Contact: www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk

When you picture hell, what springs immediately to mind? Chances are your imagination will summon cliched artistic depictions in paintings, books and films; you probably think of flames, lava, intense heat, and screams of torment. Personally, this idea of hell (minus the screams of torment) is quite appealing — everyone likes being toasty, right? No, a mountain biker’s idea of hell would be being stuck in a featureless frozen tundra for the remainder of eternity, never able to shake any warmth into our icy extremities. In fact, our idea of hell would be a magnified version of the way we feel towards the end of most winter rides — hands and feet numbed to such a degree that they’re unable to operate brake levers, gear shifters, zips, buckles or ratchets. You know the feeling: feet so cold that even when you try to get some heat into them — (“mmmmm, I’ll warm up in this hot ba-arhhhh!-th”) — the pain is so intense that all you can do is wait, cursing your daft hobby, trying bravely not cry.
Which meant we were quite excited to try out these toe warmers from O3one by Elite. Take them out the packet, give them a good shake to activate them and away you go — up to six hours steady supply of heat to keep your toes happy.
In reality, they worked for a couple of hours, but once our shoes got waterlogged, the effect was a little overpowered, and by the end of a five-hour moorland hack, our feet were well chilled. If you wear overshoes and/or waterproof winter boots they should stand a better chance of survival, but we were underwhelmed by our testers. But at £2.49 for a pair they won’t break the bank and if you suffer from cold feet they’re well worth a try.

MBR RATING: 6/10