Decent Breathable Windproof Jacket

Cycle Community

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=72526

Wind proof, lightweight and cheep as chips. Perfect for Autumn/early spring.

dhope

iPete spotted the Montane going cheap
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=11427

rolf_f

Oh well, I think my Phantom is going back. I can only presume that Gore's main market is fat Americans because small is really too big for me - whilst I'm a long way from being big, neither am I extremely small.

Shame because I quite like Gore stuff but I've never managed to get any!

meanredspider

Rolf F wrote:

Oh well, I think my Phantom is going back. I can only presume that Gore's main market is fat Americans because small is really too big for me - whilst I'm a long way from being big, neither am I extremely small.

Shame because I quite like Gore stuff but I've never managed to get any!

Funny - most of the feedback on my TCT Gore jerseys is that they come up a tad on the small side....

Bustacapp

I got this for £15 from sports direct last week:


http://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-me ... ket-452065

very very light.

cookdn

wilo13 wrote:

+1 for the Gore Phantom

+1. Wore it for the first time on my commute back to work on Thursday AM. Roads were wet but rain only drizzling when I left at 0630. Wore the Gore Phantom over a thin Decathlon gym shirt so that I could regulate temp using the zip without doing the medallion man thing.

Fantastic. When I got to work I realised that after the initial downhill immediately out of the house I had never been too hot or cold, seemed to regulate temperature really well over my 90 minute ride. Despite the jacket being damp I was only damp on my back where my 8L backpack had been.

I think I had been lucky in my choice of base layer. Looks like by swapping out different layers underneath it should be good for quite low temps. Icing on the cake is that L was the better fitting size (as was the long sleeve top bought as an Lidl special a couple of weeks before), the XL went back using Collect+. The commute is shrinking me .

Kendal Black Drop

jedster wrote:

It is made of pertex with a water repellant (certainly not waterproof!) coating but this wears off overtime so best seen as a very light, thin windproof.

DWR (short for Durable Water Repellent). You can (should) reproof it using TX Direct (made by Nikwax) or the equivalent from Grangers or other companies. You should not wash your DWR coated jacket in detergents (ie most washing powders/liquids) as this strips the DWR off. Use either ordinary soap flakes, or Tech Wash (from Nikwax), or other equivalents.

jedster

Yeah I know. Always thought the "durable" bit was one of those big marketing lies...
Obviously you need to do the reproofing thing periodically but my experience over the years with allsorts of shell jackets has been that the reproofs are never quites as good as the "durable" one you buy it with (water doesn't bead off quite so well, is even less "durable")...

Kendal Black Drop

jedster wrote:

...but my experience over the years with allsorts of shell jackets has been that the reproofs are never quites as good as the "durable" one you buy it with (water doesn't bead off quite so well, is even less "durable")...

Yes, when you reproof the DWR in will never be quite as good as the original coating applied. This is because the first coating is 'baked on' during manufacture at very high temperatures. They recommend after reproofing you put your garment in a tumble drier or at least put it on a radiator or iron it (with a towel between the garment and the iron).

chadders81

The Planet X rainproof jacket is not very rainproof.

Glad it was only £15.

il_principe

The Montane is really best suited as a lightweight windproof that you can chuck on for long descents, not much cop for damp commutes in the UK. I use a Rapha rain jacket in this sort of weather, not cheap but it does the job well. Their Softshell is hands down the best cycling jacket I've owned as well. Got a deal on one last winter and it did me proud.

BTW, don't rule out Gilets. Cold arms are usually an indicator that your core isn't warm enough. A good gilet is ideal for Spring/Autumn, especially when combined with lightweight full finger gloves. IME if you keep the digits and the core warm, the rest will take care of itself.

Paul E

I have one of the speacial pbk polaris jackets, even this morning with rain off and on I didn't boil too much only with a jersey and thin arm warmers (don't like the jacket against my arms feeling) I did have to zip it down though towards the end.

If it's raining later I will just have a long sleeve baselayer under it. but if it's not raining a gilet will do.

andyrr

I know that this topic started referencing Wind not Water proof jackets but a number of the ones mentioned have good abilities for both.
I really need a decent water proof jacket - I've 2 Gore Windstopper fabric ones but recent commutes in the torrential rain has just underlined that these don't have sufficient water resistance - I reached the end of my 1 hour+ commute with very wet inner layers.

Jacket needs to be :
1 Waterproof
2 Bright colour
3 Not mega sweaty.
and I don't want to spend too much over £50 and must be sub £100

Following is my shortlist whittled down to after many hours looking and evaluating reviews etc :
Endura : Gridlock and Laser II : Gridlock has been tried for size and has a nice feel to it but maybe impossible to scrunch into a pockatable size and shape ? The Laser II is cheaper but I dunno if it has similar bulk but poorer waterproofing and breathability ?
Altura Pocket Rocket - not seen one of these but might be more packable thatn the Vision models I've seen but are over bulky and not particularly breathable ?
DHB EQ2.5 : Wiggle reviews give it a generally good rep.
The Montane seem to be great but they're lightweight showerproof jackets maybe and don't withstand serious prolonged rain.
Gore jacket would be nice but for highly waterproof item I think they're out of my price range.

I know that getting all of my needs catered for with the price limitation is impossible but I need more than showerproof for a commute that on a day like yesterday can be 60 minutes in heavy rain.

il_principe

andyrr wrote:

I know that this topic started referencing Wind not Water proof jackets but a number of the ones mentioned have good abilities for both.
I really need a decent water proof jacket - I've 2 Gore Windstopper fabric ones but recent commutes in the torrential rain has just underlined that these don't have sufficient water resistance - I reached the end of my 1 hour+ commute with very wet inner layers.

Jacket needs to be :
1 Waterproof
2 Bright colour
3 Not mega sweaty.
and I don't want to spend too much over £50 and must be sub £100

Following is my shortlist whittled down to after many hours looking and evaluating reviews etc :
Endura : Gridlock and Laser II : Gridlock has been tried for size and has a nice feel to it but maybe impossible to scrunch into a pockatable size and shape ? The Laser II is cheaper but I dunno if it has similar bulk but poorer waterproofing and breathability ?
Altura Pocket Rocket - not seen one of these but might be more packable thatn the Vision models I've seen but are over bulky and not particularly breathable ?
DHB EQ2.5 : Wiggle reviews give it a generally good rep.
The Montane seem to be great but they're lightweight showerproof jackets maybe and don't withstand serious prolonged rain.
Gore jacket would be nice but for highly waterproof item I think they're out of my price range.

I know that getting all of my needs catered for with the price limitation is impossible but I need more than showerproof for a commute that on a day like yesterday can be 60 minutes in heavy rain.

Good luck finding something that does all 3, especially at that price range. Better to accept that if it rains for an hour you'll get wet, and focus on kit that will keep you warm.

IME anything made by Altura will be boil in the bag, and the Montane is nowhere near waterproof.

andyrr

It's the lightweight + waterproof combination that I need my jacket to have - the heavier jackets such as Altura Vision and the like do waterproof and are sold in bright colours but for my requirement are too heavy for packability and as regards sweatyness. Montane Featherlite and their ilk are great for carrying all the time to then sling on when it starts chucking it down and you're a mile or 2 from home but if I set off in heavy rain then I need that bit more.
Again, in summer it's not so big an issue since hopefully the rain will be warmer but from now on the temp will be nearer +10, and with rain + wind will feel colder - for me, an hour like that needs minimal water ingress.

andyrr

Ok, now narrowed it to DHB EQ 2.5 and Endura Photon.
Photon : Endura quality seems good and the fit of a Gridlock I tried was good in a small size. Reckon the waterproofing of that looks to be good, should squeeze into a jersey pocket.
DBH : packs small, gets a good rep but sizing maybe doesn't suit everyone.
Photon a slight nose in front plus it comes in commuter-friendly bright yellow, DBH is red or black.

Edit to add : Berghaus RG1 light waterproof jacket been thrown into the mix - I've a couple of Bergaus jackets and they've generally done welll (one did bust a zip but other has lasted many, many years.)
RG1 is non bike-specific so maybe a little left field but it should hit the light and waterproof requirements. No in-built ventilation other than external venting pockets so the cut and possibly sweatyness might be it's weak points.

andyrr

Oh well, finally decided, and the emailed voucher code for £10 from CRC helped, on an Endura Vapour. Took the cost down to £59 -Endura jackets don't seem to get discounted often so I thought that was a good enough deal on what wil hopefully be a packable waterproof jacket.

wyadvd

never out of my endura windchill from now till about early June. doesnt need to be packable because I wear it all the time in this season.