Commuting - What rain gear to get?

Currently, I have a non-goretex rainsuit which means I generally am as soaked from sweat as I would be from the rain without the suit... But I think that when you go in a place (before you can change), it's more respectable to have a rainsuit than look soaked in your clothes all the time. I know some people advocate just getting soaked, but I don't think that's always the best way to commute from place to place.

I've also heard of bike umbrella type things that *supposedly* keep you dry in torrential rain.. but the only one I've looked at is hundreds of dollars. I don't have that kind of money to burn. Instead, I was looking on ebay for some goretex rain gear, and found a number of cheap "goretex raincoats" - one with a buy it now price of $25. It's at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2842080787&category=15677

The thing is, it says it's an Eddie Bauer rain jacket, made of goretex. I wondered why it was so cheap compared to other goretex jackets on ebay, so I went to eddiebauer.com and checked their goretex selection, but all of the "matches" were made of nylon or something. Anyone have experience with their goretex rain coats? Are they ok for biking in the rain? There must be some kind of huge thing wrong if it's literally hundreds of $ cheaper than other goretex raincoats?

For $30 you can get an O2 rainshield jacket made of protex. These are very thin and breathable. I find them cooler than my Jackson Gibbons goretex jacket, even with all of it's vents open. It is my standard summer rain jacket.
The fabric is fragile, so it will only be usable on the road, it wouldn't last a day on a singletrack.

Having ridden through floods and tropical downpours, I simply think that nothing is going to keep one dry in those conditions. Personally I go the old change of clothes stored inside plastic bags inside panniers trick. It's the only thing that has ever actually worked for me.

I have not yet found goretex / drymaxx / whatever rain gear that has enough vents. It seems to be a choice of getting wet because of rain or getting wet because of sweat. Get wet or ride r e a l l y s l o w.

Goretex / drymaxx / whatever rain gear is great in the winter, though.

--jh

typos

ChrisL comes from a very hot country. Goretex is really not effective in hot wet conditions, it is not breathable enough for med-high intensity cycling.
In cooler weather I find that, after the water-beading finish has degraded, the base material soaks up water, clogging up the pores, feeling very uncomfortable and taking hours to dry.
One really good solution to "getting wet" is to wear a pile and pertex jacket. These nylon microfibre jackets are not waterproof, but rain can evaporate very quickly, and you dont get cold or clammy. A UK company Buffalo do winter weight ones, as summer weight versions.
http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/lsthumbs.htm

I've got a long, hooded Gor-Tex raincoat. Paired with Gor-Tex rain pants, it works quite well. On hot summer days with rain, you will have to partially unbutton it to get ventilation. Other than that, it does the job.

I don't feel comfortable buying stuff via eBay, and the low price seems suspicious.

Paul

The breathability of Gore-Tex or any other waterproof material is generally over-hyped. While these materials might provide some degree of breathability when standing or walking around, they do poorly under any strenuous activity. Besides, when it's raining you have several things working against you. For one, it's 100% humidity so there is little evaporation from the skin. Second, during a rianstorm, the rain jacket becomes soaked and the water on the outside of the jacket will probably form a barrier to vapor transmission to the atmosphere.

In other words, 'When it rains, you get wet'.

I'm no expert, but I live in a hot humid climate as well. The only thing that has been bullet proof, has been to only wear poly and take the soaking. Upon arriving at my destination, do the baby wipe thing and change into the dry clothes I wrapped in plastic like Chris.:angel:

This time of the year down here in the South, I don't use rain gear. I find that human skin is 100% waterproof AND breathable.

Dave

Yeah, I'd like to go naked, but it's just not acceptable where I live.

You might find this mini-review of rain jackets amusing, if not also helpful:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2085417/

Originally posted by hayneda
This time of the year down here in the South, I don't use rain gear. I find that human skin is 100% waterproof AND breathable.

Dave
Ride nekkid.

(In Summer.)

;)