As winter approaches I’m looking at acquiring a light rain jacket for those occasions where it’s needed. I live near Sacramento so the temps don’t get very cold but it can rain heavily.
Knowing this jacket won’t see a great deal of use but not wanting to buy any junk, what can be suggested that works well but won’t be costly ?

How much is "won't be costly"?

I like Gore-Tex paclite material. REI has one on sale now, about $100.
https://www.rei.com/product/137308/r...tx-jacket-mens

Also eVEnt is good waterproof material. I have one made by Westcomb but it's pricey

Don't get a Marmot Mica, sucks, wets through in no time

Under $50-$60

Although price will go up with this feature, I recommend something with large zippered vents. I don't have a particular product in mind for cheap, but I find that (and a hood) to be key to it being comfortable in the rain (or cold winds). With the zippers you won't get wet from the inside over that big hill or when you're running late and have to up your game.

Edit:
Also, not having elasticated cuffs means you can have it open or closed there, aiding in breathability.

Showers Pass rain jackets aren't real cheap but they seem to be a good value in that they give years of useful service.

Personally I skip breathable fabrics and find that keeps the cost down for touring or any use where I will be sweating profusely. I just don't expect to be dry when riding. I figure I'll be wet from sweat regardless. I am wet from sweat riding when it isn't raining and I don't have a raincoat on so how can I expect breathable fabric to keep me dry in the rain? I figure a rain garment is more of a wind chill garment. It keeps me warm not dry, so for me a light wind shirt usually suffices with insulation designed for wet usage underneath. I come from a whitewater canoeing/kayaking background where being wet is a given and freezing temperatures are often a necessity so I have some nice tech shirts/sweaters.

I don't usually use them for touring, but I have friends who swear by Frogg Toggs for inexpensive rain gear. I have worn them for day hiking and they seemed fine for a very inexpensive price. I take a FT poncho (the ultralite model) along sometimes when backpacking, but have not needed it much. Having been really lucky with the weather on the trips where I taken it, mine has not seen a lot of use, but it seems pretty good and was cheap enough to buy a few and have them in vehicles and various packs. The whole product line is mostly well within your budget including the cheaper suits with pants and jacket I think. Unless the prices have gone up lately even their high end stuff isn't way out of your range.

The Frogg Toggs stuff isn't super long wearing, but with care it holds up okay. Worst case patch it up with duct tape. If you live somewhere that you wear it daily you might consider it short lived, but for my usage it will last years and years.

Wet skins (Extreme series) Pants and jacket for $49.00 Canadian... Weighs 3Lbs but both can be folded up together into a smaller than football sized piece, had mine for 2 years and never got wet, even tho I look totally soaked from the outside...

I've had success with O2 Rainwear's original hooded jacket.
Pros:

• Inexpensive ($40)
• light weight
• roomy fit for layering on cold days
• doesn't wet out since the waterproof layer is on the outside
• has a hood
• brushed inner fabric feels better against skin
• repairs easily with tape

Cons:

• fragile
• elastic cuffs don't allow airflow up sleeves
• no pit zips
• ugly

There's a difference between being damp from sweat and being drenched from rain. I accidentally tried the wind shirt experiment when we got stuck in an unexpected downpour on an overnighter. The only saving grace was that we had a steep climb to the campground to keep our core temps warm. I'm not aware of any fabrics that will keep you warm if you're completely wet outside of a wet suit. Perhaps you'd be willing to share you layering strategy when riding in a hearty rain storm in temps from mid 40s to low 60s.

For those conditions I prefer a full rain suit: jacket, pants, and booties. Yes, I'll get a little damp from sweat, but my layers underneath can manage a little moisture.

I agree with you niknak, I definitely want a good rain jacket available as "perspiration wet" is far better than being drenched. Also, my rain jacket often serves as my heaviest outer layer against wind and cold so mine sees a lot of use, not just when it is raining, hence my desire for quality. Frog Toggs were far too fragile for my taste.

Look at a few online sites:

REI: https://www.rei.com/search?q=rain+ja...gory%3Acycling
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Rain+Jack...&ref=sr_nr_n_1
Jensonusa: https://www.jensonusa.com/search?s=p...&q=rain+jacket
Wiggle: https://www.wiggle.com/mens/cycle/jackets?o=2
Merlin: https://www.merlincycles.com/cycling...sort=price-min
Lands End: https://www.landsend.com/search/S-y5...PriceLowToHigh
Endura: https://www.endurasport.com/mens/c/m...%3ARoad%253B1#

You get the idea. I browsed steepandcheap.com and voler.com but saw no real deals there for rain jackets. I have an REI rain jacket with the pit zips. Its good when I need it. Nothing is a panacea and most will not breathe well so will act like two layers and make you sweat. It is what it is. Like another poster said above, I'd also rather be hot and sweaty than cold and wet.

A friend who's good with a sewing machine made me a simple anorak out of silnylon. It's three ounces, packs the size of a fist, and is the best rain jacket I've ever owned. If I'm in traffic I'll wear my hi-vis jacket on top of that.

If I had to buy one, I'd get a cheap light jacket at the local Army/Navy store. Last one I got cost under $40.

I've never been happy with breathable fabrics on a bike. The membrane stops breathing when wet or dirty. There are some climate conditions and activities where they work well, but seldom where I am.

Yep, zippered vents is where it's at.

I have relied on insulation layers designed for use under a paddling jacket or drysuit. My favorite tech sweater is one from Immersion Research. It doesn't hold much moisture and I have found it very warm as long as there is a wind barrier over it. It has gone on all my tours, thousands of miles of trail running, all my recent backpacking trips, and tons of river trips. Before I moved south I lived in the mid Atlantic region and rode or ran regardless of the weather.

I have usually but not always taken wind pants on tour.

I have never used booties on tour. I seldom use them at home either. I generally found that I manage okay if I choose socks that are okay when wet and dry fast and wear shoes that don't soak up much water and drain well. I found that worked for me even for snowshoeing and trail running in the snow.

On a few tours I took real rain gear rather than wind shirt and wind pants, but it was coated nylon rather than breathable stuff.

I have been pretty lucky in that I have not had long spells of rain on my tours, but having gone coast to coast a couple times and having done a bunch of other longish tours I have seen some rain on my tours including a few deluges. Also I tend to ride in the ran rather than hole up in camp on rainy days.

I am pretty happy with the Marmot Precip, that is about double your budget. Has a hood which I like to have for the campsite, but I do not use a hood when on the bike.

I'm sold on the rain cape by J&G Cyclewear, along with a helmet cover (rather than a hood, which is never compatible with an eyesheild-mounted mirror). Much more ventilating than a jacket and it keeps you really dry as long as your bicycle has effective fenders.

i only use hoods under the helmet.

Though this strategy is best when not in a rush, buy a lightly used jacket of what you really want for 50% off. I have seen Showers Pass jackets for 50% off or more that still had the tag on. It can take several months at times to get that deal but if you set up an automatic alert on eBay, it makes it a lot easier. That said, I do enjoy my Showers Pass Elite jacket.

I got one of these about 4 years ago and after about a year the white, waterproof coating on the inside of the jacket started delaminating. In addition to rendering the jacket non-waterproof, every time it was worn, I ended up looking like I rolled around in baby powder from all the tiny white flakes covering my clothes. In fact, everywhere I went, it shed white flakes all over everything around me.

It was pretty disappointing, because I otherwise liked the jacket and have been buying Marmot stuff for decades. Wrote to Marmot about it and got no response. No more patronage from me for them.

This is not an uncommon problem with some WP jackets. Happened to me with one jacket from MEC. I was told that it's a result of the oils from your body that cause the white layer to breakdown, and I should have washed the jacket more. Not sure if this is true or accurate, but it's what I was told.

If you still have the jacket, file a warranty claim. Mine is the second one I have had, the first one delaminated around the collar, I think skin oils caused that, they replaced it. I do not recall if I had to pay shipping to send mine to them, I think I did but that was a cheap replacement cost.

I remember there was some mixup in my warranty claim, they told me to do something but they gave me a wrong e-mail address or wrong web site or something that messed up the process. I do not recall how I got it straightened out, but I think a google search for the right info was part of that.

Can't go wrong with a frog toggs poncho.

https://www.froggtoggs.com/frogg-tog..._item_color=15

same experience for me with Showers Pass.

That jacket went in the trash awhile back, it couldn't even be worn as a wind shell, due to the powdering issue. In my case, it was hardly even worn and the delamination was widespread across the entire body of the jacket, the collar was actually the one area where it didn't happen. Mine wasn't a skin oil issue, it was an issue with the waterproofing simply breaking down ever a period of time. Maybe it was a run of jackets with poor quality control or a different material used, but all I got from Marmot was jerked around, really bad customer service.