Rain cape
10-11-20, 09:12 PM
#26
QR-disc must die!!!
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia.
Posts: 703
Bikes: '99 Trek 520, '20 Kona Sutra (FOR SALE 48cm), '21 Simon-Bikes mini-velo and a chromoly-framed folding bicycle with drop-bars and V-brakes, that rolls even while folded.
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So there was quite steady rain during the second half of today's daylight hours, which has been my first chance to test the J&G rain cape and helmet cover. I give them favorable marks! The bicycle I rode was my 2020 Kona Sutra. OEM front fender set up so that the bottom of the mud flap is between the 4 and 5-o'clock point on the chainring guard (somewhat lower than seen on the stock photo). Clothing was trousers, thong sandals and a short-sleeved T-shirt.
I rode for about 30 minutes on the streets surrounding my house. It's a hilly neighborhood, with a good variety of grades. Made sure to blast down the fastest hill as well as climb back up it. Got out just beyond the residential streets. Rode, a few times, the street that runs between the high school and the back of a strip mall. Into and throughout the parking lot of the athletic facilities complex Tried both grip positions of the drop-bars. I couldn't find any standing water to blast through, unfortunately.
So how did it all do? Afterwards, inside, I evaluated my clothing. The only part that got wet, other than my feet, was the bottom 8-inches of my trouser legs *on the front half only*. The back half of them was dry except for the bottom inch or such. Had the weather been too cold for thong sandals, I'd'a been wearing wool crew socks that are at least 8-inches high, plus shoes, which woulda totally kept this wetness from making me cold. I'm guessing that the wetness was entirely from the front tire, below the mudflap only. So maybe extend that flap all the way to the ground surface for total protection from this wetness.
The material is a translucent nylon of some type. The company calls it "oxford cloth", but I can say that it's not the same as what sunbrellas are made of. More like a heavy duty kite material (like what the kite carrying case would be made of). This material felt clammy as it draped over my bare hands. For rain rides in 60f or below, you might want some additional insulation, because wind plasters this material over your hands and fingers (maybe less while in the drops of drop-bars, if your fingers are behind the levers). The material seemed waterproof on me, but it seemed less-so where it draped over the metal part of my handlebars. As someone here said already though, you can add an additional waterproof treatment.
All in all, this is a good product. Much better than a hooded rain cape, if you use a mirror fastened to your eyeshield. It packs down relatively small so, good to keep in a small stow-sack on your bicycle.
Helmet cover: If you wear a helmet with just a dinky brim, such as my helmet, the Kali Lunati Sync, the regular size cover will probably work. Instead of that brim though, I prefer to use the 3-inch DaBrim Rezzo brim, which is big enough to require at least the large size cover, which I've yet to order/test.
Wow, that was long enough for a review blog.
I rode for about 30 minutes on the streets surrounding my house. It's a hilly neighborhood, with a good variety of grades. Made sure to blast down the fastest hill as well as climb back up it. Got out just beyond the residential streets. Rode, a few times, the street that runs between the high school and the back of a strip mall. Into and throughout the parking lot of the athletic facilities complex Tried both grip positions of the drop-bars. I couldn't find any standing water to blast through, unfortunately.
So how did it all do? Afterwards, inside, I evaluated my clothing. The only part that got wet, other than my feet, was the bottom 8-inches of my trouser legs *on the front half only*. The back half of them was dry except for the bottom inch or such. Had the weather been too cold for thong sandals, I'd'a been wearing wool crew socks that are at least 8-inches high, plus shoes, which woulda totally kept this wetness from making me cold. I'm guessing that the wetness was entirely from the front tire, below the mudflap only. So maybe extend that flap all the way to the ground surface for total protection from this wetness.
The material is a translucent nylon of some type. The company calls it "oxford cloth", but I can say that it's not the same as what sunbrellas are made of. More like a heavy duty kite material (like what the kite carrying case would be made of). This material felt clammy as it draped over my bare hands. For rain rides in 60f or below, you might want some additional insulation, because wind plasters this material over your hands and fingers (maybe less while in the drops of drop-bars, if your fingers are behind the levers). The material seemed waterproof on me, but it seemed less-so where it draped over the metal part of my handlebars. As someone here said already though, you can add an additional waterproof treatment.
All in all, this is a good product. Much better than a hooded rain cape, if you use a mirror fastened to your eyeshield. It packs down relatively small so, good to keep in a small stow-sack on your bicycle.
Helmet cover: If you wear a helmet with just a dinky brim, such as my helmet, the Kali Lunati Sync, the regular size cover will probably work. Instead of that brim though, I prefer to use the 3-inch DaBrim Rezzo brim, which is big enough to require at least the large size cover, which I've yet to order/test.
Wow, that was long enough for a review blog.
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