THROUGH THE GRINDER
Some proper winter finally arrived in the north for us, which has helped reinvigorate our slightly damp souls and pushed us on with another couple of months of product testing in the hills. So, move aside and let’s see what’s in the bottom of the rather gritty box…
VAUDE TARON SYMPATEX MID AM BOOTS
Price: £180.00 // From: Vaude, vaude.com
Tested: Four months
Your understanding of ‘winter’ will vary depending on whether you live and ride in Cornwall, Cumbria or Colorado. These Vaude boots, though, will do a pretty good job of suiting most of the conditions that British riders come across over the darker months.
For a start, they’re lined with waterproof and breathable Sympatex, there’s a bellows tongue to let you step in man-size puddles and a neoprene Achilles cuff to keep out splashes and gravel while riding or hike-a-biking.
Your foot is kept in place by laces, reinforced with a Velcro strap at the toe and a ratchet strap over the mid-foot. I found the boots came up actual size – in that I sized up as I usually do for a winter boot, but found them very roomy and needing proper winter socks. So if you want to still wear a sports sock, keep to your true size. Talking of which, they come in a wide range of sizes from 37–47.
The boot is pretty low-key in style, with a lightweight walking boot look to it.The supporting ratchet strap is sewn in, but the buckle and the plastic zip strap are replaceable. The Vibram sole claims to be self-cleaning and the widely spaced lugs back up this promise, while still offering good grip on rocks and loamy forest tracks. There’s extra toe-box protection as well as some EVA cushioning under the heels. A heel strap helps you pull the boots on, though the Neoprene cuff makes this a bit redundant as you need to wrestle that out of the way first anyway.
Don’t be expecting fleece lining and velour cuffs; these boots are pretty minimal inside and the walls of the boots are thin enough to confirm that they’re unlined. Look on them as a high-top three-season shoe, rather than a proper mid-winter boot.
In use, the boots take a while to break in and reshape to welcome your feet. However, once on, they’re pretty invisible underfoot. They’re as happy going for a wet winter day out as doing an on/off ride to work. While no boot can be truly waterproof when there’s that jumbo hole in the top to let your foot in, the Tarons do a great job of keeping as much moisture out as possible. The lace and strap closure makes it easy to fine-tune the fit in a pleasingly precise way. The laces are flat and didn’t undo until my chilled hands asked them to. The strap buckle has a decent amount of throw to it and doesn’t seem to grit up as much as some other finer buckles can.
Overall: A well-made, solid and waterproof (as much as you can) boot that’ll work for everything but mid-summer and mid-winter conditions. And it’ll even do mid-winter if you’re warm footed and suitably socked.
Chipps
HOWIES BIB TIGHTS
Price: £69.00 // From: Howies, howies.co.uk
Tested: Four months
When the temperature drops after a typical couple of weeks of summertime sunshine, bib tights are a musthave garment in my cycling wardrobe – they are a great most-seasons option which work well as a stand-alone item or as part of layering. In the UK, it seems that more often than not there is a chill in the air. If I’m not sporting kneepads and the sun isn’t blazing, I’ll wear three-quarters or bib tights, cosset my cockles, look after my knees and help keep the synovial fluid, fluid. Ah, the luxury!
These are without pad, intended to be matched underneath with your favourite pair of padded shorts so they are good for day after day use at your discretion.
Despite having a narrow range of sizing options with S/M and L/XL offered, the cut is right and the secondskin circular knit construction has great feel and a soft stretch. Because of the way the fabric is made, the bib tights are created from the minimum number of pieces of fabric and feature a low seam count. Fit is tailored with contoured panels of varying weave connected together with flatlock stitching on the seams that are present adding to comfort by going unnoticed. You feel like you are getting a gentle hug from the tights with no hot-spot grip or tightness anywhere. The matte finish material is something of a Goldilocks thickness – not super-thin, nor shagpile thick like some insulated tights and, as such, works well for layering and for a range of temperatures.
Small details are considered. You get small reflective tabs stitched at the back of each leg for low light awareness, these are placed low down just above each ankle. A small stash ’n’ stow pocket also features – sneaked into a bib strap – and it’s big enough for a key, a few coins, a note – that sort of thing.