I'm from the San Francisco bay area so I don't know if I have enough credibility to offer my suggestion. Nevertheless, we do have about a month or two of cold (almost freezing to high 40°F) rain during the winter months (or at least expect to have; didn't happen last season). It is also pertinent to state that our rain here isn't tropical-heavy. It is consistently light-to-moderate and light winds can be expected. I should also state that my regular wet-weather bike have full fenders, front and rear.
I too have all sorts of high-tech jackets and pants but like others have similarly found, it's your own sweat that'll do you in. Even the vaulted Showers Pass jackets with the pit zips didn't really do it for me. What I found works best is a bike poncho. I had a crappy semi-disposable one that I used as proof-of-concept and when that worked, I splurged on the Rivendell's Grunden <http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/ar1.htm> version (even bought the hat <http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/ar4.htm>). To be clear, you'll look like a dork dressed in the "flying tent". But you'll be a dry dork. Most of the time, I don't even have to cover my Brooks saddle because the poncho keeps everything dry, even at traffic lights. And even though a poncho isn't airy like nothing at all, it's still noticeably better than any GoreTex jacket I have. You may need waterproof boots if you ride faster than about 10 or 12mph. I think the Rivendell splats <http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/ar3.htm> and shinguards <http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/ar5.htm> are intended as companion devices, but I just put on my Showers Pass pants <https://www.showerspass.com/product-category/pants> and shoe covers <https://www.showerspass.com/product-category/accessories-1> to avoid diving deeper into dorkdom. You can wear your normal clothes over all these, and it doesn't take 10 minutes to degown from your super-hardman outfit when you're at your destination. As a bonus, you will also have a ready halloween costume as the Gorton fisherman or Paddington bear (don't ask). Don't underestimate this as we'll be in October tomorrow. ;) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
