Anything better – to be used for mtb, gravely rides and audaxing.

MTB specific? Not that I know of. It M just back from a 20 miler in the snow, rain, wind and sleet. Top half is bone dry.

I was in my Mt500. Brilliant bit of kit.

i have a made to measure coat for proper winter stuff.
wore it today with a t shirt under and i was warm.

propergood stuff.

it is nikwax anologymaterial, made by ccioch

http://www.cioch-direct.co.uk/waterproofs/fionn.html

I’ve an MT500 – my go-to jacket for properly foul conditions. I took it on last year’s HT550 as I really struggle if I get wet and lightweight waterproofs just don’t cut it in a Highland downpour.

ShowersPass Refuge is supposed to be excellent too.

Rapha hardshell is the best waterproof jacket I’ve owned, keeps out hours of torrential rain. Think rapha have them in their sale at the moment.

love my Mt500 – it has and needs plenty of vents because it is so warm. Only thing I would say it is quite short in the body which is great if you are hooning around not so good for standing about.

The Scott Trail Mountain 10 jacket is Gore Tex and abrasion resistant. They aren’t readily available though. I’ve came off reasonably hard several times, and I was amazed that the jacket didn’t get ripped. The Gore Bike Power Trail Gore Tex jacket is very good too, albeit not quite as hard wearing as the Scott. I’m selling a Gore Bike in a Medium should it be of any interest to you.

The alternative to an MT500 will be a general mountaineering jacket, anything Gore-Tex Pro Shell with a helmet compatible hood and zip vents might well be better than the MT500 despite not being bike specific. I’ve used my Norrona snowboarding shell on the bike and it was perfect, they baggy fit was actually quite welcome in the worst weather!

The alternative to an MT500 will be a general mountaineering jacket

For absolutely foul weather I have a Paramo Enduro windproof/fleece combo (together they’re waterproof, more breathable than anything, warmer than a shell but with lots of venting). Most of the time I just carry the windproof to chuck over what I’m already wearing – over a softshell it’ll stop anything short of a monsoon. Super tough. Lifetime guarantee.

OMM

I wear my Mountain Equipment Valkyrie when it is proper ming…

It’s not for everyone but I do live my Paramo Velez Adventure smock for this sort of thing. Not the the new lighter stuff in the role you describe. They breath so much better than a membrane and last well

But downsides are washing and maintaining the correct level of proofing. They are also quite warm

I have just bought a MT500, to replace a 6 year old MT500. The new one looks good, hood is nice but it is much lighter weight than the old MT500 jacket. The old one was really tough but bulky so not ideal for taking with you just in case. The new one looks to be a better balance of toughness and weight.

I also tried a Showers Pass refuge jacket on. It looked like a really nice jacket for the sort of use you describe but I got on better with the shape of the MT500.

Endura MT500

fantastic piece of equipment.

Totally different proposal:
I use Decathlon Tribord stuff. Used it for sea kayaking and took it over to mtb.
In an Decathlon sale you get a good tribord rain jacket for 30 bucks.
Breathing: surprisingly good!
Mtb, two hours downpoor with wind and crap and 80% of your top body is dry and warm.

First thought – hey stuff for 30 bucks can’t be as good.
But was wrong. The Decathlon tribord stuff is excellent!

Army surplus goretex.
Really surprising how good it is. My normal jackets cost 4 times as much.
Not ridden huge distances in it but I wear it home from work if it’s really pissing down and never get wet or sweaty.

Army surplus goretex

excellent idea.
Never tried it for mtb.

But around 30 … 40 bucks (?) is an argument.
😉

For MTB I wear an OMM Kamleika Race Jacket II
For road I wear a rapha Rain Jacket
For middling stuff I tend to wear either a waterpoof gilet/ or a gabba type gilet with waterproof arm warmers, because most rain jackets are too warm.

Columbia outdry gold ex is what the bike packing nutters at bearbones recommended.

Sound theory and I trust them nutters 🙂

7Mesh Guardian or Revelation. Will last forever and the quality is unreal! For any weather I won’t wear anything else these days, but their wet weather kit is especially epic!

the key is when you say “really foul weather” what do you mean? IT’ll simply keep you dry or something that is warm AND dry.

IF you want dry alone then you have to look at Castelli Idro or Gore Shake Dry jacket however these are shells that will allow you to breathe and keep you dry. If you want something more durable and warmer then all the various suggestions above Paramo you’ll just get too hot in unless PROPERLY cold.

Royal Racing Matrix has been doing me proud this winter. The red/blue one is also loud enough to be spotted by dopey cars on the odd road section.

It all depends what you are looking for in terms of features.

My go to horrid day jacket is a Rab Momentum. It is made from 3 layer eVent fabric and features a helmet compatible hood with two Napoleon pockets, good back length and is bright orange. And that is it. No fancy extraneous features. When it is pelting it down for several hours at a time, it does the job for me. Having a hood in horizontal sleet is a very good thing in my experience. It is now several years old but still performs.

If the quality of Endura continues to be as bad as all the garments I have bought from them in the past, I would actively avoid them. Badly stitched, seams splitting after one ride, odd sizing, waterproof gloves that aren’t, waterproof shorts that wore out at the rear seam in a handful of rides, overshoes that refuse to stay in place – other than that they are great! 😆

In terms of a traditional biking jacket, I have been using a POC Enduro waterproof this winter and am impressed by it. I have used it on the cross bike in freezing rain and ice for several hours at a time and remained warm and dry inside. With a long sleeve base layer and a roadie jersey underneath, I’ve experienced none of the despair of condensation build up in the arms. The arms have a heavier grade material on them for crash protection. They do something similar with their windproof jacket which I can attest works in a crash as you slide down a face of rock in Whistler, scraping your arm the length of it. It is expensive and I would improve it by replacing the mesh pockets with solid ones but it is a very, very good piece of kit.

Hope this helps?

Sanny

And in contrast to Sanny, I’m a fan of the durability of Endura kit, having done my best and failed to unexpectedly trash any of it over many years of very tough use.

I’ve a bright yellow MT500 from 2016 that only comes out when the weather is wet, windy and below about 3-4C. It’s been flawless so far and is warm, even over the length of 8 hour January rides in the Highlands.

I wonder if Highlandman is lucky and I am just unlucky? 😆 There is a definite spectrum with these things, I reckon.

lucky and I am just unlucky

definition of lucky and unlucky:

Fat waves splash up to you chest – and you are still (more or less) dry:

Totally different proposal:
I use Decathlon Tribord stuff. Used it for sea kayaking and took it over to mtb.
In an Decathlon sale you get a good tribord rain jacket for 30 bucks.
Breathing: surprisingly good!

No – this doesn’t mean that I urge you to start with seakayaking now…

But proposal, lets raise the definition of

“really foul weather”

Waves up to the chest.
😯

O.k. – sorry. A joke.
But the Decathlon stuff is sometimes really, really good.
😀

Love my MT500, the hood can sometimes get in the way but I just tuck it inside and zip it up. The zip on mine started getting sticky took it back and given new replacement without any fuss.
I see they now do a pull on smock type which looks good

Decathlon Forclaz 400
Superb jacket and at £60 it’s price is very cheap in comparison to how it performs
I’ve been out in some biblical weather and it’s kept me bone dry,has big Pitt vents and hood and it’s a 2.5 layer
Very capable jacket and you can buy all 3 colours for the price of the MT500

@hainman:

Hurray!

Decathlon Forclaz 400

I love this Decathlon stuff. Yes – for £30 … £60 you will be a happy man when going Decathlon.

Decathlon Tribord for waves up to your chest. Decathlon Quechua – like Forcalaz 400 – for

some biblical weather

.

For good weather biking: Decathlon B’Twin

I order the stuff via online store. They ship extremely quick and no issue at all if you have to send some stuff back (because it doesn’t fit or so).

Although low cost: my stuff is now more than 4 years old.
Still great. Quality is top notch.
😉

By the way: never buy a bike at Decathlon.
Please stay with the clothing…
😈

Many thanks for all the replies. Keeping me dry from inside and out more important than a warm jacket as I run quite warm anyway. I would quite like a hood but will check out the above.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/offshoroa-mens-sailing-jacket-dark-blue-id_8319503.html

Surprisingly athletic cut, snug waistline, long arms, good for biking (and winter sailing of course !)

Hood fits really well under helmet and forms a nice ‘peak’ to help keep rain out your eyes.

I found the mt500 fit really bad. I have a typical semi fit person y shaped upper body but it felt designed for a big beer gut with thin shoulders. Ended up with a maddison addict. Excellent thing.

All my other kit bar a couple of royal rops is endura.

Gore bike wear one Gore tex Pro jacket.
Was around at Christmas time with some substantial discounts. I’ve had the Endura Mt500 jkt as well but also found it a strange fit /cut.

If you want something to solely keep you dry then it is the Gore Shake Dry or Castelli Idro (equivalent).

I doubt the Gore Shake Dry would fall into the tough category – they look quite fragile.

If the quality of Endura continues to be as bad as all the garments I have bought from them in the past, I would actively avoid them. Badly stitched, seams splitting after one ride, odd sizing, waterproof gloves that aren’t, waterproof shorts that wore out at the rear seam in a handful of rides, overshoes that refuse to stay in place – other than that they are great!

+1 for that. Everything I’ve bought from Endura over the years has fallen apart bar a pair of Zyme (I think) shorts which made up for that by having a single popper fastening at the waist that self-opened at the slightest hint of pressure. Maybe things have changed, but it’s a brand I have zero faith in. And that’s without the ‘Pro’ bib-shorts which had the chamois in the wrong place. Awful customer service too.

I use a first generation (cut shorter at the front than the current one) Paramo Enduro mountaineering jacket for deep-winter, sub-zero stuff – too warm otherwise despite numerous vents – and a Haglofs Gore-Tex Active Shell jacket the rest of the time. Gore-Tex Pro would be a good fabric, but most mountaineering jackets made from the stuff tend to be a little loose for mountain biking ime, presumably the 7Mesh or Gore Bikewear versions would work, but can’t afford either.

If you want something built on similar lines to GTX Shake Dry, Columbia’s OutDry Extreme stuff does a similar job on not needing reproofing by putting the membrane on the outside, but it’s tougher though heavier and less breathable. Brilliant for not wetting out on long outings in heavy rain though. Looks odd.

@DiscJockey:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/offshoroa-mens-sailing-jacket-dark-blue-id_8319503.html

Surprisingly athletic cut, snug waistline, long arms, good for biking (and winter sailing of course !)

Hood fits really well under helmet and forms a nice ‘peak’ to help keep rain out your eyes

This is exactly the Decathlon Tribord stuff I love.
For extremely bad weather. The Decathlon Quechua is a not for this extreme weather crap.
The Tribord 500 is – for Decathlon – already really, really high end.

Sailing stuff, sea kayaking stuff… – works great for mtb!
😉

Roughly £100 off Gore Bike Power Trail jackets right now on Wiggle – they get great reviews – MBUK Winner recently. I snapped one up but have yet to try it – quality seems top notch, and the Gore-tex Active Shell fabric will be great – I had to size up though. My current jacket is a Gore-tex Paclite Foray walking jacket by Outdoor Research – it’s been amazing, apart from the sleeves are too baggy and flappy and the fit is a bit teeny bit weird. In my experience you get much better value if you buy walking gear, not biking gear (with certain exceptions owing to deals).

The OMM Kamleika’s (made of Gelanotts) are very good, although not cycling specific. However for proper foul winter riding, you can’t beat Paramo gear. Its bulky but bomb proof.