Help needed please. I have moved to a very humid area, Washington DC, from the desert southwest and find that my feet are quite literally swimming in sweat during summer rides. I never experienced this problem in the desert even when riding in excess of 100F as it is so dry there. It gets so bad that I often have to stop and wring my socks out, its disgusting and unhealthy and I’m in danger of getting trenchfoot!
So basically looking for collective advice for the best vented summer shoe. I currently wear Sidi Alba 2 Max as I have a really high arch and need the extra space.
Any of the knit shoes or knit-like shoes.
Those Albas don’t have a sole vent or many side vents; basically any sole vented shoe is going be to better than those. I don’t think anyone needs super-vent shoes for DC. The down side of knit is that you can’t keep them clean and they crush the corners of your feet.
If you have a high arch, you have a “high volume” foot. Try Fizik Temo Decos, Giro Cadet, Shimano RX-702 wide, Bontrager Ballista, etc.
Sandles? On a serious note, I think the knit or sail cloth type uppers would be your best bet. Will not help you immediately; but, there is a company working on a cycling shoe design with Colby Pearce that would meet the idea of maximum ventilation. I don’t remember the name of the company but Cycling in Alignment has an episode discussing the project.
As a very heavy sweater, I can commiserate with your situation. I spent a summer in Houston after living in Denver for 8 years. I couldn’t get out of my neighborhood at 7 am and have a dry spot left on my body, it was about 1 km. My shoes would get so wet that sweat would squish out of the seams. The cleat bolts rusted in place even though I used anti seize.
I’ll skip the joys of summer lacrosse or football camp. Those experiences redefined my idea of how wet I could become!