Cold feet are not something I have ever really suffered from - at least, not unless they were soaking wet. So I've been cycling offroad year-round in a pair of lightweight summer cycling shoes for a quite some time. The uppers are largely mesh, so they do tend to fill with water/mud fairly frequently in winter riding. Usually, on the wetsuit principle, the water/mud warms up and after the initial unpleasantness my feet are OK again, but when it is really cold this doesn't always work, and does tend to provoke some protest from the kind person who washes my socks. So when I found myself in the Specialized Concept Store and saw a pair of Defrosters I thought I'd give them a try.
I bought a pair of size 44 rather than my usual 43, and I despite going up a size I can't fit my feet in with anything but my thinnest socks on as they are too narrow. Despite that , my feet have been extremely warm on all of my recent rides. Of course, as soon as I bought them the rains stopped and the trails got dryer than I've ever seen them at this time of year, but today in the rain, mud and severe winds they got a proper test and passed with flying colours. It was very comforting to have such warm, dry feet in such inclement conditions.
These are my third pair of Specialized shoes, but the first for a few years and the first that I have found to be too narrow. Perhaps they now use a different last?
Apart from the width issue, the only other issue I have with them is that clearance for Crank Brothers pedals is pretty marginal - you need to fit the shims provided with the cleats, and even then clipping in is not as easy as it should be.
There really isn't much choice in the winter mtb shoe market, and finding a shop with anything in stock seems to be a major challenge. In fact, I think this was the first time I had found any winter show in stock in my size, so I didn't really get much choice. So overall, I guess I'd give them a 6 out of 10.
