Northwave Extreme Road Winter GTX boots

Northwave's Extreme Winter GTX boots are as good as winter cycling shoes get, keeping your feet warm and relatively dry, as long as you understand the limitations of the very idea of 'waterproof cycling shoes'.

For me, the most important function of winter shoes is to keep my feet warm. After all, it's cold for several months but doesn't actually rain constantly, even though it sometimes feels that way. I'm also fortunate to live in Cambridge, which is one of the driest cities in the UK. You may feel differently if you live in Cardiff or Glasgow.

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The Northwave Extreme Winters do a good job of keeping out the cold. I've finished three-hour rides with my feet still comfortable, and in winter that's as long as I want to be out, thanks.

They're not quite as good at keeping your feet dry. I rode for two hours on two consecutive days, the first wet, the second dry, with temperatures down in the low single figures. My socks were slightly damp from sweat on the dry ride, but distinctly wet on the rainy day. That left my toes colder on the wet day, though not by enough to be intolerable.

I minimised the chance of water getting in the top of the shoes by using Pearl Izumi Amfib tights, which have a softshell section at the ankle that reaches over the top of the shoes to keep water out. (A criticism often levelled at winter cycling shoes is that they're pointless because water runs down your tights and gets in the top; the Amfibs fix this.)

The wet was evenly distributed around my socks and the lining of the shoe, so I don't think it was getting in the top. Either water was seeping through the shoe or, and I think this is more likely, I banged up against a fundamental limitation of the shoe's Gore-Tex lining: it's far less efficient at letting out water vapour when the outside is actually wet.

This is what I meant earlier about understanding the limitations of waterproof shoes. Waterproof, breathable materials can only do so much; they're not miraculous.

Nevertheless, I've used lots of different waterproof shoes over the years, mostly because I never seem to be able to find both of any given pair of overshoes. Well, that and I hate cold feet enough that I wear shoes in the winter that are a bit bigger than in summer to make room for thicker socks. If you're going to do that, you might as well have shoes that provide some weather protection too.

I used the Extreme Winter shoes with Rapha winter socks, which are quite a bit bulkier than summer socks, so I went up a size. That also left room for circulation-enhancing toe wiggles, which I find help fend off frozen toes.

Features and construction

Northwave seems to have gone all-out to make the Extreme Winters the best winter road shoes it can produce. Essentially they're an updated, road-going version of the Northwave Extreme GTX mountain bike shoes David Else tested a while ago.

Let's take a look at the details, starting at the bottom.

The sole is a carbon fibre and fibreglass unit that Northwave says has a stiffness rating of 10, on a scale that goes up to at least the 15 rating of the Northwave RR shoes and thus deprives me of the chance to go for a Spinal Tap gag.

Whatever '10' means, the sole is plenty stiff enough, and supportive. It's drilled for three-hole cleats but you can't use Northwave's adapter for Speedplay cleats with these shoes. That's a bit annoying as the Speedplay adapter works with most other high-end Northwave shoes.

There's a Gore-Tex footbed between the sole and a nicely-shaped, firm insole. Then we get to the main protection from the weather, the Gore-Tex Sierra membrane, which incorporates insulation in its structure to keep you warm as well as dry.

Northwave calls the upper Double Shield Construction (DSC) as it incorporates features of a regular shoe and an overshoe. There's an inner shoe made from a softshell-style material, with a raised cuff, and around that a more conventional-looking mesh and synthetic leather outer casing. A pair of dial closures pulls the whole lot together around your foot, and there are overlapping flaps at the top of the ankle to keep the weather out, with Velcro closures.

The whole ensemble is very comfortable. Your feet are cushioned in every direction; the feel is more like wearing a lightweight speed-hiking boot than a cycling shoe.

That's helped by the Boa-style dial closures. Northwave calls its version of the idea S.L.W. 2 (Speed Lace Winch) and the pair makes for easy and quick fine-tuning of the tension over the top of the foot.

> How to keep your feet warm while riding in winter

I like dial closures in general, but I think they're doubly valuable in a winter shoe because you want to be able to get the tension exactly right so as to restrict your circulation as little as possible. If you need to loosen them while riding, there's a button on the dial that releases the ratchet one click at a time. That's different from the Boas on the previous Extreme Winters, and it's a small but handy improvement.

Construction is very good overall and there are plenty of thoughtful touches, such as replaceable heel pieces to protect the sole, and rubberised uppers around the toes. However, the tip of the left sole is showing signs of wear from being touched down, so it'll be getting a few blobs of Shoe Goo shortly.

Verdict

Very good shoes for fending off winter's cold and wet