smoothster, you were the one with the hookup originally and i thank you. sadly it was like pulling teeth getting size info from that chick at probikekit.com so even though their prices were good i opted to shop locally because i think i'd have had to return it to the UK if it didn't work out and i'm in DC so that's a big hassle. i figure i'll wave down a proper roadie if i see somebody really tall and ask them what size they've got on... or something..

i still might get one sooner or later, but in the meantime i got two items on sale from performance that i'm pretty happy with. neither are as sexy as the Manotex team jackets, but both are satisfyingly tight fitting and together i have a lot of colder weather options...

a Pearl Escalation Jersey for $80 which is good for when it's just chilly but not cold:


and a GORE Windstopper jacket for $119 which i thought was a fair price - it seems like a nice piece of gear but it hasn't been cold enough here to test it yet:



my only complaint is that if these jackets had those double zippers that could come up from teh bottom they wouldn't have this one sort of roll of extra fabric when you're bent over.

still though - two jackets of different weight for $200 and a few extra bits to keep my extremities warm and i think i'm about ready.

thanks again for the help and for knowing what i was asking for even though i didn't know myself.