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If you’re sick of getting wet, cold feet while riding, the Fox Union BOA All Weather shoes might be the answer you’re looking for.
Although pricey, their fit, feel and comfort are top-notch and, most importantly, they do a great job of keeping the water, mud and grime out, leaving your feet dry and reasonably warm.
While these largely resemble the regular Union BOA shoes, they forgo one of the Boa closure dials, there are no perforations in the uppers and they feature a tall, stretchy cuff that makes all the difference when riding in monsoon-like conditions.
They’re not perfect, though. While the tall cuff is great, you’ll need to pair these shoes with a pair of waterproof trousers to keep water out. More critically, with no zip or Velcro to open the cuff up, pulling the shoes on is tricky and getting them off even more so.
Fortunately, once you've hit the trails in the pouring rain and realised just how well these winter shoes work, any negatives are easily overlooked.
Fox Union BOA All Weather clipless shoes details
Like the standard Union BOA clipless shoes, the upper is constructed from a TPU material, but forgoes any perforations in a bid to keep the water out. Fox says they are ‘water-resistant’ rather than waterproof, though.
The All Weather version also only gets one, rather than two Boa dials – that’s a lot of cable for a single dial to wind in.
The most obvious difference over the regular shoes, though, is the addition of the lengthy, stretchy cuff, which features two pull-loops – one at the front, one at the rear.
This extended cuff not only gives the Union All Weather shoes a Wellington-boot like appearance, but is a major factor in why these perform so well on the trail. Fox has also included an additional panel on the inside of each cuff to boost durability.
Underneath, the Union All Weathers use Fox’s Ultratac rubber to create the low-profile tread that surrounds the cleat pocket and provides decent grip on the pedals when unclipped, as well as some traction when off the bike.
There’s a reasonable amount of cleat adjustment (around 35mm) and the slots are set back far enough to ensure you can get a rearward cleat position, close to the mid-foot, to help maximise bike control and limit fatigue.
Fox has gone to town with the insole of the Union All Weather shoes, including a choice of ‘high’ or ‘low’ arch supports, which can be switched, depending on your preference, along with a D30 cushion under the midfoot that should help reduce vibration and lessen impacts through the feet.
My size EU42 / UK8 test shoes weighed 1,288g.
Fox Union BOA All Weather clipless shoes performance
Getting these shoes on requires time and some wriggling.
With no way to open the long cuff up, you’re relying on its stretch and give. Even with a firm grip on both pull loops, it can take some force to get the All Weathers on. This gets a little easier over time, but remains tricky.
Once you’ve got your feet in them, they’re fantastic winter shoes.
The Boa dial has its work cut out, tensioning the single cable across the top of your foot, but it does it well, producing what feels like an even tension across the top of the foot.
In biblical downpours, the Union All Weathers have done a brilliant job of keeping my feet dry. You’ll need to pair them with decent waterproof trousers, though, and they’ll need to be long enough to cover the tops of the shoe cuffs when pedalling and prevent water seeping in.
Even in a full submersion test, standing in water up to within 10mm of the top of the cuffs, the Union All Weathers didn’t leak, which is impressive.
On particularly cold and wet days, your feet might start to get chilly – I found wearing thick Merino socks fixed this problem, though.
Overall comfort is impressive. I opted for the low arch-support insert, which delivered a neutral feel to the footbed with no hot spots or discomfort, even on longer rides.
I like the low-profile tread, too. While many winter cycling shoes use more of a cross-country style outsole, complete with chunky treads, Fox’s shallower counterpart feels far safer when riding unclipped or walking around off the bike.
Getting the Union All Weathers off is my biggest gripe – especially when they’re wet, muddy and slippery.
While getting the first shoe off by pushing at the back of it with the other felt manageable with some force, removing the second shoe proved trickier and often required me to sit down and use both hands. That meant I often ended up getting caked in mud.
I also noticed the Boa cable catching a little and not fully releasing once the dial popped up. I had to loosen it manually at times to help remove the tension when the shoes were wet and caked in mud.
Aside from the issue with getting in and out of them, the Union All Weathers are some of the best shoes I’ve tested, and I found myself grabbing them over other winter boots.
Fox Union BOA All Weather clipless shoes bottom line
Despite being tough to get on and a pain to take off, the Union All Weathers are brilliant for wet-weather riding.
They do a great job of keeping the wet out and offer plenty of comfort for long days riding damp trails.
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