Northwave Raptor GTX Boots - Smell?

[AlanW]

This is the second pair of Northwave winter boots I've had and I 100% love, warm and dry ideal for the cold wet winter road rides. I had my first pair about three years ago and decided to upgrade them recently to the newer designed version with the Neoprene ankles.

A little bit fiddly to get on for the first few times till you figure out the best approach, but overall really pleased with them, but.......after just a few miles, okay quite a few very wet miles, they have started to smell of cats pee??? I hose them down after every wet/dirty ride and usually when washing my bike I'll give them a good going over with the sponge and or a brush plus copious amounts of soapy water, and still they smell??

I cannot figure out which bit of the boot is smelling and I've never suffered with smelling cycling shoes before. I can only think that its the neoprene that is giving of some sort of cat pee smell, but I have never had any sort of smell from my neoprene wet suit, neoprene boots and neoprene gloves before?

Any ideas or anyone else noticed this with these boots?

 

[Mo1959]

This is the second pair of Northwave winter boots I've had and I 100% love, warm and dry ideal for the cold wet winter road rides. I had my first pair about three years ago and decided to upgrade them recently to the newer designed version with the Neoprene ankles.

A little bit fiddly to get on for the first few times till you figure out the best approach, but overall really pleased with them, but.......after just a few miles, okay quite a few very wet miles, they have started to smell of cats pee??? I hose them down after every wet/dirty ride and usually when washing my bike I'll give them a good going over with the sponge and or a brush plus copious amounts of soapy water, and still they smell??

I cannot figure out which bit of the boot is smelling and I've never suffered with smelling cycling shoes before. I can only think that its the neoprene that is giving of some sort of cat pee smell, but I have never had any sort of smell from my neoprene wet suit, neoprene boots and neoprene gloves before?

Any ideas or anyone else noticed this with these boots?

I don't think it is the neoprene. I have some pairs of running shoes that do this as well so not sure what part of the shoe causes it, but it bleeding stinks!

 

[fossyant]

It's partly the neoprene - I can get this with my Shimano Winter boots. I use Detol anti-bac spray, and get them dried out as quickly as you can - leaving them damp causes the smell. My summer shoes will also do it if not dried out properly.

Any shoes that get regularly wet will stink. The boots stay pretty dry, but when hosing off the mud, the cuffs get damp. This causes the smell - and also very wet day's.

I was tempted with shoe dryers, but so far I've either used a heated 'clothes airer' in the garage, or popped them in the airing cupboard where it's very toasty (I have a hot water tank). People do seem to swear by the boot dryers.

 

[Joffey]

Surprised the first question wasn't: Do you have a cat?

 

[AlanW]

Surprised the first question wasn't: Do you have a cat?

Funny enough, but yes we do now, but we hadnt before the smell started. All my cycling shoes are kept in the garage and the cat is never in there, well certainly not long enough to pee in my boots at least!

 

[AlanW]

It's partly the neoprene - I can get this with my Shimano Winter boots. I use Detol anti-bac spray, and get them dried out as quickly as you can - leaving them damp causes the smell. My summer shoes will also do it if not dried out properly.

Any shoes that get regularly wet will stink. The boots stay pretty dry, but when hosing off the mud, the cuffs get damp. This causes the smell - and also very wet day's.

I made the huge mistake of putting them in the airing cupboard the other week, much to the disgust of all the family as it filled the landing with a lovely aroma of cats pee. At that point the focus of attention was placed fair and square on the new kitten we have just had, so the search was on the see if the kitten had pee'ed in a corner somewhere?

Over the last few weeks nearly every ride has either been a wet ride or at some point I've had to ride through fairly deep flooded roads, plus me washing them as well, I dont suppose the neoprene has fully dried out? Looks like I need to rethink my cleaning/drying regime and also invest in a bottle of Detol antibacterial spray...and quick!

My wife has been moaning for weeks but Ive dismissed her comments but it came to a head yesterday morning at work when my manager walked into my office, stopped and sniffed and said "can I smell cats piss in here?".

Of course being a fine upstanding person that I am, I didn't fess up and said I thought it might be mice. But then to make matters worse he and the office administrator then proceeded to walk around the office both sniffing and then he stopped adjacent to my boots and said its certainly worse in this corner? I said that I would get the pest control people in to check it out.....

 

[Mo1959]

Could it be the glue or something? As I said above, I have certain pairs of running shoes that do this and they don’t have any neoprene in them.

 

[Smudge]

Many years ago i had a pair of Nike trainers that were like this. I kept washing them, using odour eaters etc and within days this cats pee smell would come back. In the end i binned them.
Then a few months later there was an article on Watchdog about them and Nike were refunding them.
If a combination of materials used and the way they are made causes this, then i doubt you will ever fix it and either have to replace them or put up with it.

 

[Mo1959]

Many years ago i had a pair of Nike trainers that were like this. I kept washing them, using odour eaters etc and within days this cats pee smell would come back. In the end i binned them.
Then a few months later there was an article on Watchdog about them and Nike were refunding them.
If a combination of materials used and the way they are made causes this, then i doubt you will ever fix it and either have to replace them or put up with it.

Yep. Definitely something different depending on manufacturer. My adidas shoes smell yet the Brooks trail shoes that get wetter, don’t.

 

[Spiderweb]

Google Nike and Cat Pee, they’ve had lots of complaints too.
I have Northwave winter boots with the neoprene cuff and they don’t smell at all.

 

[Heigue'r]

I think if you google for the northeave boots and a smell also,it is pretty well documented,I was thinking of getting a pair but held fire after doing some research,ie reading a few posts which describe the problem you are having.

 

[I like Skol]

Many years ago i had a pair of Nike trainers that were like this. I kept washing them, using odour eaters etc and within days this cats pee smell would come back. In the end i binned them.
Then a few months later there was an article on Watchdog about them and Nike were refunding them.
If a combination of materials used and the way they are made causes this, then i doubt you will ever fix it and either have to replace them or put up with it.

THIS^^^^
It is all down to the materials/glue etc used during manufacture. As my kids grew up they got through quite a few pairs of trainers and occasionally a pair would smell awfully of cat pee (we don't have a cat!) after being damp.
In my book this should be a refund condition, but we never did as thankfully they grew so fast that the problem never persisted for more than a few months

 

[fossyant]

Get them dry asap.

Mine are OK unless having been on a few very wet swampy off road rides one after the other. I had an issue with smell earlier in the year after repeated wet rides and slow drying. Anti bac and chucked in the washer worked. We have 5 cats, so are sensitive to the smell, and the shoes stunk out the downstairs loo when they were on the radiator.

I find my garage isn't bad for drying, but you need some air flow. Some of the boot dryers have been getting good reviews from forum members on Singletrack World.

I use my boots when it's muddy and damp, so they get loads of use (certainly this year). Last year was much dryer.

Also, top tip - buy some dry suit wrist seals - they are just rubber covers - cut a little off the narrow part, and pull them onto your ankle before putting the boots on, then pull down over the top of the neoprene. they increase the waterproof-ness even more. PS don't get dry suit ankle seals - they look way too big. Cost is about £5.

 

[AlanW]

I think if you google for the northeave boots and a smell also,it is pretty well documented,I was thinking of getting a pair but held fire after doing some research,ie reading a few posts which describe the problem you are having.

Thats interesting as I did a search and didn't find anything, maybe try another search criteria

 

[Heigue'r]

Thats interesting as I did a search and didn't find anything, maybe try another search criteria

TBH I dont't recall where I read it,possibly another forum or possibly in the review sections of various retailers but I have read about a problem with them smelling and it was enough to put me off