My Specialized BG Defroster MTB Boot ongoing Review

[Tharg2007]

I bought some of these and they arrived the other day. Although they are a MTB boot I have bought them for commuting this winter.

They seem like a good quality/build boot with a neoprene upper ankle seal that has a wrap around effect. Your foot kind of slips in past the neoprene and is then sealed in when you tighten the velcro around the ankle. It doesnt become overly tight though.
The inside feels quite roomy and would allow for thick socks, I wore some merino socks under neath and my feet were toasty warm, still the real test will come in deepest darkest winter.
Some light drizzle for about 5 miles this morning gave the boots a little test with no water entering the boot.

I suspect that the best way to stop water entering the boot from the top would be to have some pants that go over the outside of the upper neoprene part. Today I wore some tights without stirrups and found that the bottom part of the tights rose up out of the top of the boot slightly on one side.
I will need to invest in some waterproof tights or water resistant that go over the top part of the boot, these will need stirrup support to keep them from rising up, any suggestions?

Will update with more info when I can.

 

[New Horizon]

My own (slight) problem with these is that they don't breathe at all (as the outer is effectively plastic) so socks get moist from vapour unable to escape. Warm damp is fine, its still warm and I never got cold feet last year.

 

[GrahamG]

There's no escaping rain entering from the top - tights over the neoprene section just channels the water down. Then to make matters worse, because the boot is sealed (i.e. including the cleat fixing), water pools in the shoe. I find that if a thorough soaking is to be received then it's still best using normal shoes/overshoes or some kind of diy rubber gaitor over the ankle section to avoid this. Lighter random showers though are fine, just the prolonged downpours with water streaming down your legs that cause this!

 

[andrew_s]

some kind of diy rubber gaitor over the ankle section

Marigolds

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

i have had the shimano equivalent for 3 or 4 years. the only way to stop water entering the boot is by using waterproof over trousers for the heavy downpours. whilst it will still keep you warm, it's not nice putting on soaked boots for the journey home. because they are by their design sealed, once wet they are buggers to dry out in the depths of winter. over trousers stopped these problems for me.

 

[Tharg2007]

i was thinking of over trousers for the really heavy downpours, with lighter rain I would hope a pair of tights like the altura winter cruiser waist tights would offer some protection, these have a water repellent coating and if worn with the stirups outside the boot this would put the ancle portion of tight over the top part of the boot, I would imagine most of the water would drip down and be channeled over the pants then over the boot and off, this is the theory anyway.
Some moisture penetrating the tights and then into the boot would be inevitable in the rain but I imagine minimal. As far as torrential rain over trousers would be a must.

 

[GrahamG]

That sounds golden - I just can't do overtrousers and prefer 3/4 tights so end up with all the juggling around of kit!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

tharg, i use tights 95% of the time with them and my feet stay perfectly dry. it's just the really heavy thunderstorm type rain when i use over pants

 

[Tharg2007]

shaun, do you have your tights in or out of the shoes?
if out how do you keep the bottom of the pants from rising up? loops?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

stirrups in. just because they are uncomfy out. the seal between the neoprene and tights is tight enough (or it is on the shimano's) to keep water out from the outside. it's just that when the tights are soaked thru that the rain soaks into the boot rather than run into the boot. if you know what i mean? my tights are russo repel.

 

[Tharg2007]

well its time for an update so here goes.
After getting hold of some lusso max repel tights with stirrups I have been out in the boots on several wet occasions now and can confirm so far they are excellent. I did have one episode where the boots were soaked inside due to the tights i was wearing not having stirrups and being tucked into the boot, this meant all the water drained into the boot.
Wearing the water repellent tights over the boot seems to work without fail so far at keeping the water out, even after 30 mins in the wet the tights are feeling damp but still the boot is dry inside and the water seems to be kept from penetrating the tights and getting into the boot this way.
I would say that any tights with stirrups to keep the tops of the boots covered would do a good job of stopping a flow of water into the boot.
I am also riding with no front guard so allot of water is being thrown onto the feet and shins.
So far this combination is excellent.

 

[Dormouse]

I find that Sealskinz socks keep my feet dry when using them. However they were not warm enough to defrost my feet last winter, even with the help of wooly hiking socks and overshoes. I guess they are better suited to winters in southern California!?

 

[Tharg2007]

i could see that sealskinz socks would help if you got water between foot and boot, but if you keep the tops covered then there's no need. I also suspect a merino sock with a thick wool sock over will be plenty warm in the icy winter months, will leave an open verdict for that though

 

[MichaelM]

As a winter boot (which is how they pushed), Defrosters are terrible. Fine as a wet/mud boot, but not good for low temps. One of the most dissapointing bits of kit I've bought.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

I have the same boots as Tharg and can confirm that they are indeed very waterproof... my knowledge of this comes from the fact that my trousers are not waterproof and thus in the soaking I received on Tuesday night my trousers sponged up a good 5L of water which they then proceeded to deposit into my boots... made for a nice waterfall upon emptying them at home though!!

I now have some Waterproofing type spray to put on my trousers and will be fitting stirrup-type things to them to allow my feet chance to stay dry.

Much warmer than my usual shoes though, even when filling slowly with water!!