After another wet day where I became soaked and the fact that my mates pricey Endura jacket was rubbish as well I am thinking of going back 30 years and using a cape to keep dry .I notice Carradice still make them

Only in the bedroom with my batman outfit.

Is the missus dressed as Wonderwoman ?

Is the missus dressed as Wonderwoman ?

Probably Robin 😯

They always looked crap to me. Out of the saddle? Looking around for traffic? Wearing a rucksack?

my mates pricey Endura jacket was rubbish

What exactly was wrong with it? Most problems with waterproof jackets are either unreasonable expectations or user error.

Me!

Ok, it’s only for pottering around, but it does keep you dry without overheating.

Fashionable too

A friend does. He also rides a Guv’nor..!

That looks good as do the bikes .Regarding the Endura jacket its only been worn a few times and he was wet through after an hour or so on Sunday ,which wasnt nice as we were out for over 5 hours .What really good jackets are out there?

It’d be a bit of a handful if it were windy, surely?

I wore one that a mate had been given in the que at Disneyland, complete with a big Mickey Mouse printed on it. I worked pretty well for about ten miles after which it shredded itself to death as it flapped around. Hey ho.

What really good jackets are out there?

Endura.

Let’s just clear this up. No jacket breathes well enough to keep you bone dry on the inside. You’ll sweat of course, and this will make your clothes wet. You’ll sweat more than if you were just wearing a fleece, because the jacket keeps the wind off.

You need to wear ‘wicking’ clothes (ie nothing cotton) underneath it, to get the sweat from your skin to the jacket. If your jacket is working well you will be very warm and damp, but you won’t have cold water soaking your shoulders and running down your back. That’s the best you can hope for.

This is why many hardcore roadies don’t bother with waterproofs. They just make sure they are warm and look forward to drying out quickly when it stops raining.

I used to have one, been thinking about it again (not for off-road though!). If you get a reasonably heavy-duty one it doesn’t flap about. The nice things were that you stayed relatively unsweaty and it kept your trousers dry too, so you didn’t have to spend time swapping a complete set of clothes if going to work for example. On windy days it was harder in one direction but easier in the other! Saw these but have no idea how much they cost.

The bike can get a bit weavey down hill with a cape on, people behind tend to hesitate before attempting to get past. The none detachable hood can hold a reasonable amount of water in a downpour, not usually a problem unless you take the cape off in doors.

OurManInTheNorth obviously a man of style and taste.

The great thing about a cape was being able to urinate in public without anyone being offended.

Also anyone else carry a recycling sack in their pack, (as trhe recycling ones are thicker) as am emergency waterproof, or to give to a fellow rider.if caught out in the rain.

I have a cape. The wifes sister made it for me. But that, my friends, is a totally different story.
(Its made from an old curtain, useless on the bike, but great for entertaining kids) 🙂

Back to the subject, I’ve always wondered how good they would be. Might get one to wear on the Ute.

and the first time i wore a cape , didnt know about the litle lops to put your thumbs in to stop it blowing up, went dfown a steep hill it blew up over my face and i fell off, but it does keep you dry.

Doing audaxes i often rode with george berwick….. If there was ever an advocate for a cape it was him……

Double post

yep , i have an Eager sport one for the last 20 years, always take it when touring, or if expecting the kind of weather we’ve been having.

carradice do two, a £30 and a £80 wax job,like a cycle barbour.

my dad has a nifty german one in pvc, they are popular there for functionality. i like the fact people hesitate to overtake, means they take more notice and hence care.

Best though they work 100% and no sweat, also useful for those who need to roll fags and things, whilst its pouring down, i ‘ve even had a crap under cover of the magic cape.

Flash. Cape and no mudguards?

These guys had a stall at the Brompton World Championships

Oldgit – It’s a Pathracer not a touring bike, apart from that it’s rare I actually go fast enough for the wheels to flick up spray.

i ‘ve even had a crap under cover of the magic cape

I hope you missed the back wheel as dogshit spraying is bad enough!

no that good yet, i was in a field, but it was by the road and pissing it down,just seemed the right thing to do, lucky it was a ‘dry’ one mind

Sometimes you get just too much info on here 🙁

i use a large waterproof poncho when touring.
it covers me down to my knees when riding. it also lets air ciculate and stops you getting too sweaty.
cheap as chips too from decathlon.

The nice things were that you stayed relatively unsweaty and it kept your trousers dry too

How do you stop spray from the front wheel getting your shins wet?

molgrips…………heavy duty pvc (damproof) splash guard front and rear.

Nothing stops the sideways splash from puddles though does it? That always gets on my legs.

When I started mountaineering we used cycling capes and sou’westers, that was all there was. Then some bloke called Peter Storm invented a thing he called a cagoule, which gave you the illusion of waterproofness because it made you sweat like a bank robber and you ended up as wet underneath as if you hadn’t worn it.

globalti, you showing your age a bit there,in them days the bees knees of cagoules were helly hensons — look at them now !