My old Shimano "downhill" boots have pretty much bitten the dust. Any recommendations for winter footwear?

I have shimano MW02s, they are good and toasty and keep my feet warm and dry apart from occasionally if the cuff gets really wet then water seeps in through it, which is annoying. also the cuff is coming away from the shoe at the back as well now, which is a bit crap, not a great design as you pull them on via the cuff and this is what's started to pull it off.

What size feet do you have, I am guessing cos you are quite small like me you might have small feet, and these were the only winter boots I could find that went down to size 36 (or even 37), if anyone knows of any others could they let me know too (not that i can afford new boots now but would be interested for future ref when mine finally die)!

The cuff's torn on my shimano's aswell.. and the soles which never had much in the way of grip are now on a par with ice skates. Size 37 but wondering if I should bump up a size to accomodate toe wiggle and thick socks.

silly design isn't it, my friend has some winter boots where the loop to pull them on is attached to the back of the boot rather than a cuff which makes much more sense, I think his are northwaves, but I think those are really hard to find in anything under size 40 (if at all).
I tried the size 37 first of all as people said to try a size bigger, but they were massive on me. I am sure shoes are getting bigger!

I just got a pair of the Shimano MW02s and only chose them cos they where the only ones I could find in my size. Got a size 37, cuff fits fine but a little more toe wiggle would be nice especially with thick socks.

Can't change 'em cos they're covered in mud, mud, glorious mud :-)

Hi Nicky
Being a size 37 you are pretty much limited to shimano. I went through a search for some for myself (size 36) and cannot find any other full winter boot that goes down that small. The northwave celcius looks nice but only goes down to a 39. Have a look at some of the northwave goretex boots - the gravity mtb boot goes down to a 36. I have a feeling that the sidi diablo winter boots may go down that small but I was told by Condors that it would have to be a special order and at $320 they would have to be very "special" and getting them will be difficult. The Lake MXZ301 winter boots go down to a 36 but again they are hard to find and cost $250.

My Shimano MW02 are currently fine - had them for over a year and worn them lots. Will take good care of the cuff from now on as they would be stuffed if it goes.

Claire T - the Shimano MW02 are much wider than the MW01 or other Shimano shoes. I would have had to go up two sizes in the MW01 whereas I only went up one in the MW02 and I could have probably gotten away with my normal size with thinner socks.

Thanks all. Disappointing that unless you've got a large wallet you're stuck with Shimano for the smaller sizes still.

I love the way londonlady is like a walking encyclopaedia about anything like this!

julbags, yes be careful, mine are similar age and have had lots of use, and suddenly went a couple of weeks ago on one foot. They still keep out the water at the moment even though there is a split in the back where the cuff has started to come away. I have often been a hurry and yanked them on hard though!

Its a stupid design that must be about 10 years old and AFAIK they still haven't got studs on the soles either.