How effective are shoe covers? this morning I had two pair of socks and at 38 degrees my toes were just a little on the chilled side. not bad, but noticeable on my half hour commute. I'd like to continue using my clipless shoes until snow flies and figure if I can buy myself 10-15 degrees worth of comfort, it would be worth it. I do switch to flats and have a pair of winter boots that I switch over to once snow hits, so I'm just wanting to keep toasty till then.

I had the same problem today, my solution? I put duct tape over the vent holes, which I copied by watching some other people do it last night. If you think about it, it is essentially the same thing.

They block the wind well enough but I've found the bottoms tend to get chewed up pretty quickly from platform pedals and walking around - they're intended for riding clipless and don't have anything like a tread - at least the ones I've used. I got a couple pairs of these last year and I liked them more than the neoprene Louis Garneau ones I'd had before.

If you want to get a feel for the effectiveness of shoe covers just put each foot in a Target bag before putting your riding shoes on. They block the wind and, for the most part, the rain.

My problem with shoe covers is that my feet are pretty big so I am at the upper limit of the largest size and I can feel how tight they are which makes them a little uncomfortable. The plastic bags don't have that problem. They are fine for a 25 mile ride but you might want something that breathes a little better for a day in the saddle.

I've a pair and was wishing I had worn them on yesterday's evening ride. With shoe covers I'm usually good down to about 20º F. YMMV.

I do the duct tape thing, but have been commuting much much more so I am looking for a more legit solution to my problem.

they are only needed for an 8 mile (one way) commute, so no real need for fancy, just looking to buy another 15-20 degrees of warmth.

I think they're pretty effective. Mine do buy me probably close to 20 degrees worth of warm feet. I ride clipless so I haven't had a problem with wear, but I can see where that would be a problem with platform pedals. Mine also have reflective material, which is nice because if I'm riding in the spring or fall in the dark, it's also probably cold enough to be wearing them.

If the temps would have been closer to 40 this morning, I would have worn them, but at nearly 50, it wasn't quite cold enough to bother.

Depends on which ones you have - and it's personal, not a general thing/

I have toe covers (neoprene jobs) that are really good to about 20 degrees, and then I put in angora insoles and wear shoe covers (my pic is in the mayors office from a 20 below night wearing them) - but this is the warmest place I have ever lived. Just depends on what your tolerance for cold is - I wear regular shoes (pretty well vented) until about 40 degrees and then add neoprene toe covers until it really gets cold. But then again, I wore shorts for years until Christmas just because.

Wear what makes/keeps you comfortable - that's all that really matters.

Coldest I rode last winter was 4 degrees. I wore Pearl Izumi barrier shoe covers. They didn't quite fit in the back with mtb shoes, but they covered the rest well and my feet didn't get cold at all.

I wore them in conjunction with under armour all condition socks which are quite thick and good to like 30 degrees anyway