Today I made my first commute to school in heavy rain, and if you live in NY/NJ you know how bad the rain was. I learned a few lessons from it. First my rain jacket is woefully inadequate for heavy rain like we had today. Second I NEED fenders.

I have a pretty good idea of what fenders I am going to get but no clue as to where to get an affordable rain jacket that isn't like wearing a plastic bag. Does anyone know of a good lightweight rain jacket for less than $80?

Good idea on getting the fenders.

Rain jacket... seems to me your choice is water proof or water resistant.

Water resistant is only good for so long, or until it rains so hard.

Water proof gives you the choice of being soaked from sweat rather than rain, which I much prefer when it is cold. When it's warm, I just get rained on. I don't mind.

You can get a $10 rain suit like I have. Not breathable, however.

I don't know if you'll be able to get breathable, lightweight and less than $80.

Think about a coated rain cape too l better ventilation as the chest of your jacket
is under that tent.

Campmor has a low cost one.. https://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___50258

For about $80.. nothing i can really recommend. You might find some higher-end jackets on sale. Go for features over fabric. Don't get one with a hood, water will pour in the back your neck riding during a downpour.

Unless it's absolutely pouring, (which is rarer here on the Puget Sound than when I lived in the Midwest) I just wear a good, 100% wool sweater. Keeps me warm and dries quicker than about anything. For heavy rain, you really can't go wrong with waxed canvas. I retreat my Filson double logger jacket once a year and NOTHING gets through.

Performance commuter jacket and a helmet cover if it's really comming down. Works pretty good for me. It has pit zips, velcro on the wrists, some butt coverage, and the hood zips off. If you go hard you get wet from sweat but I haven't found anything including my very expensive gortex jacket that I won't work up a sweat in.
https://www.performancebike.com/bikes..._400000_400070

Try J&G https://bicycleclothing.com/Rain-Capes.html

Their breathable coat is $99 which is higher than your limit, but you can do the non=breathable or cape for much cheaper.

You could also try the Showers Pass Club Jacket that's $49. It's not as breathable as the touring or especially the event jackets, but is made well.

https://www.showerspass.com/catalog/c...ns-club-jacket

Just setting expectations here...

A good, breathable cycling rain jacket with pit zips and back vents is a wonderful thing to have. I own and can recommend the Endura Gridlock commuter's rain jacket, but it's over your budget at $99.

But all the breathability, zips and vents in the world won't make it cool enough to wear over a certain temperature. For me, it's between 50 and 55. Any warmer, and I get wetter from sweat inside the coat than I do from rain by not wearing it. Sure I'd make less heat if I slowed down...

So today my rain jacket stayed home, and it will tomorrow too.

I am pretty cheap, but I finally folded and paid $99 for a J&G Cyclewear rain jacket (www.bicycleclothing.com). I know it's a bit outside your price range but I think it's worth it, even though I hated to pay that much at first.

I've had it 4 years now and I love this jacket. I wear it at least 100 days a year, including all winter and it's still in great shape, in fact it looks nearly new. It's worth the money I paid for it. I'm happy enough with the durability of this jacket that I just spent another $150 with them buying their high end rain pants, some touring shorts and rain booties. They're also very good stuff.

All made in the US, too.

Thanks for all the links I just hope I can get my tuition refund before some of these sales end. I was looking at campmor's website and I found this anyone have an opinion? Campmor is especially attractive to me because I am not terribly far from their retail store (45 mins by car)

My budget of 80 dollars is just a soft estimate its mainly to weed out the $350 omg best ever rain jackets. I can go up a bit if there is a nice jacket.

Maybe you commuted at a different time than I do, but I didn't think the rain today was particularly bad. I picked up some cheap/ugly rain gear at my LBS awhile ago. It's basically just a two-piece full body raincoat. My raingear is not breathable, but my commute is only 7 miles each way and I hardly ever have to use it anyway.

If I had ridden today, I would have worn sandals, no socks, shorts, a polo shirt, and a rain jacket. That's exactly what I wore today, but I didn't ride. The jacket is to keep my shirt dry. The rest is fine to get wet, because it wasn't cold. If I had ridden vigorously, I would have gotten wet from sweat, because the rain jacket keeps moisture in. But that's better than wet from rain, because it would have been warmer.

In colder rain, I would probably have added layers of synthetic or wool. I would not have exposed cotton to the rain, because that gets cold.

Leave as much skin exposed as you can without getting cold. Better to let the rain run off your naked skin than to wear soaking clothing against it.

Another useful tip is to bring a change of clothes or leave it at work. Sometimes you'll feel yucky, no matter how much planning you do. Some weather doesn't have a set of ideal clothing for it.

Last month, it was raining so hard, and I'm car free, so I had no choice but to bike. I rode to work wearing only adidas shorts and sandals. I wrapped all of my clothes into two plastic grocery bags and rode to work. By the time I got there, if I dove into the swimming pool I wouldn't have been any wetter. But my clothes stayed dry in their bags, and it was actually a fun ride. I probably won't use that strategy in November though...

I use the yellow rain jacket and pants from this place
https://www.rainshield.com/p_cycling.html
and consider them adequate. They cost $25 each at the LBS.

For a six-mile ride to work, they seem to keep me dry. I once wore them on a four-hour 30-mile ride where it rained constantly, and I got wet. I am not sure, however, if it was rain or perspiration.

Their disadvantage is that they are flimsy. They tear easily. The tears can be covered with yellow duct tape. When one looks dorky enough, every few years, one has to replace them.

The pants do not have zippers on the legs, so it is hard to put them on over shoes. Over boots or large athletic shoes, not possible at all.

I would like to find the ultimate rain gear, but these have worked for many years, so I can't really justify the expense of something more high-end.

I like these: https://www.performancebike.com/bikes...1511000_400070

Its a clear plastic rain jacket with mesh underarms. Keeps virtually all of the rain off of you and vents fairly well. Plus it cost $20 and will do a better job than a lot of more expensive stuff.

This keeps me fairly dry, and more importantly, warm in a cold rain. It's not critical to stay dry, but if you are at least warm, you can ride for a long time.

https://www.performancebike.com/bikes..._20000__400070

I think I paid about $50 on sale. Also, it comes with a small stuff sack and fits in the pocket of my trunk bag, so it's always with me.

That's where a rain cape will work. I have been using it a lot lately. Temps over 50, heavy rain and I'm trying not to show up at my destination a soggy mess. It is admittedly pretty useless for the shoes, but it does keep the gloves dry. It has a hood, but that increases heat enormously.

I find it OK to arrive with a soggy head, but dry shirt. gloves and shorts. If it is really raining, I sometimes put the hood under the helmet.

Just be careful in heavy wind...