The Jedi mind
tricks in combination with hypnotic English grammar worked on me again and I
picked up a pair of these when they were on clearance. I had given them a try in some light rain and
they performed well. I had high hopes.
I have a pair of
the Giro Blaze shoe covers that are stretchy and fit aero-snug and even breathe
a little. The fabric is similar to the
Pearl Izumi AmFib shoe covers and keeps me pretty dry. The Giro covers aren’t
hard core rain booties but they don’t claim to be. Still they are among the
best.
Feral Dave and I
have both made the near fatal mistake of wearing booties in the rain that
weren’t targeted for the rain. The
results were predictably tragic. Feral
Dave’s experience has been immortalized amongst our team as a key component of
the Medina Marge ride.
I put the Rapha
booties to the test in some soggy commutes to and from work. I double checked online to confirm if they were
rated for rain. Yep. “Rain” is right
there in the name. Ladies and
gentlemen; rain booties these are not.
They are thin
and have almost a colored condom feel to them. They shed water for a few
minutes before wetting out. Then they take on a wet T-Shirt persona. Not good
for anything other than looking at.
If you wear
booties in the rain year after year you learn to recognize when water comes in
from the cuff, when it comes up from the sole, when it just trapped your sweat
and when the rain water just leaks through.
On these, it just leaked through.
I guess that explains the grimaces you see on the faces of the riders
pictured on the Rapha website. Their
feet are wet and cold.
They don’t get
heavy from absorbing a lot of water and if the rain is light enough or the ride
short enough these might be okay. In
less than an hour of light to medium rain these soaked through.
They score well
on attributes like stretch, fit and good looks but if they are supposed to be
rain booties and they won’t keep you dry does the rest really matter? No it does not.
I will try to
sell them on eBay or relegate them to aero bootie status.
One of five
Evos.
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