Do You Wear Socks with Cycling Shoes?

Yes, though it depends. The market for cycling socks is large, and there are plenty of people that wear cycling socks for different reasons. So, in general do you wear sock with cycling shoes? It is entirely up to you. 

They could be trying to stay warm in lower temperature rides. They could be looking to be fashionable with their white sock on white cycling shoe look. They could be looking to keep their feet dry while riding. Or even they could be making small adjustments to the fit of cycling their shoes through thick or thinner socks.

It all depends on the rider and the feel that they want for the bike. If you do need help with deciding, this post will give you all the information that you need to make a decision.

We will tell you why people wear cycling socks. We will also tell you why people do not wear cycling socks. We will give you suggestions for great cycling socks.

We will tell you about other foot accessories to help keep you comfortable, warm during a cool day, and your feet dry if you have problems with excess sweat.

Invest in your knowledge:

These pieces of reading may be interesting to you:

• The Warm Toe Cyclists Guide: All Accessories You Need for 50 Degree Weather Cycling
• Best Cycling Insoles for Numb Toes
• Best Cycling Shoes for Morton’s Neuroma and Hot Foot

Why Do You Wear Socks with Cycling Shoes?

Wearing socks with cycling shoes serves you 4 purposes:

• Cycling Shoe Life Extension
• Added Warmth
• Sweat Wicking to Keep Feet Dry
• Added Comfort to Stiff Shoes

Socks with cycling shoes have a lot of great benefit. Read on to learn more about why to wear socks with cycling shoes. If you don’t choose to wear socks with cycling shoes, there are no problems to this, though you may be missing out on these 4 benefits.

Cycling Shoe Life Extension

A shoe will simply last longer if in between each use there is a clean layer between the foot and the skin of the shoe to protect it from sweat, and mildew buildup from dampness of the shoe.

Having a great sweat wicking sock along with a good shoe cleaning regimen will greatly extend the life of the shoe.

When you do not wear socks (or clean socks) with your cycling shoes, mildew will build up and it can be difficult to get the growth out of the shoe once it has been there once. Further, there is always the possibility that the growth will come back faster after the first time. Beware of athlete’s foot and keep your cycling shoes dry!

Added Warmth

In low temperature rides there are special choices in socks, like wool socks or neoprene to help you keep warm in the cool rides. If you are interested in learning more about gloves that are best to keep you warm while cycling, follow this guide here. If you want to know all of the accessories that are recommended when cycling in chilly 50 degree wether, follow this guide.

Overall, wool socks are great because they wick sweat, while keeping your feet very warm. There are many athletic wool sock options that are unlike the thick wool socks you may be picturing for hiking or snowshoe-ing. They are slim to fit, athletic to the touch and compress the foot to allow smooth circulation and blood flow.

Neoprene is known to be great in wet weather conditions. It is a bit of a myth that neoprene is waterproof. (Is a surfer dry when they put on their neoprene wetsuit?)

The reason why neoprene can be great as a toe cover is because the water (If there is a large amount such as you being caught in a downpour) creates a layer between the skin and the neoprene and slowly warms up.

This layer actually keeps cold water from penetrating and making you cold. When there is only a small amount of water or cool wind, they will keep that small amount out and away from your body.

Sweat Wicking to Keep Feet Dry

Many feel that it is important to keep their feet dry while riding for personal reasons, and to help keep their home feeling fresh after a ride so that their shoes don’t bring home a smell that will give the shoe a life of its own.

Socks keep the feet dry and allow you to keep your feet clean, sanitary and will ultimately keep your cycling shoes clean. When your feet are dry, they also are more responsive when cycling so that you have a better response, grip and feel for the pedal as you are riding. It can pay to keep your feet and any other damp parts of your body dry while riding.

Added comfort to stiff shoes

If we’re choosing to go for a casual ride in the park, we may choose for our casual shoes. However, if we are opting for performance, we may look to choose stiffer cycling shoes.

Stiffer cycling shoes may feel better with an added layer of protection of socks to aid the feel of being locked into the shoe. 

When you add a layer to the shoe, it makes the cycling shoe feel more comfortable. Further, there is more padding on the shoe so that you are now more “locked in” to the shoe when you are pedaling.

It can feel frustrating knowing that you are not getting maximum power out of your stroke when you move your pedal upward and you feel the foot move around int he shoe. A good cycling sock can help change that feeling.

How can wearing socks with cycling shoes hold you back?

• Overall Responsiveness
• Feel of the Ride
• Time to Put On
• Rain

Overall Responsiveness

Perhaps you enjoy the tight feel of your shoe connected to your cycle? There are performance benefits of being directly connected to your cycling shoe without the added addition of socks to dampen your output transferred through your legs.

Feel of the Ride

There are many that opt to not wear socks while cycling because they prefer to feel like they are closer to the bicycle, the ground, and the ride itself. This is a choice if you really want to understand intuitively how the bicycle and your body operates.

Time to Put On

Are you in a rush each time to get out of the house? Do you leave and realize you forgot your Garmin, walk in, and grab it only to realize you forgot your glasses?

I know that when I am getting ready for a longer ride, it can take about half an hour to get out of the house only to realize that I forgot to put my blinking red light on my bike. IT can be a hassle to remember every small accessory that you need to feel safe, prepared, and able to finish a long ride competently.

Perhaps it’s a good idea to have one less thing to worry about. Cycling without socks is an appropriate thing to choose to forgo to make getting out of the house and on the saddle an easier prospect.

Rain

Do you like the feeling of wet socks in rain? No one does. Even worse, when it does rain, the water can trap cold air into the sock making the ride more of a slog. Depending on the outside temperate relative to the rain, to wear cycling socks with cycling shoes can be a disadvantage.

Do You Wear Socks with Cycling Shoes?

As you can see there are many reasons for and against wearing socks with cycling shoes. One option that we see many doing is opting for socks during casual rides, it makes your cycling shoes easier to walk in, or if it is time to race or riding to strengthen their ankles specifically, they may go without or for more specialized cycling socks.

What are Cycling Socks?

Cycling socks are optimized socks for the road when you are looking to get the most responsiveness out of your footwear. Cycling socks are made to be thin, warm, sweat wicking, comfortable all while fitting snugly into your shoe.

What is most important of a good cycling sock is that the sock remains dry. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid cotton, and opt for a synthetic material. 

What is the Case for Wool Cycling Socks?

If you are biking in the cold, wool is another excellent choice that is available. Wool holds in a small amount of moisture though it wicks most of it away. If you are in lower temperatures, wool is an excellent choice to ride in. There are also added benefits of comfort as they are extra thick.

What is the Best Overall Cycling Sock?

Opting for a sock that has synthetic material will suit you best to keep you mobile and dry. This is the best overall choice for socks to wear with cycling shoes. The socks are snug to the foot and allow for the foot to be for fitted into the shoe.

They will make sure that you have a close feel to the bicycle and remain comfortable.

Saucony men’s Multi-pack Mesh Ventilating Comfort Fit Performance Crew Socks, $15.99

What is the Best Cycling Sock for the Cold?

If your ride goes below a temperature that your toes feel comfortable, or the toe vents are letting in too much wind, opt for a warm pair of cycling sock.

These are excellent choices for the cold as they have a majority mixture of merino wool added into the sock.

This means that you get all the added sweat wicking, performance benefits of the synthetic blended with the additional warmth benefits of wool. 

ZEAL WOOD Merino Wool Socks Hiking Socks Thermal Outdoor Sports Socks 2 Pairs, 15.99

My Feet Are Still Cold After Getting Wool Socks. What do I do?

Neoprene toe covers are your best choice for extreme cold conditions. They will block the wind and keep your toes warm while cycling.

There are overshoe toe covers and in-shoe toe covers. Both options are good options.

I prefer in-shoe toe covers because I believe that keeping the warm air trapped inside of the shoe is the key to keeping toasty.

Either options work, and have been a big change for me when I am going over a pass to the beach side of a mountain and noticed a 10 degree drop in weather instantly.

Typically my arms and toes feel it first. With these toe covers, I am pretty happy to know that my toes won’t go numb from the cold.

Conclusion

Do you wear socks with cycling shoes? Yes and no. With this guide you should have the all the information that you need to decide if you should. Our recommendation is yes for most cases; however, it is entirely up to you in what you’d like to get out of your ride.