Originally Posted by legot73
I've been riding with PolarShield jacket and Schoeller fabric pants (REI Mistral) for about a month now. Over 45F, it's too warm, but it's great from 45F down to 4F (-9 windchill) so far. A silkweight base layer top underneath for down to 15F, and add a layer of Merino top and bottoms below that. YMMV.
As for water and wind resistance, it is wind resistent enough that I was comfortable in 20mph headwinds at -9 windchill (wish I could say the same about my fingers), and was dryer in 30F light rain than with my "breathable" raingear. This stuff has the best cold weather comfort range of any piece of clothing I own. Mine smells like "me", so I know its moving sweat. It doesn't get stinky, but my wife can identify it as mine.
A friend of mine has the North Face Apex jacket in identical conditions, and is happy with it, so I believe it's the fabric vs. the specific jacket. I have nothing bad to say about the REI Mistral stuff, just great stuff.
I have an Apex Bionic (AKA, Apex 2) and it is a very nice piece. It is comfy and warm, although at times when the temperature is a bit warmer out, I don't think the jacket breaths as well as I would like. I usually have to unzip some pockets, and then I'm fine. For winter riding it works great, except I prefer the better neck protection of a hard shell from the elements. They usually have a higher collar with a hood that forms a nice area around my neck.
Still I would recommend it, and the price is right on the Apex Jacket
Originally Posted by ohplease
Depends on what you need. For cycling applications, ideally, you'd need someting wind proof or with significant wind blocking on the front panels, and much more breathable on the back panels. I have a high loft powershield jacket, an ibex pingo polyester/wool softshell, traditional shell/fleece, and a cycling specific jacket from canari that can be transformed into a mesh backed vest.
True, but depending on the design and intended riding environment, you may really have to crank out the watts to keep warm, as all the body heat will dissipate out the back.
I have a Sugoi Team Radius Jacket that is exactly like that. I love that jacket, but it feels very cold when you start and if you stop. The breathable back and back of the arms really ventilates the body heat away. It was designed for very high aerobic intensity... I have used it to -9C, but I really had to keep my effort above 28km/h for the 100 km ride. There was a point when we were riding at about 24km/h and I felt very cold. It is more designed for late Spring, early Fall.