Sportful Roubaix Thermal Booties review

There’s nothing worse than heading out for a long ride in cold weather, only to lose feeling in your toes by the time you reach the end of the street. Thankfully that’s never going to happen with the Sportful Roubaix Thermal Booties that provide cold and wet weather protection in a good-fitting, durable package.

The warmth of these overshoes is provided courtesy of the fleece-lined windproof softshell fabric which covers the front of the bootie. This is the same material that Sportful use on some of their mid-range jackets, providing plenty of protection from cold air. The rest of the material is neoprene, which although doesn't possess the same windstopping credentials, is in less exposed areas and still provides good insulation.

It’s all very well having warm feet in dry weather, but if your overshoes are susceptible to rain, your toes won’t be toasty for long. Thankfully the Sportful Roubaix Thermal Booties also manage to offer a good level of protection against wet weather. We wouldn’t go as far as describing these overshoes as waterproof, and after an hour or two of persistent rain the dampness does start to creep in, but they do a good enough job for most conditions.

With such good protection, you’ll be glad to hear that Sportful have also prioritized durability to allow you to wear these day after day throughout the winter. Both the heels and the toes are reinforced to prevent wear when walking off the bike, and we didn’t notice any sign of splits around the heel or cleat holes. The rear zip is also sturdy and was never at risk of pulling apart.

Helpfully Sportful provides details on how their sizes measure up with standard shoes sizes, meaning we could be sure that the large overshoe on test would fit nicely over our size 42 shoe. This is a nice touch considering there is little stretch in the main body of the overshoes, but they still fit extremely well with no loose material hanging around at the hem. Sportful has also added a little loop on the heel to help you pull the booties on, the cherry on top of an excellent piece of clothing.