Weather protection fairing for a high bike
 

I'm investigating ways of making a fairing to protect me from the rain on my Condor. I'm not so happy with my current rain protection gear, which consists of a gore-tex jacket, pants and overboots, for two reasons : firstly, it's a pain in intermittent rain and so-so weather, because I keep wanting to put it on and off as the weather changes and it's not so quick, and secondly, water tends to puddle on my tummy and go through the zipper.

I want a fairing that's quick to put on and can be folded into my bags when it's not raining, so some kind of body sock is in order. I was thinking of installing a small fairing on the front boom around my feet (kind of like this one here --> http://www.mueller-hp.com/xt/txvolaeside6.jpg) and velcroing rain-proof fabric around it and stretch it to the back of the bike so it covers my body.

However, I have a design constraint : when I stop, most of the time I can stay in the seat and put a foot down, but the bike is high enough that every now and then, things don't go as planned and I have to get off the seat and on my feet in a hurry. So I can't just stretch fabric between the front boom and the seat with a hole where my head is, otherwise I'll strangle myself when I rise from the reclined position. Instead, I was thinking of sewing it to the shoulders of an old rain jacket, so that it's attached to my upper body instead : this way, if it rains, I put my modified jacket on, velcro the other side to the front fairing, and as I lay down on the seat, the fabric becomes taut. It would be quick and easy to put on and off, it'd maintain air flow, and would be good enough to ride under light rain in non-windy conditions.

What do you think, would it work? would there be interferences with my knees when pedaling? what fabric should I use for this? I suppose I'd need something that stretches, like lycra, but I don't think it would be very waterproof. On the other hand, fabric that doesn't stretch would sag if the front fairing doesn't have much flex. Finally, is it easy to sew that sort of fabric? I've never sewn anything in my life, should I get professional help to do this?

IIRC, Presto used to market a setup like you're thinking of - a small nosecone fairing with a stretchable, water-repellent fabric that came off the top of the fairing and attached around the rider's shoulders. The rider on a Presto is fairly upright and the pedals at roughly seat height, so knee interference was not a problem.

I have the same problem with rain. My solution is to use an upright for commuting, but for rainy recreational rides I (1) use my V-Rex, which has a front fairing, and (2) use a pullover rain jacket (no zipper in front) and short sleeves so the rain cannot run down my forearms and pool at my elbows. My feet eventually get wet, mostly from wheelspray splash off the frame, but otherwise my biggest problem is getting soaked from sweat.

Thanks for the info on the Presto fairing. It seems it's what I'm looking for.

I checked yesterday, and there should be some knee interference, even with a high nose cone. But if the fabric stretches, it might not be such a problem. I'll go see a my local seamstressm, she'll probably know where she can find such a fabric.

Sorry to reheat this thread, but it seems I found exactly the solution I was thinking of:

http://www.alfredsaws.de/english/streamer.htm

This seems easy enough to make with an ordinary rain cape and a nose cone.