Sidi Nix review: colourful winter boots that will keep your feet warm but not dry

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Sidi deserves praise for not just making yet another bland, black winter boot with the Nix.

The Nix’s vibrant colour palette, especially in our 'blue and fluo' colourway, makes a refreshing change.

Priced at £299 / $298 / €269, performance is impressive on cold winter days, as is the level of comfort.

However, these boots won't keep your feet dry when the rain comes – and that sees them fall short of the best winter shoes.

Sidi Nix specifications

The upper combines a tough, thick TPU and a ripstop tongue and ankle section outer, with a low-bulk PrimaLoft fleece insulation internally.

A Gore-Tex ePE (Polyethylene) membrane is sandwiched between to provide water resistance. Both the toebox and lower heel are reinforced with bonded protection.

The closure system combines Sidi’s own micro-adjusting Tecno 4 dial (that precedes Boa), which tensions a Dyneema cable that laces through the forefoot.

The ankle is secured with a lengthy Velcro wrap ribbon that tensions from its Achilles anchor point right around the ankle, ensuring a close, warm fit.

The outsole is Sidi’s R2CC, which is made from vent-free and nylon-infused carbon. It's rated a 9 for stiffness on Sidi’s scale, two steps below my favourite Sidi Sixty’s 11-rated full-carbon sole.

Either way, the stiffness is ample, but it enables you to flex your feet without feeling restrictive, which is welcome when the temperatur is low and the wind chill is high.

The sizing isn’t as broad as Sidi’s standard shoe range, with sizes EU36 to 50 (UK 3 to 13, USA 5 to 14) available. Unlike Sidi's summer shoe line-up, there are no half sizes.

Sidi Nix performance

The fit is as comfortable as Sidi’s standard shoes, although the sizing is more generous, and I’ve had no problems combining them with Bridgedale’s excellent mid-season and deep-winter socks – both of which are much thicker than typical summer cycling socks.

I’ve used the Nix shoes in all weather and they’re at their best in extremely cold temperatures. On a ride that started out at -2ºC and got colder, especially when you factor in the windchill, the Sidis kept my feet warm and comfortable.

The Gore-Tex membrane does its job of keeping your feet dry, coping with road spray and even sleet admirably. The downside, however, is in the design of the shoe itself. Being more of an ankle boot than a full-length boot is a problem.

As soon as rain comes, the Nix is nixed in its intent to keep your feet dry – rain and water running down my winter tights made its way inside the boot’s ankle.

This also meant the ripstop anklet and tongue sections got wet from the inside, and soon wetted out throughout the ankle and tongue.

Thankfully, the PrimaLoft insulation and a good pair of socks at least kept my feet from freezing, but they lost much of their comfort and luxurious warmth when wet.

Sidi Nix bottom line

If your winter riding is reserved for dry, cold days, the Nix shoes are brilliant.

However, if you’re the sort of stubborn rider who’s out in all weather, they have shortcomings that mean I couldn’t recommend them over more boots designed for more extreme conditions, such as Lake’s CX146.

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