Waterproof/water resistant jackets

[Pinoy Rider]

After looking at a few pics of the C. Furnace ride, I noticed Dirt in a Gore riding jacket. I'm looking into a waterproof/water resistant jackets for dual duty road and mtb. Recommendations/favorites, anyone? Dirt, a review of your Gore riding jacket please? Thanks,

[DownHillDan]

After looking at a few pics of the C. Furnace ride, I noticed Dirt in a Gore riding jacket. I'm looking into a waterproof/water resistant jackets for dual duty road and mtb. Recommendations/favorites, anyone? Dirt, a review of your Gore riding jacket please? Thanks,

the one he had I think was this and its not waterproof and maybe not even water resistant. http://www.gorebikewear.com/remote/Satellite/Products/PROD_JXENOS?landingid=1208436857421 A

this is what I got for the winter. Its waterproof but if you wear a baselayer under this the jacket is basically to warm to wear above freezing. I got it in the Hi Vis neon yellow since I use it for road and mtb. http://www.endura.co.uk/Product.aspx?dept_id=123&prod_id=140 It got very good reviews and you can only get it though the us from Idutri.com I think. It was $159.

[ride-n-fall]

After looking at a few pics of the C. Furnace ride, I noticed Dirt in a Gore riding jacket. I'm looking into a waterproof/water resistant jackets for dual duty road and mtb. Recommendations/favorites, anyone? Dirt, a review of your Gore riding jacket please? Thanks,

In keeping with the tradition of the forums lately, I was going to give an a totally off-topic and non-responsive suggestion, but thought instead I would actually try to help.

I bought the adidas trail storm CP jacket last year and it is waterproof and light, so you can still layer underneath. Although it is advertised as letting heat escape, it does not do a good job on that front, and it holds heat (although I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing all the time).

Here is a link to the jacket: http://www.pricepoint.com/detail.htm?stylepkey=16198&style_id=520%20ADITR6&detailName=Adidas%20Trail%20CP%20St orm%20Jacket&dept_id=1&deptName=Clothing&sub_id=710&subName=Jackets/Vests&lprice=44.98&hprice=44.98

[kmax]

Got this Louis Garneau Stratos as a gift a couple of years back. http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=24360&subcategory_ID=1130

I'd say it's not bad; lightweight and water proof but never really seems like it breaths enough for me (though arguably I sweat a lot). I generally have only used it in warmer temperature where I'll just have a short sleeve jersey underneath it though so I'm thinking if I break it out for some colder weather riding it'd be great. Definitely stuffs small enough to carry as a just in case jacket.

[jabberwocky]

I have a showerspass jacket made from e-vent. It serves as my commuter jacket all fall/winter/spring, and it definitely repels water and breathes well. The e-vent is supposedly much more breathable than other fabrics (like gore-tex). The downside is that its expensive (my jacket was almost $200).

My only real complaint is that the build quality isn't that great. The jacket has two pockets, and the welded stitching came apart on both of them, rendering them useless. The jacket still works great though.

[Dirt]

As requested:

That is the Gore Xenon II jacket. It is made with Gore Windstopper fabric and is designed to be water resistant. It is probably not good to use as rain gear. Regular price is $190. I managed to talk someone into letting me combine coupons, sales and deals together and paid much, much, much less than that. I'm guessing that a more experienced sales person might not have let me get away with that.

This is my 4th attempt at finding the perfect winter jacket. I finally hit paydirt with this one.

I don't do well with most sub-$200 full Goretex (Or similar layered membrane fabric material) waterproof jackets because I generate enough heat and sweat that I end up sweating out and getting soaked -- even in temps into the high teens.

Windstopper on the other hand, seems to work well for me. I've had 4 rides with it so far and it has been perfect.

The cut:
The jacket is cut almost like a tuxedo jacket. The tail is dang long and the front is relatively short. It is designed as a roadie jacket, but since I tend to ride with the bars low, this is perfect. The front comes down to where my belt would be if I wore a belt with bib shorts. The back extends at least 10" lower than that.

The fit is pretty close to the body too. I generally wear between an L and XL in riding clothes designed for the American market. I got an XL in the Gore because I knew that I'd be doing a bit of layering. That was a good choice. It isn't snug, but it fits pretty close. For the 19 degree commute last week I wore base layer, a long sleeve wool jersey, a microfleece vest and the Gore jacket. With the jacket zipped up, I got almost no flapping at all.

When I needed to cool down, I could unzip the jacket a bit and it would balloon out to provide ventilation. I'd guess that it ballooned out a little over an inch to get airflow through. That is perfect for me. I have been able to modulate my temp by using the zipper and sleeve velcro.

I'm able to slide the sleeves up to my elbow if I don't have long sleeve layers underneath it.

Temp Range:
19 degrees is the coldest that I've used it so far. Layered as described above, it was good. 15 minutes into the ride I had it unzipped 2/3 of the way to allow it to ventilate.

I used it for the downhills and the standing around parts of CF. That was upper 30s to mid 40s. I had a long sleeve base layer, short sleeve summer jersey and then a long sleeve wool jersey. The jacket would be way overkill for anything but the fast downhills and standing around.

There is no insulation in the jacket at all. It has mesh in the sleeves to keep it from sticking to your skin if you're wearing a short sleeve jersey.

Rain:
Yesterday's ride home was mid 40s and raining lightly. It was a tough choice. I was working pretty hard to get home quickly so I was generating a lot of heat. I wore a short sleeve jersey with summer base layer underneath and the jacket over. My core was the right temp, but my arms sweated a bit.

I had no problems with rain getting through the jacket though. The few sections of moderate rain got no cold water coming through the jacket. Even my upper back where I'd generated a fair amount of sweat didn't get any rain through. I stayed warm.

Keep in mind that it is brand new and at its peak efficiency for water resistance. My guess is that its rain performance will only get worse.

Will it work for a serious downpor? Probably not. If you're looking for that kind of jacket, go with the Showers Pass full goretex jacket. Jabberwocky can talk to how awesome that jacket is. That will likely be my next purchase. That jacket runs over $200 though and I didn't want to spend that right now.

Hope that helps. Sorry for writing a novel.

Ask any questions. I'll try and be more brief with my replies.

Pete

[Pinoy Rider]

Thanks, no questions. I believe that was a thorough review of the jacket. Thanks Again. Thanks to all who have replied so far.

[Dirt]

DHD is referring to the same jacket that I got. Mine is the Xenon II. He pointed to the Xenon. My guess is that the differences are minimal.

PEte

[sourceofdenial]

I've got a GORE cross jacket with paclite: http://www.gorebikewear.com/remote/Satellite/PROD_JCROST?landingid=1208436857421 A

Fits well--I'm 6'3 and have long gangly arms and a medium is perfect. Its a slim, racer style cut.

For really cold/windy days it does a fantastic job of blocking the gusts. It is waterproof, but with any type of waterproof shell you are bound to get condensation on the inside while working hard. I've used it during road races and have finished feeling a lot fresher as opposed to no jacket at all, or those crappy 20 dollar rain shells. Best of all its extremely light. (Its extremely similar in fit to Dirt's jacket I guess). I've used it as a outer layer in the winter, a rain jacket in the summer, and have even used it for running occationally.

Best of all I got it on sale at L.L. Bean for 50 bucks!

My other winter/foul weather jacket is a Vermarc Technical Windtex. Its pretty similar to Gore Windstopper, except its softer and a bit thicker. This jacket but from my own team: http://www.shopvermarcusa.com/Vintage-Pro-Collection/2004-Team-Quick-Step-Tech-Jacket-p78.html

The fit is for crazy small euro people--I had to get a XL to find something with long enough sleeves. I'm thin too and the L felt borderline tight in the chest.

The nicest thing about this jacket is the sides are a stretchy thick lyrca material that is breathable, so even if I'm hot I can still get a little bit of relief. Its incredibly warm--I wear it down to probably 15 degrees and all I have underneath is a wifebeater base layer and short sleeve jacket. Any other part of my body will become cold long before my core does with this thing. I've also worn it just as a jersey too, and that works nicely.

I've ridden it in light rain/snow and have stayed completely dry and the thick material does a great job of wicking sweat away. I have not taken it out in a downpour though, and thats what my shell is for.

Between the GORE shell and the Vermarc jacket I really don't need any other sort of outerlayer. It's really nice how versatile both are.

If you live in Northern VA and want to borrow one for a ride let me know.

[sourceofdenial]

I should add you might want to check out Beyond Fleece, I also have this jacket for non-cycling activity but use it biking: http://beyondclothing.com/customize/cold-fusion-x-jacket/

For the same cost as any other softshell you'd get, they will make you a jacket using your own measurements. Works perfect for my monkey arms and long torso, and I wanted something that would fit close and end right above my climbing harness. I broke a zipper on the jacket and they fixed it and got it back to me in under a week. I've had mine for five years now and its still in great shape, and I beat on my stuff. Its a small company, and they are very helpful in designing exactly what you want. They can make you a cycling specific softshell, with all the pockets you want where you want them.

[pbayne]

This thread may already have been beaten to death, but here's my 2 cents anyway. Before I was into biking I did lots of mountaineering and ice climbing so I totally geeked out on fabrics technology and am fairly opinionated.

I personally dislike any waterproof fabric for aerobic activities. They just don't breathe well enough. They are great for low intensity stuff in dry climates. The moist winter air of the mid-atlantic messes them up.

I usually layer a semi-windproof layer with a windproof/water resistant layer on top. There are hundreds to choose from. I don't get mine from cycling companies so I might miss out on some of the cycling specific features. My current setup is to go with some kind of light baselayer, then a patagonia cool weather top (semi-windproof, some kind smooth faced polartec fabric) and then a patagonia velocity shell (totally windproof).

Unless its dumping rain this system works pretty darn good for almost all winter conditions. If its dumping rain, well that sucks no matter what you do in the winter.

[sourceofdenial]

This thread may already have been beaten to death, but here's my 2 cents anyway. Before I was into biking I did lots of mountaineering and ice climbing so I totally geeked out on fabrics technology and am fairly opinionated.

I personally dislike any waterproof fabric for aerobic activities. They just don't breathe well enough. They are great for low intensity stuff in dry climates. The moist winter air of the mid-atlantic messes them up.

I usually layer a semi-windproof layer with a windproof/water resistant layer on top. There are hundreds to choose from. I don't get mine from cycling companies so I might miss out on some of the cycling specific features. My current setup is to go with some kind of light baselayer, then a patagonia cool weather top (semi-windproof, some kind smooth faced polartec fabric) and then a patagonia velocity shell (totally windproof).

Unless its dumping rain this system works pretty darn good for almost all winter conditions. If its dumping rain, well that sucks no matter what you do in the winter.

PBayne-

If it gets cold enough there are a few routes out at Old Rag that are fun. I don't get to swing axes around enough here unfortunately and would love to start going out again.