Recommendations for Visible Jacket/Vest
 

Hi,

After our last club ride on the back roads of Sonoma County, in and out of shadows, sharing the road with Sunday drivers going to wine tasting, my husband agreed to get a jacket/vest that will increase his visibility. We went to REI and saw this Pearl Izumi jacket. Nice jacket, but my husband balked at paying almost $100 for a jacket.

Can any of you recommend a bright green men's jacket that is comfortable to wear on warm summer days and doesn't cost a lot of $$? Or is the money worth it because the fabric breathes better than the less-expensive polyester jackets out there?

Thanks, everyone!

Today I purchased a Hi-Vis Safety Vest at Lowes home improvement store for only
nine dollars and change. I can wear it or put it on my recumbent seat. Low cost
but high visibility with reflective stripes. Of course it is a little Fredish.....http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...000&lpage=none

Those construction worker vests can get real hot. I've never been dissatisfied with anything I've purchased from PI, and I've purchased a lot from them. I have a couple Canari hi viz jackets too, and I'm not real happy with them because they don't breathe very well, and when I take them off after a long ride, they're usually dripping wet. My favorite jacket is a vagabond PI product where I can zip off the sleeves. I'm lucky because there is a PI outlet store nearby and I usually get PI products at about 1/3 retail price. My wife also likes her various PI jackets, but her favorite is her Goretex wind$topper. I have to admit, it is a beautiful jacket.

I've got a Pearl Izumi Zephyr vest in that eye-gouge yellow-green . . . great visibility, highly breathable back, good windblock on the front, about $60. Looks like they may not sell it anymore . . . of course. May have replaced it with a model called the Optik for about the same price.

Edit: They do still sell it, they just spell it strangely: Zephrr

If the cycling jackets and vests don't do it for you, go to a safety supply store. They will have a million hi-vis vests. You can find some pretty decent mesh ones, and probably fit it tight enough so it won't flap around like the guys working on the highway. The good thing about them (if they fit right) is that they can be worn over any garment - jacket, jersey, shirt, etc. - that you happen to want to wear that day. And, can roll up and put away for the coffee shop stop.

This may be a dumb question, but -- have you thought about using a light in the daylight? I use my Dinotte taillight when visibility is going to be low (plenty of gloomy days in Seattle).

It's blazingly, annnoyingly, reassuringly bright.

Performance Century jacket under $30 and the Performance Iluminite vest under 50 both work well.

Great suggestions!

BengeBoy: I did not realize that lights would be bright enough to be visible in the daytime. Some of those shadows get pretty dark in the redwoods. This is a great idea. (In addition to the vest/jacket!)

maddmaxx: Thanks for the suggestions. Does it get hot where you ride? (Work well in the heat?)

Camilo, and cranky old dude: REI also has an inexpensive mesh vest, so this option works for cyclists. (And at a fraction of the price of the PI jacket!) And hubby is a total Fred. (And proud of it!)

Spokes man and Old Hammer Boy: I love PI, too, and haven't regretted a single purchase.

w2brdbkr: Is Performance a chain LBS?

Thanks, everyone!

get in touch with foxwear lou can make whar ever you need at decent price and great quality

In the summer we get up to 95 or a 100 deg perhaps 5 or 6 times a year. It usually stays in the upper 80's though. I have a set of very brightly colored jerseys for riding the road (orange, green, yellow, red). Many of us just get wicking fabric sports jersey's in the dept stores like Kohls or Target or even "ghasppppp" Wallmart. Most of those can be bought for $15 to $20 especially when on sale. Look for the racks near the shorts and psudo basketball clothing. Avoid fancy (expensive) logo's and buy plain. I favor the bellbottom cut.


Edit: DG and I can tell you that it helps to have a white bike.

$15-$20 is on the high side for these jerseys. I own at least 6 or 7 of them, getting 4 of them for $5 each on a year-end closeout. They're great jerseys, as long as you don't need a back pocket - which are useless when riding a recumbent. I really like the Champion C9 jerseys from Target.

Take a look at my picture when I rode with the Historian.

Brightly colored, with reflective panels in case I get caught in the dark. Moisture wicking, and even though I was a little warm that day, they do also come in a short sleeved version. They also have a light windbreaker that I bought, but haven't worn yet.

These are available in either ANSI Orange or ANSI Lime. I could particularly tell the value of the wicking after one rest stop... when we took off, my arms felt very cool as the wind passed and wicked away the small amount of sweat that had accumulated while sitting.

The short sleeve without the reflective panels are $9.95

http://www.AlertShirt.com

Try www.alertshirt.com.

Scott P
Bend, OR

I just started doing this for day time riding (even out in open areas with no shadows). Really eye catching! I use one that performance had on sale for 19 bucks. Lightweight and easy to use.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=1130
$80. Had for 4 years and great. A tad warm when temps raise to 85

http://www.performancebike.com/infor...cfm#california
Berkeley, Dublin, San Rafael, SF, Walnut Creek, one of these might be in your travel radius.
If no trips, I'll pick San Rafael.

I would recommend NOT to the get the lime green. If you watch from vehicles often the lime merges with background greenry. Yellow is a better choice. And yes it is needed, many wine country visitors, combined with in/out of shadows and many roads not clearly marked == exciting times for riders.

BTW, there's a decent bike shop in downtown napa.

I bought a simple Pearl Izumi windbreaker, in that same "screaming yellow" color, for about $60. For warm weather cycling, I also still have a few bright orange T-shirts from the First [and last] Great Annual Pumpkin Run my wife's former ballet teacher once sponsored. (I bought 20 leftover shirts for $1 apiece about 20 years ago.) My favorite cycling top is the bright orange T-shirt one of my friends had made for an electronics project on which we worked. Since we were developing image processing technology for high-speed cameras used in automobile crash testing, it has pictures of two crash test dummies on the front and "Danger -- Crash Test Engineers" emblazoned on the back. I also enjoy wearing it to the annual San Diego Auto Show. :)

Have a variety of outer clothes but to be seen- you do not need colour- but it needs to catch the attention. It is the reflective quality that works- even in Daylight. Bright Neon colours do not always work and I have known Black to stand out at times.

All my jackets have reflective cords built into them that catch car headlights at night and sunlight in the day.

But the extra attribute of the "Quality" cycling tops is that they Breath. $100 for a waterproof windproof cycling top that breaths is cheap. My Goretex cost 3 times that amount and I have had my moneys worth out of it- Only bought it 10 years ago in a sale- so just about due to go back to the factory for reproofing. Not that it needs it as it works and looks as good as the day I bought it.

And those are not lights on the blue top. Just getting ready for a night ride and that is just the failing evening light and a street lamp catching the reflective strips.

check out the Showers Pass website

stapfam: Great illustration of what works other than flourescent green. Can you please tell me what that bright bit is in the middle photo? It's bright even in the daylight.

Reflective strips and patches, TruF. Check out motor-cycling apparel, which has had them for ages now. They shine up like neon when headlights hit them :)

That gives me an idea. How's about a streamlined cycling outfit with reflective strips all over it, so we can pedal about at night time looking like middle-aged Trons?

http://www.geekitude.com/Pictures/Li...UpCloseRot.jpg

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/t/tron.jpg



:lol:

I LOVED that movie!!! And totally forgot all about it. I've had a silly crush on Jeff Bridges most of my life. Still think he's cute. In spite of Starman. ;)

I've had good luck with a Louis Garneau Electra wind jacket. It was more money than I wanted to pay, but it has really been worth it. It is some sort of BRIGHT yellow-green. You'd have to be somewhat more than legally blind not to see me when I'm wearing this jacket.

This has been the best piece of cool weather apparel that I have bought. It allows things like base layers and long sleeve jerseys to do what they're designed to do, keep you warm. I've found that wind will cut through a heavy long sleeve jersey and to some extent a base layer. That thin bit of wind jacket makes all the difference.

The sleeves on mine zip off to form a vest. Also, if I want the sleeves on the jacket, I can unzip the sleeves slightly and have "pit zips" for additional ventilation.

Red means stop....Green means go.........Yellow means speed up :D