Probably the best shoe cover I have used to-date
Update: April 26th
Since my initial review I have tested these covers with several other shoes to find good results. With Shimano and Rapha road shoes the covers lip on a little easier than wider style mtb shoes. I have also tried these with Sidi Dominators and the covers go on ok.
The easiest on and off was certainly the shimano shoe , maybe due to sleekest materials, lowest buckles and velcro.
Also I have ridden these covers in more 60degree conditions and can report that the breathability is amazing. I recently rode a hard 50miles , 9000ft all dry with these covers (rain threatened but never came), after a long time on the bike, my feet were not sweaty at all, the covers performed brilliantly
March 20th
Castelli Tempesta Shoe Covers – $99
Above Images from pezcyclingnews
I have ridden in these 20-30 times, most times it has been pouring, a few times not so much. The booties weather resistance is phenomenal, the best material I have tested and perfect for NW rain weather. They don’t get saturated like neoprene and are better designed than most TPU coatings as the material is more durable, the use of Columbia Sportwear’s patented OutDry material here really shines. I found that after an hour and a half of very hard rain on wet roads I would only see a very small amount of moisture when I took the covers off, this moisture was at the front of the shoe near the toecap, I think it’s because some how it wicked up from where the cleat opening is, probably from hard rain bouncing up off the road – the moisture is very minor and never got into the shoe, other than that my feet were bone dry.
One of the real tests of material breathability is riding them when it doesn’t rain and I did this a couple of times also, the OutDry material breathes amazingly well, in fact my feet were not sweaty at all, the only area of moisture was at the very top of the booty where a band of neoprene comes in contact with the skin, proving that the OutDry material is really good stuff at handling moisture through membranes.
Again with Tempesta, it’s a premium product, positioned as top of the line therefore I am going to be critical of features. Let’s talk about fit, the booties are designed well with no slop, the fit to my shoes was tight, looked great and functioned well, this really tight fit and design of zipper proved that getting the covers on and off was a little more taxing than other designs I have used in the past. One feature is an asymmetrical rear zipper, I feel this actually makes the cover a little more difficult to get on and off, as you have to pull more material to the side around the heal counter before the zip up action.
We have been testing two pairs of Tempesta covers and one pair had developed a small hole on one of the stitched seams on the top of the shoe above the buckle of the shoe, I think this is because of the stress caused when it comes to pulling the cover on and off, I feel a central zipper at the back could have avoided this pressure point, otherwise Castelli should have chosen to reinforce key areas that were going to have higher stress.
The look of the covers is great, simple black design with central reflective stripe and a large reflective Castelli logo on the back / heal area of the cover. These are a must have for me when riding at night and low light conditions. The Reflectivity on the rear of the cover works really well since your feet are always moving and proving more opportunity to reflect car headlights.
Verdict : High performance shoe covers, some questionable on durability due to design with usability but a long term test will tell and our sample might have been a one off.
