decent rain gear
 

this morning i biked in to work while it was pouring out. used a "light" craft rain jacket, thing was useless- a river of water would pour from the mesh in the arms. given, it's a "light" rain jacket, but even during light rain i still got wet. what is it going to take to keep me moderately dry during rain?

I get so sweaty on my ride that I could care less if it's raining. The only thing I would pay money to keep dry in the rain somehow are my glasses and there really isn't a solution for that.

I wear rain gear to stay warm, not dry.

do you have a visor on your helmet? i find that helps a lot with the rain/glasses issues.

Directly on the Pacific shore, where Squalls come ashore undiminished..

I now am a convert to a cycle rain cape, , the jacket is just to wear until I unlock the bike
put on the cape over it, and head off .. you may prefer a Helmet and rain cover
for your headcovering..

the cape, as it also covers my hands, they are also dry.
no gloves were ever satisfactory.. before. hands never as dry.

My older helmet has one. I haven't found the helmet visor to be all that helpful. A cycling cap under the helmet is the best solution I've found but nothing's going to be perfect when your outside in the rain.

I wear a baseball hat rather than a cycling cap, it seems to be the most visor I can get poking out in front of my glasses. Still doesn't do anything when fogging glasses is the issue but...

I have also experimented w/ safety glasses over my regular glasses and that does keep the fog off my glasses; if the safety glasses eventually fog up I can take them off and make it in. But the $5 ones I buy scratch up fast so they never last too long and they are clunky enough and not that great enough that I am not quick to replace them when they go.

Wet from sweat or wet from rain, I prefer wet from rain in summer time. In colder weather I prefer wet from sweat because it's a lot warmer.

I've been quite pleased with my Showers Pass Touring jacket. Tough and durable, reasonable venting and zip-vents, good fit overall. It's on the warm side, so it's great for cool wet weather and even snow with a wool baselayer and longsleeve jersey.

I don't wear it to keep dry so much as warm. On short trips it keeps me dry, but I sweat like a beast in the lightest of heat or activity, so any significant time on the bike will drench me; jacket or not.

+1

I have a rain jacket from Patagonia that I can wear cycling or hiking. It has pit zips to help regulate heat and is completely waterproof. The hood is adjustable, allowing room for a helmet underneath. Since I got this jacket, I am less likely to get soaked from sweat than I used to be with the cheapo rubberized rain stuff I had.

In this morning's light rain, with the pit zips open and the temp at 52F, I arrived at work only slightly damp from sweat. It was too warm for rain pants and shoe covers so my knickers, wool socks and sandals are hanging up to dry. Under 40F I'll enlist the aid of the rain pants and shoe covers.

http://bicycleclothing.com/Rain-Capes.html

Got this for my birthday. Have only used it a couple mornings so far between the lack of rain and the fact that I don't wear it if it's too warm, but I've been very pleased with it the days I have worn it. It allows some air to get up from underneath for ventilation, which is why I opted for cape over rain jacket to begin with. Highly recommend.

I may have to try that. Providence gets ocean storms sometimes, like this morning, that just dump water
down.

My raincoat isn't cutting it, I got soaked this morning. And also, got a flat on in the middle of the deluge.

I got mine thru Riv Bike, they went to Grunden's the Swedish commercial fisherman's
off shore working foul weather gear manufacturer, in Portugal.
a heavy PVC outside, on a Nylon Fabric..

On the tag is the 'Nordan Poncho' , in English and Swedish..
GP & co, say they worked out the design, patterns ,
with the manufacturer's people ..

I have an Eleven81 rain cape that works great in cooler weather however during warmer temperatures it can still retain heat and cause me to sweat... but it's far better than a even a breathable (GoreTex) rain jacket at all temperatures if sweat is to be kept at a minimum. It also offers good lap protection and even lower leg protection if the wind or your speed isn't too great. The downside is that you cannot wear a backpack over it and unless your backpack is small/slim, it won't fit well under it either.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=267570

Brooks offers a very nice waxed cotton cape that I've tried and liked. Very nice indeed (I'm a fan of waxed cotton) but also very spendy.
http://www.bikepedia.com/pa/Item.asp...6#.UCw4cHi21UQ


BTW UMassAm (are you a Zoo-Mass student or faculty member?;)), I'm in the process of running Nikwax through the paces.... you may want to give it a try on anything you have as a water-repellent shell. I've even treated a pair of cotton gloves with the stuff and so far it beads up water like a duck's back.


More info.

I've got a kit of IllumiNITE rain gear -- jacket, pants, helmet cover, and shoes covers. All came from Performance Bike about four years ago, and I believe they carried the Performance brand. I can't find them on the Performance web store now, but you might send them a customer service email to inquire. The helmet cover especially was helpful because it is designed to accomodate a visor, which helps divert the rain from your eyes.

Anyway, I wore that kit on a commute from work to home, about 10 miles on steep hills, in between (or so I thought before I started riding) two serious storms with tornados. 1/3 into the commute the sky opened up and several inches of rain dropped in just about 20 minutes. Very heavy rainfall. I arrived home bone-dry (and had a nice tail wind pushing me uphill along the way!).

I can't believe I didn't respond sooner. Actually I have used Rain-X with great success on my plastic lensed 'glasses' to bead up rain. The same company also offers an anti-fog solution that also works well. Even though it has worked for me I'd like to point out that you may want to first try these treatments on an old pair of similar glasses to what you wear now or just treat a very small corner of your present prescriptions to ensure that there aren't any adverse affects like clouding of the lens.

If you need a quick anti-fog solution, wiping your lenses dry with dish detergent works in a pinch... worked for my diving masks, ski goggles and plastic motorcycle face shields.

I've been considering these:

http://kroopsgoggles.com/goggles/bic...-ote-c-c-blu-w

Scott