J&G Rain cape - first impression
 

Last year I rode to work 170 days and the only way I can better that record is to ride in rainstorms. I already have fenders, a helmet cover, and a rain jacket, of course, and I bought some rain pants last fall and they're fine in cold weather, but way too sweaty if it warms up. Even the jacket on its own is kind of sweaty too.

So, I ordered a J&G rain cape. There were a few capes advertised online, but I couldn't find a North American supplier for the famous (and expensive) Carradice cape; and the hood seemed like an unecessary nuisance on the Campmor cape. Also, I just didn't like the look of this one.

Anyway, I got the J&G cape a few weeks ago and finally used it twice this week.

It definitely is much better than rain pants for avoiding sweating, and it worked very well at keeping not only my pants but also my shoes dry. I would certainly recommend it.

There are too caveats.

Capes are obviously not aerodynamic, so my commute took a little longer, and I had a hard time bucking the strong headwinds. In a very strong cross breeze, a cape would certainly affect your steering and add a risk of falling

Also, the thumb loops on this particular model are long elastic straps mounted quite high inside, so the front of the cape has too much freedom to flap, and I had to grab the hem and hold it on the handlebars. I like to glance down at the front derailleur from time to time to check what chain ring I'm on, and I had let go of the hem and then recapture it every time I did that. Of course it's probably not really necessary to visually check the chain ring so maybe I'll just unlearn that habit, but I still shouldn't have to grab the hem of the cape. The long loops are likely due to the "one size fits all" design, and I'll have to figure out how to modify the cape without tearing the fabric, to add lower loops to keep the front hem over my hands.

Hmm, I've thought about a cape in the past (I have a J&G vented jacket that I love) but I hadn't thought about the aerodynamic downsides. If I'm riding in the rain, it's almost always in fairly high winds, usually a headwind, and quite often gusty crosswinds that are already sometimes difficult to maintain a straight line in. I think maybe I'll stick with the rain jacket. Mostly when it rains around here it's warm enough that I don't really care if I get wet anyway.

Also, even with fenders and mudflaps, my legs and bike get really filthy from riding on the gravel roads, so I don't think a rain cape would keep those dry and clean, since that is coming from underneath anyway.

Update...I had another occasion to use it last week. I've already gotten used to just grabbing the front hem on the handlbars, but I will probably figure out how to sew handier thumb loops later.

Once again it kept me really dry including shoes, and even though the weather was much warmer than during the previous rides, the cape still wasn't sweaty.

Another thought is that maybe some lightweight battens in the front of the cape could keep it convex so the air doesn't make a bowl there. It would become a combination cape/fairing!

No kidding! Shazam! This is the kind of thing that ends with merciless taunting.

I've been considering the rain capes for a while. Citybikes in Portland does have Carradice stuff, and they're only a 15 mile ride away from me. One of these days...

Peter White is a Carradice distributor and his website indicates he sells both types of Carradice rain capes.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/carradice.asp <---- scroll down page

Thanks. If you scroll down you'll see it says the capes are "expected...March 2007". Back in February when I was researching capes I was skeptical to order on that basis. The page hasn't been updated. I wonder if the capes came in as "expected" :)

Get off your duff, man! :p ;) They have all varieties to try on there. Not many people in North America can just go do that. I'm glad I could. It's how I know the Carradice rain jacket was not meant for me. (or a lot of other females)