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Nox Sox Pedal Covers

8
£17.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Great way to protect your bikes and vehicles as well as shins from ouchy pedals
Quick to attach and remove
Protect well
Clip together when not in use
No hanging loop
Weight: 
50g

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Nox Sox Pedal Covers are an effective way to protect your bikes, your shins and the interior of your vehicle when transporting bikes.

Made in Cornwall from 3mm wetsuit neoprene, the premise of these is very simple: they slip over your pedals, secure with plastic buttons, and... job done. They come in two sizes: small for mountain bike and road SPD / SPD-SL pedals, or large for everything else (including the largest flat pedals around). Having tested both sizes I'd say they're judged just right for the task. Obviously pedals with toeclips/cages are out of the scope here.

Getting pedals aligned just so in between multiple frames so they don't wear away paint can be a right pain, but if you've fitted Nox Sox covers then it's carelessly easy. I imagine if you had a significant amount of force crushing a covered pedal with aggressive pins then eventually a pin might wear through, but you'd have to have arranged things in a heroically silly manner to do so.

On occasion I eschew the towbar rack and just sling a bike in the back of our estate car, at which point I become concerned about the retractable cargo blind that I usually don't want the faff of removing, as it also forms a luggage barrier. With Nox Sox on the pedals can bump up against it with no concern for damage.

> 10 of the best clipless pedals – click in from as little as £30

Using the Nox Sox for a few months, I found they do the job perfectly. If you're only carrying two bikes and they have matching pedals – ie two road clips or two flats – you only need one pair of Nox Sox on the inwards-facing pedals. They are easy to fit, even with bikes already loaded, plus the button clips are strong and there's no way a cover is coming off unless you want it to.

2022 Nox Sox Pedal Cover - on hybrid flat pedal.jpg

Nevertheless, removal is a one-handed job to simply pull straight out from the pedal, popping the clips open.

Value

At £17.99 per pair, the Nox Sox aren't the cheapest option. Reverse does a mountain bike-only Pedal Pocket Set with Velcro closures for £13.99, while Granite Designs does its Pita Pedal Covers in either large or small (again with Velcro) for £17.95 and £18.95 respectively. There's a camo version if you want to make a dropped cover that bit harder to find, and they come with neat hanging loops so you can store them when not in use.

Stashing the 50g Nox Sox is easy enough – I clipped them together so as not to lose one. I'd like to see some sort of loop or hole to hang them on a nail or hook when not in use, but this is a minor gripe.

Jon reviewed the large covers five years ago and they were £20 back then, so kudos to Nox Sox for inflation-busting pricing over the years. Given the strength of the stitching and clips, I can't see how a Nox Sox cover would wear out in the lifetime of a bike, let alone a user.

Verdict

Great way to protect your bikes and vehicles as well as shins from ouchy pedals

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Nox Sox Pedal Covers

Size tested: Small/Large

Tell us what the product is for

They're for people wanting to protect their bikes, vehicles and bodily appendages from scratchy pedals.

Nox Sox says: "Nox Sox provides the best form of protection for your precious bikes and car in the form of this easy to fit Pedal cover to save damage to other bikes placed by your bike or your car if you have it in the boot or on a car rack.

"Often copied but never bettered, Nox Sox are the original and best neoprene pedal covers, and still to this day proudly made here in the UK."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Nox Sox says: The Large size is perfect for any pinned flat pedal, some popular models include but are not limited to....

Bergtec Penthouse, DMR Vault/V8/V12, Nukeproof Horizon/Neutron, Crankbrothers Stamp, Raceface Atlas, Shimano Saint, Unite Instinct, Superstar Nano, Pedaling Innovations Catalyst, HT Supreme, Yoshimura, Carder Tech TwoTwelve, Hope F20, OneUp, plus many, many more.

Features

High-quality Neoprene made to last

Two poppers per cover keep them firmly on

Quick on and quick off

Made to fit the largest of pedals, big sharp pointy pined pedal-friendly design.

UK made down in Cornwall, where they know a thing or two about neoprene

Supplied as a pair

Available in Small or Large size

A note about the sizing, because these are made from neoprene and are made to stretch, giving sizing will just cause confusion as that would be its unstretched size and could make you think it won't fit your pedals when in fact it will, this Large size fits every pedal I've offered it up to including the largest pedals known currently, (Pedaling Innovations Catalyst's), equally the Large size is the size you need for smaller pedals such as for kids bikes, folding bikes, ladies bikes, Hybrid bikes etc.

The Small size Nox Sox is just for clipless pedals only, for kids bikes stick to the Large Size.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

Really well-made from tough materials.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

Do the job perfectly.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

No signs of wear at all.

Rate the product for fit:
 
9/10

Fits any clipless or flat pedal (there a size for each type)

Rate the product for sizing:
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

Come up clean as a whistle.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Can't fault them.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The clips.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

No hook for hanging them up, if that bothers you about 50g of neoprene.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

On par with similar options.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

These do exactly what they're supposed to, are very easy to use and feel made to last. They're not exactly cheap, however – especially compared to an old sheet or t-shirt, which will do the same job.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 47  Height: 183cm  Weight: 77kg

I usually ride: Sonder Camino Gravelaxe  My best bike is: Nah bro that's it

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, general fitness riding, mtb, G-R-A-V-E-L

Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.

Add new comment

6 comments

Avatar
Ratfink | 1 year ago
1 like

Handy for cycling barefoot.

Avatar
Gimpl | 1 year ago
2 likes

How about using something else recycled, like, I don't know....socks!

Avatar
KiwiMike replied to Gimpl | 1 year ago
0 likes

I can't see socks stopping steel pins from damaging painted or metal surfaces, or very quickly being worn through.  Of course you're welcome to try 😎

Avatar
Gimpl replied to KiwiMike | 1 year ago
0 likes
KiwiMike wrote:

I can't see socks stopping steel pins from damaging painted or metal surfaces, or very quickly being worn through.  Of course you're welcome to try 😎

You don't wear neoprene socks?!

Avatar
ktache replied to Gimpl | 1 year ago
0 likes

I indeed use socks.

Big thick Winter hiking socks, foot bit shoved into the ankle bit, so doubled up.

Works very well. DMR V12s so very shin destroying, and this bike is locked to the end of my bed.

Avatar
check12 | 1 year ago
0 likes

how much? 🤣

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