What’s hot in the jacket market this year? hot not Probably not the best statement.
Waterproof
Breathable
Has the above features after a few uses
Every jacket I’ve bought in past great at first then it’s down hill, always washed in correct soap and reproofed.
My current eVent jacket may as well be worn inside out its letting rain in and no sweat out

Is gortex worth the extra spend

The new Goretex One active stuff is getting good reviews, it’s a very lightweight shell though so probably not ideal if you mean for MTBing. It doesn’t rely on the DWr coating for the water-proofing so I’m assuming it stays water-proofed for longer. Ofc no real long term reviews out yet…

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gore-bike-wear-one-gore-tex-active-jacket/

How often do you clean your jacket?

I find cleaning (even with proper products for breathable) is the main factor in how quickly waterproofs stop working.

So Matt, are you advising that you wash (waterproofs) regularly, or not?

Tried to only wash when really dirty. I was always under the impression
Dirt blocks the micro holes and stops the moisture getting out and washing breaks down the coating that keeps the rain out

Modern breathables need frequent washing with soap flakes or tech wash – never detergent. Sweat contaminates them just as badly as dirt, and will cause older designs to stop breathing and newer designs to stop breathing and leak.

For this reason I rely on softshells 95% of the time on the MTB – much less hassle!

I suggest washing as little as you can.
I too suggest wearing as little as poasible – softshell and fleece as much as possible.

I’m currently using a Montane Minimus jacket. Nice fitted er…fit so good for the bike albeit no drop tail. Haven’t really missed it.

Best overall jacket I’ve used so far for biking and hiking. much better than the Endura Helium it replaced which simply delaminated itself after a few months of light use. Endura and CRC were equally obstinate in refusing to warranty it.

I agree. The minimus is awesome. My Arcteryx jackets have also stood up to washing and remain waterproof.

Madison Flux Superlight here, which has stood up well so far to half a dozen or so washes with liquid soap flakes. Most of my rides wearing such kit are manky and muddy, so the jacket needs washed after most of them. As with others, softshells most of the time unless proper wet – currently using a windproof Endura MTR jersey over a craft base layer and the Endura Windchill will be donned in the next week or so instead of the MTR I reckon

R.e. the Gore One Activeshell – here’s my review on grit.cx. http://grit.cx/reviews/15092 I’ve had it a year now, and it is by far and away the best ever waterproof jacket I’ve used in terms of breathability.

There is a massive downside for off road riding though, and that is its fragility. The fabric isn’t very tough, and I know of one other tester who shredded his against a wall while riding along. Gore also don’t recommend that you wear a pack either, as the friction will wear through the fabric.

In short – if you are road riding, and can afford it, buy one. If you are planning on riding offroad, wait for a generation or two down the line.

Columbia do something called Outdry fabric, which is also doesn’t reply upon DWR for beading. I don’t think it is as breathable as Goretex, and they don’t do any bike-specific cuts. But… it works well.

Finally, I’m testing an Alpkit Gravitas waterproof – I’ve been impressed. It’s very light. And an Upper Downs jacket, which is beautifully cut and functions very well, but is at the upper end of the price range for a jacket.

On the washing thing, I clean the soap dispenser and then boil wash the wachine on empty to remove residue before I let it near my goretex – so far so good.

After recently buying an Altura showerproof jacket which lasted in total 5 wet rides before becoming like a bin bag I shelled out for a decent waterproof to use both biking and walking to justify the price a little. I went for a Haglofs Gramp Comp jacket and used it over three very wet days in Canada. It was fantastic and I was bone dry. I can’t attest to the long term use of it yet but I would only bother with a waterproof when its truly hoofing it down otherwise I just overheat and might as well get a little wet. I also take the approach of washing it as little as possible and in the proper stuff so hoping that approach works this time.

I can honestly say I’ve never washed one of my waterproof jackets! I do have a lot, laods in fact, but prefer to carry them rather than wear them. I usually wear softshell/windproof instead of waterproof, and they rarely get muddy, I have a couple of jackets that I leave for mucky wear

I should probably wash these at some point, but so far so good

My wife washed one of my waterproofs in the washing machine, she was trying to help bless her and didn’t realise it wouldn’t be happy about it. DWR has completely gone, will now need to wash in soap flakes and then treat it

Another user of the Montane Minimus here which is a good lightweight jacket, and my goto jacket for everyday use.

+ Packs small
+ Keeps the wind off
+ Not boil in the back, and good pockets which vent well
+ Mostly waterproof (not 100% after an hours downpour for me).
+ Hood is excellent and one of the best I’ve tried

Another plus point is customer service. I had this jacket for about a year and the inside developed odd rips, which I think was due to it getting wet and using a rucksack together with a probable manufacturing fault. I emailed Montane and sent them some pics of the jacket, and they sent me a new jacket straight away, result ;]

I’m not sure how I would feel about using it for MTB mind, it’s very thin and I don’t think it would take kindly to falls or getting caught on branches etc ;]