necklous

Hey-so I have been trying to commit to commuting from brooklyn into manhattan everyday, I have been able to deal with the cold for the most part, but I have been chickining out when it rains. Do people have any good tips on what to wear. When I get into the city, I have to spend the day there so I want to be warm and dry. Do I just need to bring a complete change of clothes, or just pants and wear a rain jacket of sorts, the sight of rain always just looks like a miserable ride...any ideas???

Bravewolf

I live in Victoria, BC (the wet coast of Canada) so I'm all about rain, here. What I do is wear serious cycling rainwear - waterproof-breathable jacket with hood, tights that are waterproofed on the front and breathable on the back and waterproof shoes and socks with booties to keep the rain from getting inside the shoes. That's my bombproof setup.

However, I assure you, in a hard enough downpour, you will get wet, no matter what. The choice is warm and wet or cold and wet. I pick warm.

Depending how nasty the ride is, I'll either just give myself a wipedown or a full on shower at work and I keep my uniform on the ship (I'm in the Navy), so that's not a problem.

slvoid

If you bike in normal clothes, I suggest get some real bike clothes and just carry your normal wardrobe with you like I do. That way, there are no compromises.

MichaelW

There are several ways of tackling rain:
Wear sport cycle clothing and change.
Wear office/neat clothing and go carefully
Wear utility/hiking gear.

I usually use the 3rd option, modern polyester clothes are easy to wear, dry quickly and can look reasonably neat.
A full waterproof top is needed, but I find that water-resistant pertex pants are more breathable and comfortable than gortex ( cheaper and lighter as well).
Feet are the big problem, neoprene over-boots, gortex socks, waterproof hiking boots, plastic bags, whatever suits your wallet.
Fenders are a must: rain is mostly clean but splashback from the road is dirty.

phantomcow2

polyester stuff indeed. If you have ever been white water rafting, they sell these shirts which dry super fast, something like that. No cotton, just get a waterproof bag and stick a pair of clothing inside.

dee-vee

I ride whatever the weather since my bike is my transport. Right now if it rains I wear regular rain gear pants and jacket. It isnt breathable and I sweat like crazy by the time I get to work but it works for now. Shoes are another thing, I ride with regular street shoes and just hope they dont get to soaking wet. Shoe covers are made to fit cycle shoes and not street shoes. I might go with some plastic bags.

Once I can afford some real cycling clothes I might get some if I can get over the fear of wearing spandex! Yikes. Im sure if I pulled up at work with lycra pants id never hear the end of it.

My pannier has a rain cover and I ride with fenders.

ChroMo2

It's best to change your clothes if you can. If it rains your gonna get wet by either rain or sweat. So if that's an easy enough solution. Enjoy riding in the rain. Rain rides are fun!

Mondonico

Being in Olympia, WA (100 miles south of Seattle) you come to realize that you are going to be wet. Wet an warm is the preference - neopreme and gortex. Have a stash of dry clothes wherever you end up.

They don't grow Christmas trees up here for nothing!

lws

Do you have some place at work you can keep a set of "work clothes"? If you're working in an office environment, you can wear the same clothes for several work days before they need to be cleaned. You could carry clean underclothes and just leave shoes and trousers and a couple of shirts in a box somewhere.

Jesse Smith

Fenders go a long way toward keeping your feet relatively dry. Without them, your feet are subject to a constant horizontal waterfall comming off the front tire. Cheap clip-on fenders don't cut it. Full fenders with an additional mudflap on the front will amaze you. A change of pants and socks will do if you invest in a high-quality waterproof, breathable rain jacket.

rmwun54

I wear R.E.I. rainshadow jacket that has pit zips and is breathable, a Performance rain pants that has a coolmax liner that breathes real well (I dislike rainpants that doesn't have a liner, feels sticky when perspiration is building up), a Columbia waterproof Bugaboo hat, Pearl Izumi rain gloves, and a plastic design shoe cover that I created with duct tape and velcro. When it is real cold I wear a cycling fleece shirt underneath.

Lieren

I just wear my regular work clothes on the bottom - a skirt and tights will dry extremely quickly once you're inside. Pants are a no-go in the rain, I think. If I don't wear a skirt, I combine the sports clothing (all from places like TJ Maxx) I wear for running with wool thrift-store items. For me, this is a cheap and easy system.

cooker

Don't you get muddy legs? As a male I don't wear a skirt, but I find my socks and lower pant leg get pretty cruddy with muddy road water and not just "clean" rain water, and I bring a change of pants and keep extra shoes and socks at work.
R

andygates

I work in a cube farm so a change is needed. The wet kit goes into a bag for (ick) putting on (nasty) for the (ew) ride home.

Lieren

I keep a spare pair of tights (the kind you wear with skirts, not the bike kind) in my desk, but usually I can just pop into the restroom and wipe any dirt off my tights. Since they are synthetic, curd wipes right off and they dry quickly. There might be some soaked-in dirt, but I stick to dark colors and it's not visible. If it's really cold, I wear bike tights over the other tights.

But, maybe skirts *are* an option for you: https://www.utilikilts.com/index.htm

cooker

That's great! I saw a guy wearing one in downtown Toronto and I was impressed. I hope they catch on, because I don't think I could carry off being an early adopter of one of those.
R

slvoid

Does your building have a boiler room or something you have access to?
I hang mine next to the boiler so its always warm and dry at the end of the day.

Coyote!

necklous,

As you can see, there are all kinds of technical solutions and tons of tips. It's essentially a matter of the will. I've rarely* encountered issues of heat, humidity, precipitation, or cold that turned out to be the least problem after GETTING OUT THERE! Five grumpy minutes in the saddle [or running. . .or hiking] and I wonder, yet again, why I ever hesitated.

* Not to say it doesn't happen, but even when I've been in Napoleon's-Retreat-Out-Of-Mother-Russia situations, it's given me great stories. If course, several generations of dogs have accounted me mad as a hatter!

cooker

No I can't!