Waterproof trousers?

rodgers73

I'm planning a long ride in a couple of weeks time that will probably involve rainfall. I'm happy with the warmth of my bibtights and their Roubaix lining but if they get wet I'm not sure how warm they will stay. Especially as I'll be riding overnight over some terrain that will get a lot of wind etc.

Do any of you ride in waterproof trousers? Are these worthwhile or more of a pain? On paper they sound like a good idea but I've no idea how successful they'd be in practice

dj58

Hello, I don't know whether this helps you, I have a pair of Berghaus Gortex Paclite Overtrousers. These are not a cycling specific garment more for walking/hiking in. I bought them for that, though I thought they might be suitable for cycling in.

I bought the smallest waist size I felt comfortable in, with a longer leg length, which is what you need when cycling. I can roll these up tight with a couple of Velcro compression straps and fit them into my cycling jersey back pocket with ease. An interesting feature of these trousers is that they have a full length zip on the outside of each leg, these in turn are covered by a flap secured by five press studs to keep them waterproof.

This makes putting them on and off easy, with care you don't need to take your shoes off. Also if your legs start to overheat, undo the press studs on the upper thigh pull down the zip to just above the knee, do up the press studs and you have now created vents.

I have used these a few times on short, (25ml) rides, were I had to stop to put them on, and they were ok. Not uncomfortable to cycle in, although you do need to use some form of compression band to gather the bottoms in for safety.

Now the downside, these are not cheap £100, I bought mine in the summer sale for £75 at a Camping/Outdoors shop. Would recommend you go to your local shop to try before you buy, in case you don't feel comfortable in them. Take you cycle shorts/Tights and shoes with you. I had the North Face Velo cycling suit years ago, that was light weight Gortex and the trousers were excellent. I don't think they make that any longer though.

keef66

I just ride in Roubaix bib tights. When wet they are still warm; I guess they work a bit like a wetsuit keeping the layer of water next to the skin warm. When the rain stops they dry out fairly quickly. I do wear a Goretex top if I'm going out in proper rain, but I'd imagine waterproof trousers as well would be very boil in the bag.