I'm originally from Charlotte, NC. What worked for me when I rode a lot there:
- A cycling-specific poly shell, that fits loose enough to wear thermal underwear or a light-weight poly pile jacket under it. Something like a PI Zephyr jacket, or Performance
Century shell. You don't have to get an expensive one with all the bells and whistles, and you won't get as sweaty in them as you do in the versions with goretex outer fabric.
- A regular gore-tex parka shell for rain and below freezing weather. This should be large enough to wear sweaters and such under it. For a while, I also had good luck with a much cheaper rain jacket (PVC lined nylon shell). I sweated more in the pvc jacket than in the gore-tex, but it kept me warm and did not let cold rain soak me down.
- Long-sleeve poly shirts, and synthetic thermal underwear. They are light, and just take one off when you get hot. I mostly wore them during morning rides. The shell was all that I needed down to about 35F.
- A couple of pairs of regular-weight tights without a pad (keep one pair clean and dry, so that you can switch after riding in the rain). Even if you wear non-cycling clothes over them, these will really save you a lot of discomfort. With these, you can stay pretty comfortable in most cool-wet drizzle weather conditions without having to wear rain pants.
- A pair of gore-tex cycling rain pants. You can get cheaper stuff, but if you are like me, the cheaper rain pants tear up too fast. I would just go for loose-fitting rain pants. Big enough to wear tights and/or fleece workout pants underneath.
- Larger-sized, synthetic fabric, knitted stocking caps. The kind you get at WalMart do just fine. You wear them under your helmet on colder days.
- Either a couple of plastic grocery bags, or a gore-tex helmet cover, for when it is really raining and is below 35 F.
- Cold-weather and rain gloves. Lots of options here. These days, I prefer regular fleece polyester pile ski-type gloves (sometimes wear 2 pairs), and a pair of rain-proof nylon/poly shell-only lobster-type gloves. With a couple of pairs of fleece gloves under my handsweats, I can ride pretty comfortably down to about 10 F.
- Booties. I preferred the basic nylon shell type, when I lived there. Cold rain is your biggest enemy, and neoprene gets too heavy and soggy in those conditions.
Pretty big list, now that I look at it. I would start with the shell, gloves, and tights, and accumulate the rest as it gets colder.
Last edited by Pinyon; 09-04-09 at 01:44 PM.