Originally Posted by
bizzz111
wear wool and just get wet. Any "breathable" jacket I wear just makes me sweat a ton, and so it's either get wet by the rain, or get wet by the sweat. I choose the rain.
This is how I roll too. Wool sweater when necessary, over a motocross jersey, over a long sleeve technical undershirt. Wool tights over cut off scrub shorts, all of this over bib shorts. For my hands I've developed a system: motorcycle (Tour Master brand) silk liners, military surplus polyprolene gloves (described as liners as well), fingerless cycling gloves so my hands don't get numb and wool military surplus gloves over all that. If it is REALLY raining than I'll slip on a pair of medical exam gloves under all that.
Now obviously the layers are all modular, so most winter/rainy days I'm only wearing maybe two thirds of the above layers. Here in Seattle I have to climb hills for much of my 8-ish mile commute each way so I usually warm up a fair amount over the ride and can peel a few layers off rather than be trapped in rain pants and a rain jacket sweating a lot and getting too warm. If you are on a budget my system can be put together for not a lot of cash. I'm a big Clyde so I buy my jerseys new, but if you are a normal size these can be bought at thrift stores for very little, the silk glove liners are 10-15$ and can be omitted, both the milsurp gloves I mentioned above are about $5 a pair, and with good fenders and mudflaps I just wear cycling or regular shoes with wool cycling socks. My bib tights were pricey, but a lot of that has to do again with my size, you can get these for less, other than that the most expensive thing was my wool cycling tights from New Zealand which cost me $60.
I do think one of the advantages that I am lucky enough to have that helps this system work for me is that I have a shower at work, so after nearly an hour out in the rain I get a warm shower when I get there. Maybe that's the difference between being wet from the inside out rather than outside in. There are many ways to surmount the problem of cycling in the rain in the northwest, what you choose will not only be dictated by budget and what you discover you prefer, but where exactly you ride, and perhaps to a small degree how your bike is set up. I can't recommend FULL fenders and mudflaps enough, my feet are basically dry as I ride now, and not having cold, wet feet makes all the difference.
Someone mentioned MEC, I wish I could order clothes from MEC, when I have tried before it seems like all the clothes I am interested in online they won't ship out of Canada across the border into the US to me in Seattle.
