Gore-Tex, does it work ?

cyco2

I found a Gore-Tex jacket recently and tried it out and I still get sweaty vests during a ride. My other non Gore-Tex jackets make me sweat as well. So, what's the point of a fancy priced jacket. Also, if Gore-Tex gets wet how does it work when all the little holes are covered in water ?

priory

you are right, you do get wet in breathable waterproofs, just not nearly as wet as in not-breathable fabrics in most wet conditions..
If you work very hard and sweat rapidly you will get wet even if you are naked on a dry day . A waterproof jacket in high intensity exertion is worn for warmth rather than as a serious attempt to keep dry. but for low-medium exertion in the rain you are a lot dryer in gore-tex. The best I have is made of Event fabric. On tour in damp days in Scotland it is fantastic. Usually if I wear w/p trousers cycling I use pertex which is about the right balance between being a bit w/p and very breathable.
before good gore-tex and event fabric I didn't usually bother to wear waterproofs on a ride.

morstar

Op, if the outside of the jacket is sodden with water, it doesn't breathe, that's why you need to treat the outer fabric with water repellant treatments.
I'd suggest you invest in some and wash and treat the jacket. You should then see the water bead up on the outside and get better breathability.
Still an overkill fabric for high intensity riding but excellent at lower intensity.
Event does offer superior breathability over Gore due to the stage at which the ptfe is treated. What it doesn't have is the brand awareness.

cyco2

morstar...thanks for that. I didn't use it yesterday in the rain because it was raining I went on the bus.

Kendal Black Drop

There are different types of Gore-Tex available. Paclite, Performance Shell, Pro Shell etc. Paclite is lightweight and is designed to be carried around in a rucksack until it rains. Performance Shell (like your Mera Peak) is designed for winter mountaineering and the like and is a lot tougher, it's not designed for cycling. If you want Gore-Tex for a high energy activity like running or cycling you'd be better off with an Active Shell.

Kendal Black Drop

morstar wrote:

Op, if the outside of the jacket is sodden with water, it doesn't breathe, that's why you need to treat the outer fabric with water repellant treatments.
I'd suggest you invest in some and wash and treat the jacket. You should then see the water bead up on the outside and get better breathability.

Like morstar says use a water repellent treatment, like Nikwax TX Direct or the Grangers equivalent. Before you do this the jacket should be clean but don't use ordinary washing powder/liquid as this strips off the DWR (durable water repellent), use Tech Wash or an equivalent, or soap flakes.

cyco2

KBD.. thanks for that. I have just run some water over it and it doesn't bead so I'll have to proof it as you say.

Hoopdriver

I wrote an article about Gore-Tex and my endless quest for breathable and waterproof that began when I bough the first generation Gore-Tex jacket back in the Seventies. For what it's worth, here it is:

http://my-bicycle-and-i.co.uk/2012/chas ... aterproof/

Cycloslalomeur

In my book, even a perfectly functioning waterproof garment is as close to a binliner in terms of breathability as makes no difference. Get soaked from the outside and dry quickly or get soaked from the inside (and out when the "waterproof" fabric fails) and remain miserable throughout your journey, even when it's not raining. Take your pick.

manglier

Cape and sou'wester anyone?

Kendal Black Drop

Cycloslalomeur wrote:

In my book, even a perfectly functioning waterproof garment is as close to a binliner in terms of breathability as makes no difference. Get soaked from the outside and dry quickly or get soaked from the inside (and out when the "waterproof" fabric fails) and remain miserable throughout your journey, even when it's not raining. Take your pick.

I presume you don't wear waterproof jackets then, do you wear a bin-liner instead?

Hmmm. Bin-liner... no zip, no arms, no pockets, rips easily, although very cheap compared to normal clothing.

NickintheLakes

In my long experience of wearing Gore jackets for hill walking, scrambling, winter climbing etc they are 100% successful at keeping the wind out and stopping water coming into the jacket. For anything other than slow-ish walking they are 100% unsuccessful at shifting perspiration.

Things improve with pit zips (long as possible), through-pocket mesh ventilation and forearm zips. All of which assist what is, as already mentioned, a very expensive bin liner to let perspiration out.

JamesB

Yes and no, depends on the user, how much they sweat , the conditions it is used in and how well garment has been maintained. It usually does not work well for me ; nor for that matter does eVent on occasions, .....because I sweat a lot

From my understanding Gtex was designed for use on alpine / himalayas type climbing clothing where the air humidity is low; principle of G-tex is that the vapour pressure head inside jacket from sweating / moisture will pass out through pores if a sufficient hunidity gradient exists and pores are clean and not blocked by water (ie garment is not wetted out, hence need for a DWR hydrophobic surface to bead up water and improve water shedding properties). So it can work very well for its designed use

But if outside air humidity is high, ie typical of UK rainy conditions :shock: and you sweat a lot then transmission of water vapour will be poor due to low vapour pressure head...
Efficiency also seems to be affected by the clothing under the jacket; eg on a recent winter mountaineering outing wearing an eVent mountain jkt over a pertex faced layer ended up with a sopping wet pertex facing but dry inside. which is the important bit !

ps to date most effective cycling `waterproof` for all but heavy rain, I`ve found is an old Parrot pertex smock ; washed in Techwash + treat TX10i it shrugs off most water, keeps wind off and transmits enough sweat to keep me fairly dry inside. It seems to strike balance of waterproofness v breathability quite well

MichaelW

I found that the most comfortable waterproof for winter use is Paramo. You dont get that clamminess or condensation which you find with gortex on a humid or foggy day. My Paramo season usually lasts from October to may, then it is too warm.
Pertex is good as a windproof that is a bit shower-resistant and fends of mild drizzel but during extended downpours you will get wet.
.

JamesB

Pertex is good as a windproof that is a bit shower-resistant and fends of mild drizzel but during extended downpours you will get wet.

but if you give it a good TX 10i treatment, and it is a heavier weight pertex I`v found it works quite well; wore mine sevearl times cycling in a very wet and windy Isle Skye, coolish `summer `temps and worked well. Yes Paramo is great too, but warm and this also relies on a good DWR layer on the pertex outer

beverick

Remeber of course that Gore-tex is the brand name. There are an increasing variety of Gore-tex materials each of which have different wearing properties, all of which are warranted to be 'waterproof' as described in Gore-tex' patent for that word in context of their material.

Regarding what's the point. Well it rather depends how much you want to keep the weather off your skin.

I have (or rather had*) a pair of double layer Altura Goretex cycling trousers of C 2002 vintage. I wore them on a motorbike last summer in torrential rain for 8 hours. Although most of the ride was on 30-40mph roads the day did include a 20 mile run on 70mph dual carriageway - in conditions that could only be described as 'monsoon'.

At the end of the day, apart from being a bit sweaty I was totally dry.

Gore-tex materials are exceptional if not exclusive.

* BTW, I decided to wash and reproof my trousers at Christmas. Unfortunately after 10 years of use they disintigrated! I really should have complied with the handwash only, do not wring or spin.

Bob

morstar

On the washing front...

Don't forget to tumble dry! DWRs are heat activated and work much better after tumble drying.

Drysuitdiver

morstar wrote:

On the washing front...

Don't forget to tumble dry! DWRs are heat activated and work much better after tumble drying.

not all of them are

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/pr ... roductid=3

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/faq/index.php

http://www.grangers.co.uk/product.cfm?c ... roductid=5

the 2 top brands in the |UK and neither require tumble drying. some of the early products did require a tumble dry but not anymore

keef66

My GoreTex Paclite jacket seems to work as advertised. Completely waterproof, while at the same time allowing perspiration to escape. I suppose the fact that it's still fairly new and the DWR causes water to bead and run off means that the membrane is free to allow water vapour through.

Only occasional sign of dampness is in the region of taped seams on the arms which are quite a close fit

morstar

Drysuitdiver wrote:

morstar wrote:

On the washing front...

Don't forget to tumble dry! DWRs are heat activated and work much better after tumble drying.

not all of them are

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/pr ... roductid=3

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/faq/index.php

http://www.grangers.co.uk/product.cfm?c ... roductid=5

the 2 top brands in the |UK and neither require tumble drying. some of the early products did require a tumble dry but not anymore

Didn't know that, stopped being involved with the supply of gore about 7 years ago. I stand corrected. Although if I'm going to be pedantic, I'd pick up on use of the word early.

But I'm not going to be pedantic so I won't.

Damnit! I'm always doing that.

keef66

The care instructions with my GoreTex jacket reccommend ironing it to rejuvenate the DWR so Morstar might be right!