summer, from 22 °C, the Ultra Long 19 weighs 30 g in size M and doesn't crease under the foot. In the mid-season, from 8 °C, the Hybrid 20 puts merino wool into the same minimalist construction: the summer fit stays right. Around 0 °C, the Super Termico insulates, but stops neither the wind nor the road spray.
Overshoes: wind first, water second
A road shoe is ventilated for summer. At 0 °C, riding at 30 km/h feels like -6.5 °C, and that air comes in through the vents. The hermetic Super Termico cover -5 to 6 °C; the zipped Termico, 0 to 10 °C. Against water, the Pluie handle downpours in any season, and the Pluie Hiver add warmth from 2 to 18 °C. Let your bib tights fall over the top, never inside: the water runs off outside, like rain on roof tiles.
When only your toes are cold
On wet roads without real rain, or with a knitted-upper shoe, the Pluie toe covers close off the front of the foot, where the spray and the wind hit, for 30 g a pair.
Frequently asked questions
How do you keep your feet warm cycling in winter?
Keep a thin, warm sock, so the fit of your shoe does not change, and add an overshoe that blocks the wind. When it freezes, a hermetic overshoe like the Super Termico.
Overshoes or toe covers?
Toe covers protect the front of the foot from spray and wind, on wet roads or in cool weather. In real rain or deep cold, you need full overshoes.
What sock height is allowed in racing?
Article 1.3.033 of the UCI regulations forbids socks rising above half the distance between the middle of the outer ankle bone and the middle of the head of the fibula.