Question about bicycle raingear
 

Heya everyone, I live in the good ol Pacific Northwest, so I am anticipating that it will soon enough be rainy outisde. So I figure I better start stocking up now on rain-protection and whatnot. So far I have bought a rain jacket from REI. What do you guys wear underneath the jacket? A jersey or nothing? What are some other things that I should be buying. Are fenders necessary?

-Jason Keller

Reflective vest & when it gets colder, you will want some wool, fenders are necessary unless you don't mind a lot of black road goop all over yourself & the bike. The gear I like the most are my Winter gloves & booties, make a huge difference in comfort: they keep my hands & feet warm & dry. Don

Your base layering under your raingear will depend on the outside temperature. It's easy to get clamy under too much raingear. I tend to perfer rain coats with underarm zippering, to allow some regulated ventilation. This is particulary helpful when it's raining but not very cold outside.

Would it be possible for you guys to link to some different clothing and explain what it might be best suited for? There are plenty of choices in the shops around here, but I'd rather not end up with something that is not useful to me.

I have no rain gear or winter clothing (other than a long-sleeve jersey) and will need to pick some up.

BTW -- I'm also in the Pacific NW, so that means moslty rain and a little chilly.

I have a rain suit (jacket and pants) I bought from Performance. It is nylon and inexpensive. It works pretty well. You end up getting wet eventually but it does pretty well in preventing hypothermia.

Fellow PacNorthwesterner here.

Try, try, try to ride/commute year round, but...

Anyway, I've tried lots of gear and my experience is that no matter what you get you WILL get wet. The only question is how much.

I like the Performance neoprene (waterproof) tights. These are really good. $69 - retail. On top I wear a silk or UnderArmor base layer. Wool jersey and then a "waterproof" nylon jacket. If its really cold, I'll put on two nylon jackets, so I can strip one later.

I also wear a beanie under my helmet that goes over my ears. This is critical. I also like to wear my MTB helmet with visor when its rainy.

The problem I am still sorting out is shoe covers. I still haven't found a good warm/waterproof pair. Once my socks are wet and its chilly. The ride is over for me.

Fenders are key, as one sage already indicated. I also run a dual-beam Nitesun and two rear blinkies. One on the bike, one on me for my commute. My usual rain ride is my Ti MTB. So it just gets hosed off with WD-40 and tossed in the corner when I get home. Relube as needed, but the road grit seems to chew up parts faster.

I find rain riding no fun under the best conditions, but try to stick with it anyway.

-Z

I am a NWester cyclist and commuter as well. For some reason I have not figured out to wear something better than the older cycling skullcap with tiny visor under my visored helmet. Perhaps this winter I will break down and buy one. Same for the feet covers. Meanwhile my "yellow" ( it is really green ) slicker from REI proves to be a solid investment, full fingered gloves are a MUST, and the tights I have from REI have held up well. Fenders of course, and you want a lot of light on you. Mine are on the Timbuck2 bag that carries the evening work and on the handlebars a Gen 3 headlamp with rechargeable batteries from Performance. I have at least 2 and sometimes three reflectors on the back depending on the number of painers I carry. Your bike will get dirty faster. Do the mainteance, you will be happy you did. Once a man passed me and said my chain was so loud he thought I was a motorbike. I ride with cotton layers underneath then hang them to dry at work. I could go with wool, I will have to try that. Occassionally I don a lycra jersey for the undergarment. Good Luck

Gore Tex. Helps a lot with the claminess. Performance makes a comparitively chep Gore Tex jacket, cut for cycling. Another piece of equipment I really like is a Gore Tex helmet cover. It block the wind and rain from coming through the helmet vents. Unless it's seriously cold, its all you need on your head, and it doesn't effect helmet fit like wearing something underneath the helmet does

Base layer you have a choice of 3 that work well.
-Polartec Powerdry http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...=1127145405717
-Polypropylene http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Hel...t-LS-Crew.html
-Marino Wool http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...=1127145405714

Under armor, DeFeet base layer, and other name brands are most likely one of the above, and name branded so priced higher.


Thermal Layer
-Any Long Sleeve Jersy
-Any Coolmax style long sleeve, 10-20 bucks at the discount stores
-Wool long sleeve

Rain layer
-Light, thin is best. Lots of choices, what you want is a slim fit, light. Lots of choices, lots of threads on it.


For a lot of our weather you dont need both layers under your coat. You can wear either your base layer or thermal layer, and your rain layer over it. Or skip the rain layer and just wear the 2 shirt layers. Mix and match !

But you cant go wrong with buying one of the 3 styles of base layers, then any wicking layer over it. Do like I did, I bought 1 of each of the 3 main types of base layers. Rotated thru each and then after a month decide which i want to buy more of :)

Sounds like some good info. Thanks. :D