Perfect raingear?
 

I hate getting wet. I want raingear that's light, packable, keeps me dry from rain as well as internal condensation, won't fall apart with a little hard use, and won't break the bank (meaning: I ain't spending $250 on a rain jacket), and has pants that are roomy enough and acceptably easy to put on and take off.
Any such animal?
I have a decent jacket and pants set that I use on my scooter, but not the lightest and sort of bulky.

Don't think rain pants. Think rain chaps. They're called Rainlegs.

http://www.amazon.com/RAINLEGS-CL130.../dp/B001SN8IV6

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=246968

They are much cooler than rain pants, easier to get on, and work well. My rain kit is Rainlegs, a rain jacket(el cheapo from Performance), and waterproof booties. Truthfully, if it's warm, I won't wear a jacket at all. Riding in a rain jacket in warm Florida rain means sweating to death and getting wet anyway.

I do have a rain cape. It's OK, but I'm not as enthralled with the cape as others seem to be. That's mainly because it covers my headlight and I haven't found a way to move my DiNotte to the fork yet.

ditto on the rainlegs, though you are going to need to shell out $100 for a showerspass jacket if you want to stay dry both from rain and sweat.

I got these White Sierra rain pants and this Mountain Hardwear rain coat.

Both have proven to be excellent quality and well suited for a variety of activities. The coat, like all sub $200 outer layers, doesn't breathe the best, but it has huge pit zips that help a lot. I wear it year-round and only change up what I wear under it to suit the weather. The pants do what they're supposed to, are easy to get on and have ankle snaps.

There is no perfect raingear. If you ride in the rain for more than about twenty minutes, you are going to get wet, either from rain or from sweat, or both. Even with a $200 breathable rain jacket, you will get wet from sweat, but it won't be as much sweat as you'd collect with a $100 rain jacket. The best you can do is a Showers Pass Elite rain jacket, those Rainlegs, waterproof shoe covers worn UNDER the tights (with shorter socks that don't go as high as the tops of the shoe covers), neoprene paddling gloves, and fenders with the longest mudflaps you can get. And maybe a helmet cover, or at least a cap underneath the helmet. I wear all of the above, except for the Rainlegs; I don't mind getting the legs wet. Some variation of all this is pretty much the norm in the Pac Northwest, where it rains most of the time. If you want to ride a bike up here, you have to enjoy riding in the rain and getting wet.

Now, having said that, there is one system I used back in the 80's, and that's to use a Rain Cape. This is basically a huge waterproof poncho that covers your upper body and thighs. They have loops that you put your thumbs thru, so it covers your handlebars. Because it doesn't cling to your body (it's like riding in a tent), air flows freely underneath the poncho, so you also don't tend to collect as much sweat, or if you do, you're not so much in direct contact with it. The big disadvantage is that it is very non-aero and is adversely affected by wind gusts. I had one (it was made by cycling traffic engineering guru John Forester) and I bought it with cycling "spats" (shoe covers that went up to the knee in the front). As I recall, this system worked pretty well, but it did have drawbacks. Something you might consider, if you can find anything like it today.

Luis

I have rain gear from J&G that I really like. The jacket is $99, the pants $80. I've been wearing the jacket for 4 years now, it's still fine.

Ride naked.

Like Luis Ive been using a Rain cape, this winter .
Rain Squalls, coming ashore on the coast dump a lot of water in a short period of time.

Being in a Commercial fishing community, Grundens off shore foul weather gear is well known.
when I saw Rivendale went to Grundens for their rain cape design's manufacturing source.
I plunked down the $115 asking price [+ shipping]..

pretty dry in a really wet winter..

where we say.. Hope Summer comes on a Sunday,
so more people will enjoy it.

Texas weather is admittedly not the same as the PNW, of course..

so Rain Gear Manufacturers , spend a winter here testing your gear
not in down town Seattle. there is a rain shadow, there .
behind the Olympic Mtn peninsula there.

I was thinking of getting the non-breathable versions to save some shekels. Thoughts, anybody? Is it worth it, or just suck it up and buy the breathable stuff? My commute's 5 miles, if it helps.

I haven't tried the non-breathable, but I have worn other non-breathable stuff (regular rain jackets) and the vented stuff is well worth it.

Honestly, if it's warm (like, > 70 degrees) I prefer to just get wet, but if getting wet bothered me this rain jacket would be fine. I only really wear the rain jacket to keep from getting COLD and wet.

With the rain jacket, pants and helmet cover on I can ride in 33 degree rain and not really care or even really notice.

The key to this problem is to distinguish between whether you hate getting wet or you hate feeling wet. Cats hate getting wet. Most people don't. What most people really hate is having wet clothes clinging to their body. Cotton is the real enemy here. Manage comfort and getting wet isn't so bad.

Advantage of a rain cape is it is open underneath so watertight fabrics are fine.

I finally went thru the winter with dry gloves, too..

Move to a place where it never rains.

Try sierratradingpost.com. They have a lot of closeout stuff, some is hideously expensive, and some is quite reasonable.

I have some stuff in Gore Tex I got on a super sale a few years ago, but even that wasn't real cheap.

Of course, now i live in an area where it almost never rains, so...

If you aren't already riding with fenders, that's the first thing you need. Get good fenders that are plenty wide enough, and adding a mudflap to the front will make it even better.

My main piece of rain gear is a Showers Pass touring jacket. It is far superior to any other rain jacket that I have worn (for cycling). I've also got a rain cape that works wonderfully but is a bit bulky. I only grab the cape if it is really pouring. My main light is on my helmet, so it doesn't interfere.

I've tried rain pants and never been even close to satisfied. I'm going to get some of these rain chaps and hope that they do the job. I also remain unsatisfied with any cycling gloves for rain. I've got a good pair of waterproof gloves for the cold, but my hands will sweat profusely if I wear them when it is above 45 F or so.

I use a Sugoi helmet cover and rain shell. It has side-zip vents you can open to reduce the green house effect. I just ride in my jeans, and deal with the wetness. At work, I hang them up and they're dry by the time I go home. (I only have a 3.1 mile commute.) I'd like to get some water-resistant pants from REI, but they don't make them in fat girl size. :(

I have a half-dozen pair of the same pants that I just rotate through: REI Adventures pants. They aren't "waterproof," but they are made from nylon and dry very quickly. Unlike most nylon/polyester pants, this style uses a "peached" fabric so it looks normal (cotton-like) and not shiny, and they don't make a swishing sound when you walk. They are good pants to ride and play in, but still dressy enough that I pair them with a sportscoat and wear them to court. (I'm a lawyer.) If you get rid of all the cotton stuff and switch over to wool and synthetics, rain isn't nearly as much of a problem.

I think Campmor still has a $30 rain cape for cyclists.

I'm a big fan because the cape only weighs 8 ounces and I carry it all the time. You don't need jacket and pants. In fact, you don't need special gloves either. It also create a whole lot less sweat than many jacket/pants combinations. I have the J&G rain jacket (non-breathable) and it really creates moisture.

Heh, not only do those not come in fat girl sizes, they don't even come in girl sizes.

I want to try out the North Face Tempest pants - they're made out of nylon, and I'm within a few inches of the largest size. If the weight keeps dropping off like it has been since I started using my bike almost exclusively to get around, I should be able to get a pair in a month or so.

I love my J&G jacket, I don't have the pants. I went with the RainMates (very similar to the Rainlegs) it works for me. I have been wearing my jacket almost daily now for three years, it is still in good shape. When it needs to be replaced, I will get another one.

In the Summer I don't bother with rair gear - Shanghai is so humid that I get as wet wearing any kind of rain gear as I do just riding in the rain without it. I have a pretty decent winter riding jacket that's reasonably breathable and keeps me warm and pretty dry in the cold winter rain we get here, but even then I don't bother with rain pants, as my legs stay warm even when they're wet.

I'm a great fan of the Sugoi Hydrolite jacket. Packs to nothing, weighs nothing and is remarkably waterproof.

http://www.sugoi.com/usa/bike/men/ou...te-jacket.html

Legs just get wet, although I do have a pair of goretex socks that I use when it's really dismal out.

Try this thread over in "Touring": Rain gear

My "decent" set of jacket and pants are officially on my black list right now after riding in a torential rain this morning. They're a supposedly high end Taiwan brand that I bought at a top end outdoors gear shop. They soak up water into the fabric, but dry out quickly when hung. I even treated them with spray silicon but the fabric still soaks water. It rain before the soaked water did not transfer to the interior, but this morning it did, leaving me feeling soggy. Since I'm in Taiwan right now buying a quality jacket and pants from the US will cost me a bunch in shipping. I'l forget going back to the outdoors shop and go see what I can find at the better bike shops in town.

Rain cape. Almost all the capes out there are similarly cut, whether it's Carradice, Brooks Oxford, etc. I had one from MEC called the Cruise-Aider cycling cape. Definitely prone to wind and billowing, despite its waist strap.
But I discovered the Impac Cycling Cape, which is cut high on the sides. The front is longer than the Cruise-Aider and has a clear "window" to allow for handlebar lights. My experience so far is no billowing whatsoever. I still have all the benefits touted for rain capes: decent rain coverage, excellent ventilation. Below the knee does get wet, but booties will take care of that.
http://www.impaccycle.com/html/0901_cycling_cape.html

Interesting.. would fix a less than dry jacket.. and light up with a HB light.
hood looks big enough for helmet wearing. or just blow back in a gale.

I'm afraid your criteria are not realistic. Good rain gear is available. Very Inexpensive rain gear is available. However, good, very inexpensive rain gear is not available. My experience has been that good, expensive rain gear is worth the money many times over.

That said, in warmer weather, ANY rain gear is sort of pointless. Better to wear light wool and just get wet.

Rain capes and a rain hat are the way to go. I replaced the rain cape I bought in Germany (for under $10) with a J&G rain cape and have been pretty happy with it.

If you want to go for gore-tex or other waterproof breathable fabrics, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

1. The efficiency of the moisture transporting membrane increases as the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the fabric increases. Since it's pretty much always body temperature inside the clothing, they work much better when it is 30 out then they do when it is 70 out. (Gore-tex was originally developed for mountaineering, where not only did it tend to be pretty cold, but the lower atmosphere at high altitudes probably helped some, too.)

2. No waterproof breathable membrane can really keep up when you are engaging in strenuous activity. However, pit zips and other means of ventilation do help a lot. (They also help with non-breathable waterproofs, but since those have become the "budget choice," it's hard to find any with good ventilation.).

3. If you give up a little bit of waterproofness, you can get a lot more breathability.