rain gear question

[Erick Van\m/]

Living in the summer here in Florida sucks for sparatic showers.

I have been avoiding riding all together with the new bike if the forecast has showers coming. But I dont want that to slow me down once the rain gear comes in.

What do you do to put on rain gear? Do you put it on before you leave for your destination, even if it might not rain? Do you stop on the side of the road and put it on while getting poured on?

Any advice is appreciated

[Dash Riproc]

There are only two times I put rain gear on before I start a trip:
1. If there is a good, steady rain at the outset of the trip, and
2. If I'm sure I will run into rain soon after beginning the ride.

Other than that, I just always keep the rain liner for my riding pants and a very visible, waterproof jacket in my tail bag. They don't take up much space at all.

If it's sprinkling or not raining really hard, I won't stop to put on any rain gear; but a few times I've gotten off the road, (as in a gas station), to suit up before I got too soaked.

And of course, I've waited out, (under cover), very hard rain or rain+wind.

I don't avoid riding in rain, but I try to choose my battles against the elements very carefully.

[Bachstrad37]

Rain gear doesn't breathe well, making you sweat like crazy in 90F+ heat. Keep it handy and put it on if it begins to sprinkle.

[storysunfolding]

Rain gear doesn't breathe well, making you sweat like crazy in 90F+ heat. Keep it handy and put it on if it begins to sprinkle.

Not entirely true, but you'll get sticker shock from the ones that do breathe well. Goretex at the very least...

[Bachstrad37]

I love Gore-Tex when it comes to cold weather. All my winter gear and snowmobile gear consists of Gore-Tex materials. When warmth isn't an issue, I cheap out and buy the big yellow duck suit.

[storysunfolding]

I would love to see someone dressed in a big yellow duck suit in traffic on a sportsbike...

If that happened I could die happy.

[Mintbread]

I've done it before.

I just left all of my flouro yellow work wet weather gear on for my ride home. I did briefly consider how stupid it looked sitting on a TL1000 in bright yellow gear with Australia Post emblazoned on it.
I got home dry so it was a win for me.

[jonnythan]

Gore-tex does *not* breathe well. It breathes better than plastic, which is about the most you can say for it.

Gore-tex XCR breathes OK if you're not actively working up a sweat.. but in warm weather - especially when it's humid - it still sucks butt.

Anything that's waterproof will be way less breathable than something that is not, even when it's Gore-tex.. or Entrant, or Dermizax, or PreCip, or Hyvent, or whatever. Some are better than others, but they all suck.. they just suck quite a bit less than rubber and plastic.

[storysunfolding]

Yeah again Gortex at the very least. They do have some incredible fabrics for hardcore outdoors people but I stopped paying attention at the local show when I saw the prices START at $800.

[jonnythan]

Yeah again Gortex at the very least. They do have some incredible fabrics for hardcore outdoors people but I stopped paying attention at the local show when I saw the prices START at $800.

The membranes themselves are fairly inexpensive. The high-end companies make very complicated designs with high quality nylons and polyesters that involve a *lot* of designing and prototyping, and the finished product requires a ton of taping, gluing, testing, etc. That, combined with the super-low volume of these products, is what makes them very expensive.

In the end, a $600 Gore-Tex XCR expedition shell from Marmot or whoever isn't any more breathable or waterproof than a $100 rebranded Entrant HB 2-layer jacket.. but it might be a bit more durable, have a much better cut for ice climbing, etc.