I'll go along with everything said above. It all leaks, none of it is particularly well-designed, and the stuff which is at least well-constructed (with various faults) is obscenely expensive. Besides all that, you're looking for a balance between shedding weather and ventilating well, and the balance point shifts according to where and when you'll be riding. Anything fairly weatherproof is going to roast you in the tropics; anything fairly cool is going to let you down in changeable mountain weather or during all-day rides in European rains.

In large measure your job as consumer is to decide what you want to emphasize--ventilation, weatherproofing, price, fall-protection, styling.... I've come down strongly on the side of weather protection (expensive Aerostich Darien tops and bottoms with secondary layers of cheap backpacker rainsuit), but on a long trip which included several months straight in the tropics I wondered about my sanity every day. On the other hand, there were times on the altiplano or in northern Europe during the fall (and southern Europe during winter) when I was damn glad I wasn't wearing mesh and I had that second "waterproof" layer.

One last point: I sure don't wear black if I'm going to be anyplace hot. Grey is the darkest color I'll do--helmet, jacket, pants. This makes the difference in hot weather between almost tolerable and absolutely intolerable.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark