Castelli Diluvio Pro Shoe Covers

Castelli's Diluvio Pro Shoe Covers are full-on winter-ready booties – warm, waterproof and with a svelte-yet-thick fit around the shoe that could only have come from input from Team Sky. They're expensive, though, and for such a high-wear product that might be an issue.

• Pros: Great performance, svelte fit
• Cons: Expensive, no added underside reinforcement

Shoe covers are an essential piece of winter cycling kit, no question. You need them to do their job, and you need them to do it well. Happily, the Diluvio Pros are brilliant performers for the cold and wet winter months, featuring a 4mm-thick neoprene fabric that is as adept at insulating your feet as it is protecting them (and your shoes) from water ingress, from road spray and rain.

> Find your nearest dealer here

Thankfully, there's also a small amount of breathability here too, because the outer layer isn't rubberised in the way wetsuit panels tend to be, for example. In mild conditions where toe warmers will do, your feet will end up soaked in their own sweat, but in temperatures dipping down to the mid-low single figures, you do get just a little welcome air circulation.

Naturally, submerging them in a river crossing (gravel riders, take note) is a no-no if you want dry feet, but I suspect you'd probably worked that out already.

The overshoes extend right up to the calf muscle, adding protection further up the leg, yet they're flexible around the ankle allowing easy freedom of movement. They fasten using a water-resistant zip (complete with neoprene guard so it doesn't rub against the leg), and have tidy openings for your cleats and heels. Fitting as closely as they do to your shoe, they also don't rub against the chainstays at the heel, or against the crank at the side.

Such a neat profile has a small downside in that the Diluvio Pros can be slightly challenging to get over your shoe if you're at the upper limit of the sizing. I wear EU46 size shoes in most cases, so the L/XL we had on test is right on that limit. The flexibility of the neoprene fabric means it's not impossible by any stretch, but it's worth bearing in mind when selecting your size. The holes for cleats and heels underneath are very well positioned, though.

If you have shoes you only use during the winter that you can leave half-covered to minimise pre-ride faff, as I do, then this isn't as big a problem as it first seems. However, if you like to remove, clean and dry your shoe covers after each and every ride, then you'll need to leave an extra few minutes before each ride so you can get them on perfectly.

You'll probably want to take care of the Diluvio Pros because they cost a fairly hefty £50, a touch pricey for shoe covers that I fear might not see a second winter, given the high wear they're inevitably exposed to.

> Buyer's Guide: 10 of the best cycling overshoes

As with all shoe covers, the undersides take a battering, and there are the early signs of wear and tear that I would expect. I have to do a small amount of walking on a gravel drive before getting on my bike for each ride, so my wear rate tends to be a touch higher than the norm. That said, the underside area – seams and main fabric – seem to be holding up well enough (despite not being reinforced with added material) that I have confidence in their ability to last this winter intact, at least.

Added features include a heel that sports a tough reflective tab for added visibility, while the Castelli branding on the upper side area is reflective too, offering some side-on attention-grabbing visibility. It's nice that the branding is subtle over the black neoprene, though, so you can wear them with any kit easily (if such things matter to you).

Even at £50, they aren't the most expensive overshoes we've tested on road.cc – Rapha's Pro Team Overshoes are another £30 and Shimano's S-Phyre Insulated shoe covers are £59.99, as are Sportful's Fiandre WS Booties – but Lusso's excellent Windtex Stealth Over Boots are £30.

There's no doubt that the Diluvio Pro shoe covers are high quality and offer excellent performance that will make them an invaluable piece of kit throughout the winter. It's a shame that the undersides don't have more reinforcement, though, as it could be that you'll have to fork out £50 each and every year, especially if you're a heavy user – and that will be too much for many.

Verdict

Expensive and possibly not the hardiest, but the Diluvio Pros are great performers