Category: Review

Review by – Chris Hyde

fro·zen   [froh-zuhn]  

adjective

• 1. congealed by cold; turned into ice.
• 2. frigid; very cold.
• 3. crazy; for not having the right footwear.

toast·y    [toh-stee]  

adjective

• 1. comfortably or cozily warm.
• 2.characteristic of or resembling toast
• 3.characteristic of one’s feet in Northwave Celsius Boots

There are many adjectives that described my feet whilst mountain biking during the hours of darkness in the recent inclement weather we have been having.  Wet, chilled, frigid, cold, numb to name but a few, damp, sodden, uncomfortable, muddy, soaked, to name a few more. Enough of the English lesson however, we are here to discuss the merits of having the correct footwear whilst partaking in the often muddy (especially here) and cold (yup, that too) pastime of Mountain Biking in the UK.

My previous footwear, a trusty pair of Shimano SPD shoes had seen me through a few good years of riding mainly in the summer and, to be honest, mainly in the dry but the nights had now drawn in and my MTB bug was fully back with me.  Night rides from the TGB (our secret meeting place) had become slightly less popular due to the weather and certainly more cold and muddy meaning the old Shimanos were starting to show their lack of waterproofness (is that even a word?) and insulation.  My ensuing cold, numb, frigid, damp, you get the idea toes started me thinking it might be time for a change.

A chance eavesdrop on a wet, dark wooded conversation heard mention of ‘toasty feet’ and this time it was not someone extolling the virtues of seal skin socks (the poor seals) but the NW Celsius Boots.  Some Googling later and a few enquiries to our local friendly bike shop, a pair was ordered in size 11 (the size I take for every pair of shoes I have owned in the last 10 years).  I must mention 2 separate people told me “they come up small” but I ignored them.

Boots arrived at said bike shop and I went up to try them on……  Of course the 2 people were right and they were too small.  “If you get some, they come up small.  Trust me” Another pair were ordered and another 24 hours waited.

Boots pickup, take 2; This time they fitted like the proverbial glove and felt like them too, extremely comfortable from the outset with the neoprene collar gently hugging my ankles.  I was impressed with the speed lace system and Velcro top covers, both contributing to the feeling of warmth, we were however still in the shop.  20 minutes spent arseing about with attaching a new set of Crank Bros cleats (my fault it took time, not the shoes) which were easy to set up and off home I went.

Monday arrived; 

Clean Bike? – ‘Check’

Several thousand lumens? – ‘Check’

Camel back full?  –  ‘Check’

Clear lenses? – ‘Check’

Waterproof shoes?  Let’s hope so…

So off we went into the darkness, my feet now covered in a pair of snowboarding socks and my new Celsius boots.  The first thing I noticed was the stiffness of the soles which are ‘Jaws Carbon reinforced’ according to the blurb.  This was definitely an advantage on my Egg Beater pedals which only have a contact point around the cleat and remained stiff under even hard pedaling.  The down side to the stiff sole is walking without looking a bit silly but that’s a small price to pay in my opinion, walking is for ramblers anyway. 

The boots felt great, noticeably warmer and more comfortable than my old shoes (that will be the thermic insulated construction and Gore-Tex Upper) even without seal skin socks (I’m not killing the poor little things).  The test would come when we ploughed through the brook which although only about 6 inches deep always managed to soak my feet previously.   Brook splashed through, I awaited the inevitable cold damp toes but they did not come, my feet were still toasty warm.  Waterproof – ‘Check’

After about 16 miles in the dark, we arrived back at the secret meeting location, my boots covered in cold wet mud, my feet still lovely and warm and my gloating of others in full swing.  After a couple of beers and more gloating, agreement was made between the toasty feet gang that the Northwave Celsius boots were worth every penny of the list price of £149, certainly worth the cheaper price paid by members of the club through the discounts offered by our local shop.

In summary if you are a damp footed MTBer looking for something to go on your Christmas list then you can do a lot worse than the Celsius boots.  If you are planning a trip to the North Pole they do an Arctic version too which are even toastier…..

Chris

Review by – Chris Hyde  (+ Comment by Paul Coulson)

Question for you:  Have you ever heard of Rubena…. no, not that black currant flavoured cordial,    Rubena….?

Neither had I but apparently they make tyres and not only that, they are the “largest tire manufacturer to mass produce in Europe” and have a “history dating back to 1923”.  Enough, however,  of the history lesson, why did I ask the question in the first place?

Paul from our good friends Grays Motorcycle Centre sent me a pair of Rubena’s latest budget knobby for review on the site and that folks is why we are here!

Before the tyres (not tires) arrived I had a quick squiz of the websitewww.rubenatires.com and found the Neptunes proclaiming to be great in the classic “dust over crust” conditions and being “great in dryer environments with dusty features”.  Not a good start I thought.  As you may have noticed Noah would be relatively at home with the current conditions we have around this area and “dry” was certainly not an adjective I would have used about any of the trails I would be testing these tyres on.  I put this to the back of my mind and awaited the tyre’s arrival.

Sunday came, tyres in hand, I got the wheels off my bike (which incidentally had brand new rubber on but more of that later).  I noticed 2 things immediately; firstly the tyres were relatively heavy but I put that down to their budget credentials, wire bead and 22TPI so no surprise and not an issue, Secondly the rubber tread seemed very soft and pliable compared to my previous tyres, this proved itself in a few ways during the test.  Tyres went on with no problem to my Mavic 317 Rims without the need for levers and having shod the rear with a 1.9 and the front with a 2.1 (on Paul’s advice) I was ready for the trails.

On the bike, my first impression was not great, riding on the road from my house to our regular Monday night ride meeting point, the tyres felt squishy and certainly not confident in the more leany corners also giving me quite a large amount of drag.  This, I’m sure, was a combination of the relatively low pressures (35psi) and that soft compound on the large side blocks. I think more pressure might fix most of this but these are not for the road anyway so I’ll forgive them for now.

We set off into the darkness, 1000’s of collective Lumens lighting our way (Light tests coming soon by the way) and into the mud.

My second impression (my first of the mud) could not have been further from my first impressions on the road.  I had grip, not just “all round with a little bias towards mud” grip I had from my brand new tyres I used on the same trails last week, but proper grip.  Remember Rubena say these tyres are “great in dryer environments with dusty features” and I’m now in several inches of thick mud, puddles, slippery grassy areas and gravel, over all of which I felt more confident than I had previously.  The 1.9 rear slipped less in the sloppy stuff and gave me more traction on the climbs than I had previously had and the front 2.1 with the large outer knobs provided a confidence inspiring level of grip when cornering in almost all conditions.  The two exceptions to this grip being on the road and over tree roots which of course are slippier than a Teflon coated banana skin.

I went out again on these tyres for another 15 or so miles last night and it was more muddy still, nicely finished off by the last 4 miles being in the driving rain (Noah would have been proud).  I have to say for the £12 each (yes you read that correctly) that these tyres cost, they can happily come two by two onto my ark when conditions are as they are now.

If you are after a budget tyre that can cope with the mud and give you confidence in very tricky conditions, then the Rubena Neptune should be on your shopping list.  Currently in stock and a wallet friendly £12 at Grays Motorcycle Centre.  Mine are certainly not going back !

chris@hadleighmtbclub.co.uk

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2nd opinion provided by Paul @ Grays Motorcycle Centre:

As a direct comparison after I finished my race running on the Bontrager XR3 all round tyres, I sneaked another practise lap using the Rubena Neptune mud/loose tyre. The tyre is in their classic range, so no thrills budget tyre, non folding and 22 tpi (thread per inch)makes it a little heavy, but when rolling seamed very grippy. The track was a mix of everything and this tyre was no worse than the Bontys which are 3 times the cost, they gripped on steep uphill soft ground climbs and fast downhill sand tracks. The only thing they didn’t work on was shiny wet tree roots, but find me a tyre that does and I’ll give you a golden goose egg. I ran the 2.1 on the front with a 1.9 on the rear.

So would I buy them, for racing probably not but only due to the weight, I’d spend a little more and buy the companies racing line tyres, but for a budget tyre riding round the local tracks this winter, I’d have them on my shopping list for sure.