What is the best wet weather gear?

[danielarms76]

Just started raining pretty heavy in sydney,i ride to work everyday and today my pants leaked bad,lucky i took a spare set of pants. I have got some belstaff gear but was my old mans and is close to 20 years old.still looks good just doesnt do its job anymore.just wondering what experiance people have had with other brands?are some better than others?does more expensive mean better?thanx all

[Toogoofy317]

I bought a pair of Stearns at big lots here in the States was uber lucky got 'em for $5! I use them in the Florida Deluges and have yet to get wet in them. They aren't PVC but nylon with Gortex. they don't make you sweat then I use the liner to the GXAir from my Cortech jacket. Am always dry and not soaked in sweat

Mary

[makenzie71]

[the mole]

What is the best wet weather gear?

This:



But I don't think the helmet passed Snell tests.

[randomway]

I have been wearing a Spidi two piece suit (textile) for 2 years, been in the rain every day in Ireland and it never let me down. Still, if you want cheap and 100% waterproof, go for a one piece simple plastic rainsuit that you can just pull over your current clothes.

[Shaddow]

With the Belstaff gear have you been waxing it to maintain its waterproof properties? It is something you have to do to keep it working. I also use the spray on waterproofing you buy from camping stores for tents on anything I do get. I've got motodry pants that work a treat as long as once a year I treat them. I however where a full blown industrial rain jacket over my leather jacket as the water runs down my neck on it, defeating its water proofing by bypassing it.

P.S. Its just as heavy in Newcastle and I've been riding with the above setup. Hell ridden through worse last year and it hail on me twice last year. Now that hurt!

[tt_four]

My Belstaff jacket was waterproof when I got it, but it's not even close anymore. I have a First Gear rain jacket that I just put on over my jacket and some Honda waterproof pants. They both work well but are probably a bit more than I really need. I would just go to a sporting good store and grab something big enough to fit over your riding gear.

My old Sidi boots were waterproof and they were wonderful. The new ones aren't, but I'm not really in the rain much anymore either.

[DoD#i]

Spendy as all heck, and I don't know how easy it would be to get in Oz, but AeroStitch is a safe bet for best wet weather riding gear, at least among anything I've seen or tried. There are now knock-offs that are cheaper, but that is probably in more ways than the cost, though they may be "good enough" - just not "best."

Mine is nigh onto 20 years old and still works fine (well, it still keeps the water out fine - some of the velcro could stand being replaced, one of the zippers is a bit fiddly, and the contents could stand to lose some weight.  )

[scratch]

TourMaster Elite 2-piece rainsuit, $80 and worth it, I ride in the rain a lot.  It 'sweats' on the inside, but that's when I'm carving up the corners.  But, I'm warm and dry, and that's what matters.  14 years on the first set, and the pants tore, bought another set, and now I have two jackets.  10 years in the second set.

[makenzie71]

For a serious response...I'm wishy-wsahy on wet weather gear.  For as much as it cost, it doesn't seem to offer me any more protection than I get with a $5 plastic rain smock that covers my upper body and legs and a bandanna to keep the water off my neck.  Gloves have always been my biggest challenge...but I've recently discovered that just slipping a pair of surgical gloves over my gauntlets is bar none the best way to keep the wet and wind out.

Oh and keep your leather oiled...that helps tremendously.

[danielarms76]

Ill have alook at re waxing/oiling my belstaff stuff,as i said it looks good still,will let you know how it comes along! Thanx all

[dread_au]

Super cheap auto is the best one I have had yet. It is lined so you are not sweaty and only $60. Bad news is they are hard to find because I think it has been discontinued

[mister]

Aust Road Rider did an interesting review....

They got wet weather gear, gloves and boots to test. but they had to simulate wet weather so...

They put on the boots and stood in a bucket of water; put on the gloves and dunked their hands in a bucket of water; donned the clothing and stood in front of a fire hose.

Of the six items tested for each, I think only one passed in each category - and it was not the most expensive.

Most clothing, when tested this way, failed in the zip on the jacket, a few had leaks in the crotch.

But the thing is, obviously, standing in a bucket for ten minutes isn't really simulating wet weather riding. So the test method was more a curiosity than anything IMO.

Having said all this...

My Dry Rider Jacket has kept my top dry in all but the most serious and prolonged downpour. And even then, it was only a small bit got through at the zip which I had not even noticed until I took my jacket off. This has happened maybe twice in the nearly three years I've had this jacket. But as most rain ridden through is patchy and not torrential and you aren't stopped in bumper to bumper traffic when this happens too, it's really nothing.

Pants I've not worried about. BUT, I ride with people who wear the bright yellow jobs you get from... from wherever such things are gotten from - KMart? Big W? They'll keep your legs dry. And others who have bought the cheap pant covers from bike stores and they swear by them too. And same for the cheap jump suit things.

Gloves: Well, my summer gloves allow airflow. They get wet on the way home but come morning they're good to go. My winter DryRider gloves are supposed to be waterproof but they fail that test and take longer to dry. My winter Chillowee (sp?) gloves are better at keeping my hands warm and dry than the DryRiders.

IN all $ ranges you'll find people who've had success and will swear by the product they bought. Which leaves you back where you started.

If your jacket is good but you just need pants, be aware that sometimes, depending on the intensity of the rain, water will get between the bottom of the jacket and top of the pants - that's why one pieces are so attractive.

FWIW,

Michael

[uninhibited]

I have a two peice set and a one peice. 

The two peice is made up of a textile Ixon jacket and textile RJay pants, it leaks. The pants moreso then the jacket.

The one peice is a Motodry, it doesn't leak and it has been through some significant down pours.

[pave_spectre]

I went so far as to put the waterproof lining back in my jacket the other day when it was absolutely bucketing down here in Darwin. Never again. I would much rather take a change of clothes and a towel to work, than end up as sweaty as I did.

No doubt down south Ii would have a different opinion, but up here it is much more pleasant to get wet, than sweaty.

[Ken in Regina]

Ill have alook at re waxing/oiling my belstaff stuff,as i said it looks good still,will let you know how it comes along! Thanx all

Hope I'm not too late to the party. Just in case you aren't aware, Belstaff makes both waxed cotton suits and also textile (nylon) suits. Make sure you have the waxed cotton suit before you wax it. Not much point in waxing the textile suit because the proofing is a coating on the inside. 

...ken...

[Ken in Regina]

As Michael (mister) said, it's all over the map. In my previous riding life, ended 16 years ago, I wore a textile Belstaff two-piece riding suit. Loved it. Kept me dry as a bone even in driving rain at highway speeds.

I wasn't sure how much I was going to like riding again when I bought my latest bike this summer so I haven't spent a lot on riding gear yet. I bought one of those two-piece riding jackets with armour in it. It's mesh outer for warm weather riding with a zip-in liner for rain. I agree pave_spectre about the liner. It's a sweat bag. Good for cold weather riding but the pits for rain on a warm day. The time I wore it in rain, I was wetter from sweating inside it than if I'd just let the rain through the mesh.

But the bright light is my rain pants. I really cheaped out here and just grabbed the rain pants out of my golf bag whenever I went riding. They have worked great for rain and for cold weather riding. The golf rain suit isn't the cheapest one you can buy but I think it was only about 35 bucks.

...ken...