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Old 01-05-12 | 12:05 PM
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Seattle Forrest
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Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Seattle, WA
Originally Posted by sourdoughT
I'm in the market for a new jacket and will be looking for something for wintertime use for rain, snow, fifty degrees to zero degrees for commuting and long rides in wintertime.

Anyone have any ideas or experiences with what is available?
Yep. And that's a very wide range of conditions you want to use it for, so do yourself a favor and lose the idea of a one-jacket-fits-all-situations silver bullet. Anything warm enough to ride a bike in at 0 degrees is going to be way too warm at 50 degrees, and vice versa. You solve that problem with layers. The jacket itself should keep the wind and water out, and "breathe," but warmth should come from your layers. You don't want any insulation in the jacket at all, because that limits its versatility so that it's good for really cold situations, but not for moderate ones.

I love my Accelero and Beta AR jackets. One is a wind breaker, and the other is a goretex shell. Which one I wear on any given day depends on the conditions: is it going to rain heavily, how much wind is there, and what's the air temperature?

Merino wool makes the world's best base layer. It should be very thin, an athletic fit, and work immediately next to your skin. Cashmere sweaters are a wonderful mid/insulating layer. Cashmere has a very wide comfort range; it'll keep you very warm when you need it, but it'll lose most of its insulating power when you begin to sweat, which means you're not likely to overheat. And that means you won't be cold later on as you stew in your sweat in the freezing temperatures. Also, these two fabrics, especially together, move sweat away from your body and make it vanish like magic.
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