You don’t have to hang up your bike when cold weather comes if you wear the right jacket, gloves and footwear. Several companies offer excellent shoe covers for cyclists, but the one I would recommend for temperatures from 25 to 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) is the Planet Bike Comet Shoe Cover.

Planet Bike Comet Full Neoprene Shoe Covers

Planet Bike Comet Shoe Covers are made of neoprene and offer great wind and water resistance. Neoprene is the same material used in wetsuits and not only is it waterproof, but it offers excellent insulation. I’ve spent several hours riding with these shoe covers in both snow and rain and not a drop of water has soaked through this material.

These covers will fit almost any cleat/pedal platform you can throw at it. I’ve used these covers on my MTB shoes with Crank Brothers Egg Beater cleats and on my road shoes with Look Keo cleats. The bottom of these covers is made of a very rugged material, so you don’t have to worry if you run into a convenience store while out on a long ride. In the winter my MTB shoes have toe spikes and there is enough room between the toe box retention strap and the front of the shoe cover for these toe spikes to fit in easily.

As I said earlier, I like these shoe covers for temperatures between 25 and 40 degrees. However, your comfort level might vary—not only because of personal comfort zones, but because cycling shoes have a great deal of variation in the amount of ventilation they provide. While riding with the Planet Bike Comet Shoe Covers the one place my feet did get cool was on my sole because there is no insulation there (this is true of every brand of shoe cover you find). The best way to overcome this is to replace your regular insoles with 3M Thinsulate Thermal Insoles (available at most sporting goods stores).

The back of these covers is secured with a wide Velcro strip which not only makes the covers adjustable for different sizes, but if your feet get too warm you can open up the top a bit to let some air in. These covers also have reflective side logos for better visibility to motorists.

Planet Bike offers these shoe covers in five different sizes. The small cover will fit a man’s size 6.5 shoe (40 European) and the XXL will fit a man’s 11.5+ shoe (46+ European). Planet Bike has a size chart available on their Website if you are not sure what size you need. I have found the listed sizes to be accurate, but if you are on the border between two sizes go for the larger one (tight clothing in the winter is a very bad idea). I wear size 11.5 cycling shoes and these covers fit perfectly and have a bit of room to spare. Nearly every other brand of shoe cover I have ever purchased was too small to fit my feet (the Bike Nashbar brand shoe covers run about two sizes smaller than advertised).

These shoe covers come with a limited lifetime warranty against defects in material or workmanship (see the Planet Bike Website for complete details). The warranty does not cover normal wear and tear, but they are very well made and I think you should get many years of use out of them.

Planet Bike Comet Shoe Covers retail for around $40, but you can save a few dollars by purchasing them online. If you are riding in temperatures above 40 degrees I would recommend the Planet Bike Dasher Toe Covers (my all-time favorite toe cover). For temperatures below 30 degrees I would recommend the Planet Bike Blitzen Windproof Shoe Covers.