My Morning Commute

[Sunyata]

@Birru 158025 wrote:

Speaking of rain, does anyone have any good recommendations for waterproof gear that won’t break the bank? I’ve got stuff that’s wonderful in bitter freezing weather, but my gloves and shoe covers just soak through in cold, heavy rain and then I’m miserable with numb extremities.

Endura makes GREAT rain gear that is fairly inexpensive. I have had one of their rain jackets for three years now and it is still going strong. It is lightweight and relatively breathable. I recently bought a pair of their rain pants, too and so far, so good. Plus Bikenetic sells them and has several types of rain pants in stock so you can try them on.

[Birru]

@Sunyata 158031 wrote:

Endura makes GREAT rain gear that is fairly inexpensive. I have had one of their rain jackets for three years now and it is still going strong. It is lightweight and relatively breathable. I recently bought a pair of their rain pants, too and so far, so good. Plus Bikenetic sells them and has several types of rain pants in stock so you can try them on.

I’ll take a look. My Endura winter gloves outperformed my expectations.

[huskerdont]

Can confirm re Endura jackets. My Endura Stealth II jacket is as good as it gets. Makes me want it to rain more. Tend to run expensive but you can catch sales.

For weather this warm, I just use fingerless gloves so don’t care if they get wet. I don’t have a solution for 34-degree rain.

Most booties seem to perform suboptimally, but the Sugoi Zap Booties I picked up last winter have so far worked really well, though they haven’t yet been in a sustained heavy downpour.

[vern]

@Tania 158003 wrote:

I biked in and it was raining so hard I’m pretty sure my face is bruised. But my new rain jacket worked REALLY well. It kept me dry and the jacket itself was dry by the time I was done showering and changing. 7Mesh was started by some ex-Arcteryx guys and this jacket completely out-performed any of my Gore jackets. No comparison really.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/7mesh-industries-revolution-jacket-womens

I only wish my new velocity backpack arrived in time (my canvas Camelbak bag is hanging up, drip drying…).

Amazon has a bunch of inexpensive backpack rain covers. I bought one for $5 three years ago and it works great, though obviously some moisture drains between my back and the back of the backpack.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_15?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rain+cover+for+backpack&sprefix=rain+cover+for+%2Caps%2C220&crid=92YS28YMCLP1

[Drewdane]

@Birru 158025 wrote:

Speaking of rain, does anyone have any good recommendations for waterproof gear that won’t break the bank? I’ve got stuff that’s wonderful in bitter freezing weather, but my gloves and shoe covers just soak through in cold, heavy rain and then I’m miserable with numb extremities.

I sweat pretty heavily; the raingear has not yet been created that is breathable enough to keep me from getting just as soaked by the personal sauna effect – which I find gross as well as uncomfortable. I just wear stuff that insulates well and accept getting wet – maybe bring a spare set of socks for the ride home.

[drevil]

@Drewdane 158039 wrote:

I sweat pretty heavily; the raingear has not yet been created that is breathable enough to keep me from getting just as soaked by the personal sauna effect – which I find gross as well as uncomfortable. I just wear stuff that insulates well and accept getting wet – maybe bring a spare set of socks for the ride home.

Ahem.

[dkel]

@huskerdont 158033 wrote:

For weather this warm, I just use fingerless gloves so don’t care if they get wet. I don’t have a solution for 34-degree rain.

I bought the very expensive Pearl Izumi Pro Barrier WxB Gloves at REI, and they are definitely waterproof. They also keep my hands warm down through the 40s; when it gets that colder than that, I just use Bar Mitts, and those keep my hands warm and dry. My only problem with the gloves is that they are not elastic at all, and they tend to cramp my thumbs when my hands are in certain positions on the bars (mainly the hoods!). If I ride for a long time like that, my thumbs will ache afterward, so I usually stay on the tops or in the drops a little more when wearing them. For a morning like this morning, they are very nice to have!

[Tania]

I have novara rain pants and I’d call them fine for either up to an hour of lighter rain or up to a half hour (barely) of heavy rain. This am they were just at the bleed through point with the heavy, steady rain and 33 min of riding.

Still on the hunt for waterproof pants that last at least an hour in heavy rain.

My arcteryx goretex ski pants (just a hard shell) did great a few weeks ago skiing for hours in the rain. They lasted a good four or five hours before the rain soaked through. Don’t think I could swing a leg over my seat though to ride with them.

(I’m also a bit of a gear snob so add requisite grain of salt.)

[Anonymous]

@Birru 158025 wrote:

Speaking of rain, does anyone have any good recommendations for waterproof gear that won’t break the bank? I’ve got stuff that’s wonderful in bitter freezing weather, but my gloves and shoe covers just soak through in cold, heavy rain and then I’m miserable with numb extremities.

Moose mitts (or, probably, bar mitts) and waterproof boots keep my hands and feet in good shape. As for the rest of me,

@Drewdane 158039 wrote:

I sweat pretty heavily; the raingear has not yet been created that is breathable enough to keep me from getting just as soaked by the personal sauna effect –

While this applies to me also, in cold weather I do stay warm for a lot longer drenched in 98F sweat than in 40F rain, so I still find rain gear to be useful, in the “keeps cold raindrops from penetrating directly to my skin” sense.

[cvcalhoun]

@Tania 158003 wrote:

I biked in and it was raining so hard I’m pretty sure my face is bruised. But my new rain jacket worked REALLY well. It kept me dry and the jacket itself was dry by the time I was done showering and changing. 7Mesh was started by some ex-Arcteryx guys and this jacket completely out-performed any of my Gore jackets. No comparison really.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/7mesh-industries-revolution-jacket-womens

I only wish my new velocity backpack arrived in time (my canvas Camelbak bag is hanging up, drip drying…).

I’m using my Proviz jacket. It did fine during the rain this morning. And it is so visible at night, it looks like I’ve got lights inside it.

For carrying stuff, I use my Ortlieb panniers. They are extremely waterproof, and the outside dries quickly.

[dkel]

@Tania 158043 wrote:

I have novara rain pants and I’d call them fine for either up to an hour of lighter rain or up to a half hour (barely) of heavy rain. This am they were just at the bleed through point with the heavy, steady rain and 33 min of riding.

When mine get to that point, I give them the Nikwax waterproofing treatment, and they pretty much come back to full waterproof. Of course, they’re never going to be as good as they were the first time I wore them, as they get pretty abused in the course of commuting.

[bentbike33]

@drevil 158041 wrote:

Ahem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKKRni_W04s

Would love to see one of these on the 14th St. bridge when the wind is roaring down the river.

[AFHokie]

@bentbike33 158053 wrote:

Would love to see one of these on the 14th St. bridge when the wind is roaring down the river.

More likely to see it floating above the bridge in those conditions

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930AZ using Tapatalk

[drevil]

@bentbike33 158053 wrote:

Would love to see one of these on the 14th St. bridge when the wind is roaring down the river.

@AFHokie 158055 wrote:

More likely to see it floating above the bridge in those conditions

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930AZ using Tapatalk

Did y’all catch this from a couple of weeks ago?

[Oldtowner]

@Birru 158025 wrote:

Speaking of rain, does anyone have any good recommendations for waterproof gear that won’t break the bank? I’ve got stuff that’s wonderful in bitter freezing weather, but my gloves and shoe covers just soak through in cold, heavy rain and then I’m miserable with numb extremities.

I use these boot rain covers designed for motorcyclists. I don’t clip in on my commuter. The bottoms of theses are open so you can walk and ride in them without slipping or damaging them. They fit over regular shoes and keep them dry even in the heaviest rain. They are pretty bulky, but that’s a trade off I can accept to keep my feet dry. They work best with shoes that have some kind of rubber bottom to keep the water out from below.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007P9YXNE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Author]

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