SHIMANO Premium Off-Road Cold/Wet Weather Shoe SH-MW81 Black

It took me forever to decide on a pair of shoes for winter mountain biking. After much indecision I decided when in doubt go with Shimano and boy am I glad I did. I wear a size 11 boot, shoe and sneaker. I purchased the SH-MW81 in size 46. The fit was perfect with ample room for layers of socks. Now keep in mind this shoe is just one part of a system to keep your feet warm and dry in the cold. First thing I do is spray my feet with antiperspirant. Most folks think their feet are cold because somehow they got wet in their shoes and boots. Fact of the matter is the moisture and wet socks is usually sweat. Antiperspirant solves this. Next piece is Merino wool socks. Here's the thing with that. All Merino wool socks are not created equal. Thickness is also not a true indicator. Merino wool socks have other stuff woven in them such as nylon and spandex. I have all different kinds and brands of Merino wool socks but by far my favorite are from Rapha. There about as thick or slightly thicker the my Pear izumi's. I use the Rapha as the base layer. I also use them as my day to day socks in the cold. I will layer them with other socks when it gets in the low 30's and below. Anyhow back to shoe. The SH-MW81 allow me to layer my socks and end up with a good fit and a warm foot. The booty at the top of the shoe works excellent. An unexpected benefit of these shoes was their traction when on foot. The lugs are deep and you do not really feel like you are walking on a cleat. They will track 10 pounds of mud into your house. I experienced one ride that had a lot of standing mud over ice. I did not get wet feet from the cleat attachment and holes in the sole. Keeping an eye on that though as that's where other shoes have failed me.Here's my bottom line. They fit well. My feet are comfortably warm with proper preparations. They are not toasty. I don't want toasty because that leads to sweat and cold feet. The booty seals up nice with my tights. No cold or snow gets in. Great traction on foot and a good stiff sole when peddling. I could not be more pleased. If you need something warmer than this because you mountain bike in Antartica you need the Wölvhammer from 45NRTH

So in the Seattle area it rains in the fall, and in the winter, and in the spring...usually not in the summer (at least not much). Living in Seattle (all year) I didn't feel like giving up my riding for a majority of the year so I tried a few things.The first thing I tried was the shoe covers. Wearing size EU 48 shoes, most shoe covers just don't fit, or barely do. I was able to get the Pearl Izumi Elite Barrier MtB shoe covers at size XXL and they fit, though just barely. And they worked, mostly. However, riding about 3 times a week I didn't want to bother putting them on 3 times a week for the next several months. So I decided to throw down and buy a shoe that was warmer (i.e. not mainly mesh) and more water resistant (again, i.e. not mainly mesh).So far I've been pretty happy with these. They fit nicely, they kept my feet warm during a 40 F ride, but I haven't had the rain ride pleasure yet (it's been oddly dry this November after such a soaking October and 2014, we were about 13+ inches over average for the year before November).The tread is a bit to the extreme on the high side, so I wouldn't want to walk around a lot in these like I can in Pearl Izumi X-Alps. However, so far so good, I'll update if warranted about how well they perform in the water resistance category, but I suspect on a really rainy day my feet are just going to get wet and I just need to suck it up (so to speak). Oh, I put in the 56 cleats no problem and they work as expected with my A530 SPD pedals.

I ride my bike for recreation and also to work. I live in NJ and we have a nice spread of weather. The winters here can be cold and snowy. I needed a bike shoe for my clipless pedals that could lock in, and to still be warm. Before buying these shoes I used my summer shoe with neoprene covers. This was good down to the 30 degree area. But when the weather got colder this just did not cut it.So I saw these for sale. They were cheaper than some of the other winter shoes and had some good reviews. So far they do not disappoint. I have worn them in 20-30 degree weather and they have done their job. I use an Under Armour Cold Gear sock with them and they keep my toes warm. They also keep them dry. I have worn them in a cold rain and in snow and they have always worked.It is too soon to say how they will hold up. The weakest part on them is the upper part that wraps around your ankle. It velcros closed. This seems like it could rip in the future.Overall I like them and if they hold up for several years I will buy them again.One big flaw though is that when walking on them they are very slippery! They do not offer much traction on tile floors. They offer no traction at all when walking on ice! Beware!