Endura Freezing Point II overshoes review – warm, waterproof and comfy... if only they were a little longer

Aiming to produce the ‘next generation ultimate cold weather riding overshoe’, Endura certainly can’t be blamed for lack of ambition with the Freezing Point II. 

However it's a bold claim to make, especially in what's a competitive segment of the cycling clothing accessories market. 

So the question is, do the Freezing Points live up to the challenge that Endura has given itself and in doing so created a worthy addition to the best cycling overshoes? 

Endura Freezing Point II overshoes: warmth and comfort

The Freezing Point II overshoes are constructed with a neoprene outer which includes a waterproof coating. On the bottom, there's ‘surf-like’ neoprene and it's fleece lined on the inside all the way down to where the upper of your shoe meets the sole. This lining is quite pleasant to touch and it feels incredibly soft when new.

The comfort of any overshoe depends a lot on your personal style preferences. For example, it doesn’t matter how the overshoe feels on your skin if you never wear them with shorts, as you’ll always have a layer between your skin and the overshoe. 

That said, if you struggle with a combination of warm knees and cold toes, the Freezing Point II overshoes might be a good option for you as the fleece lining does feel quite nice against the skin. 

The zip is offset slightly to the inside of the ankle, which has been done to reduce rubbing between the Achilles tendon and the bony bit of your ankle. It's a useful feature shared by a number of the best cycling overshoes. 

Endura Freezing Point II overshoes: waterproofing

The coating on the outer layer of the neoprene gives these overshoes a similar feel to that of an open water swimming wetsuit. This is an effective waterproofing material, which also goes quite an attractive shiny black in the rain.

On the topic of rain, eight millilitres per hour is considered to be 'heavy'. Over a four hour ride, that means your feet will be hit by roughly 0.8L/hour – not accounting for road spray, but you've got a set of the best fenders / mudguards for cycling, haven't you?

As an initial test, I wore my overshoes for a five minute shower, using around 45L of water – which far exceeds anything you’ll experience on a ride (hopefully). When I got out, my shoe was ever so slightly damp but my feet were dry: impressive.

Endura Freezing Point II overshoes: fit and sizing

I wear a UK 9.5 shoe and have relatively thick calves. I sit right in the middle of a ‘large’ and I'd say they come up true to size as well as being easy to get on and off. 

The only slight issue with the fit of these shoes is that I find the leg cuff doesn’t quite come up high enough meaning the possibility of road splash dripping down your leg and into the overshoe is a little higher. The cuff does sit fairly flush on my leg, but if you have longer and thinner legs this might be an issue.

Endura Freezing Point II overshoes: durability

Mostly, an overshoe's life ends when you rip it while pulling it on or off. The zip on the Endura Freezing Point II drops all the way down to the bottom of the overshoe and the outcome is that getting them on and off doesn't require much of a fight, reducing the chances of a rip. 

Assuming you ride twice a week and wear overshoes for twenty weeks a year, that’s forty times per year you’ll put them on. I did this to simulate the wear and tear, taking them on and off repeatedly. To date I've seen no popping of stitches on the bottom and no breaking of the zip - the overshoes seem durable so far! 

Endura Freezing Point II overshoes: value and conclusions

At $74.99 / £54.99 the Endura Freezing Point II overshoes are competitively priced. For comparison Rapha's Winter Overshoes retail at $75 / £55, while Castelli's top-tier offering, the Estremo, has an sky-high RRP of $169.99 / £140 but do feature a waterproof Gore-Tex fabric outer and a Polartec fleece lining.

As you can see, you can spend double the amount on a pair of overshoes but I am just not sure why you would as the Endura Freezing Point IIs do pretty much everything you need them to do. They’re warm, waterproof and durable. If they were cut 3cm higher at the ankle they’d be perfect!