The seams are an issue like Axlebrit says. Love the PVA glue idea

The other issue with Goretex/nylon is the pores. When new/clean water droplets are briefly held on the surface and air going by takes them away. Air comes through without restriction. When dirty/old, water droplets stay on the surface and can get through eventually, but together with dirt they stop it breathing and you drown in your own sweat.

Three/Four options:

1. Get a new jacket.
2. Use a fully waterproof rain suit.
3. Throroughly clean the jacket and reproof it.
4. Give up breathable and go for a wax cotton jacket with proper vents/collar/cuffs.

1. is expensive. My last Hein Gericke thing was wet at three years old and cost £200. I pay less per year to insure the bike!
2. Cheap and it works, but you need to stop and put it on/take it off/get at your wallet.
3. Sounds good but I've had results varied from a jacket that worked for a year down to one that dropped to bits at the dry cleaners! All are a total swine to get the armour out and dry. Expect a week and complaints about the rings in the bath if you do it at home
4. Very expensive unless you give up protection. As a sidecarist I have less opportunities to need armour. I can therefore wear a Drizabone horse coat that ticks every box so long as you don't come off at over 20 mph.

Andy

Ah yes - it's amazing how quickly "it's just a shower, don't need to bother stopping to put my waterproofs on" turns into "I am that wet now anyway what's the point in stopping to put my waterproofs on"!

One other advantage to the oversuits is how quickly and easily they dry. I don't care how waterproof a textile jacket is, if you have ridden in rain all day and are camping at night there is no way it will be dry the next day. At least with an oversuit the water runs off fairly quickly.

Oh is it breathable? If you coat it in PVA it sure won't be. As for the mix, a lot of it varies on the glue you use in the first place, I've just been using a huge 10 litre tub of PVA wallpaper paste and for that I dilute water:glue about 1/2:1/2 for fabric seams and a bit more maybe 2/3:1/3 for paper.

But really it's about experimenting in areas that don't show. I don't see this as a great way to waterproof stuff when you first get it, but more about eking an extra season out of something you love while you save up for something new.

OT a bit, but does anyone make anything like a waterproof bib for biking, or have I just invented something new and should shut up while I patent it? I'm imagining something like chaps or those things they put on you at hairdressers, for your upper body. After all your back tends not to get wet when you're moving. So it'd be something that pulled out of a bum-bag with a front piece and a couple of sleeves. In theory you could pull it on without stopping, but even if you had to stop it should go on in a second or two.

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Hi,

I ride all year round (except when its really cold!) in a textile jacket that isn't and never was meant to be waterproof. Underneath it I wear a light Goretex Paclite jacket made by The North Face that I got in a sale for £100 (normally £150). The textile jacket gets wet of course, but me and my insulating layers don't. It's extremely comfy, totally waterproof and means I have a light jacket to wear when I'm off the bike.

I also use the jacket for hiking, skiing, cycling etc. so eventually (like all waterproof jackets) it will wear out. At which point I will just buy another, without having to buy a new bike jacket.

Matt

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

I do like Matt does, following lots of experimenting with other methods. I also use backpacker rain pants, but these go over rather than under my "waterproof/breathable" armored riding pants. I'm sure that an oversuit would work at least as well as anything else; the key, as far as I can tell, is having two layers of "waterproof" gear on simultaneously.

FWIW, breathability is irrelevant when riding in the rain. Wetted-out gore-tex isn't functionally breathable either.

I'm still irritated that my US$600 jacket has pockets which fill up with water two inches deep whenever it rains. And I don't understand why it is (apparently) impossible to use zipper pulls which do not split, shatter or decompose within a year of use.

But that's just me.

enjoy,

Mark

This one baffles me as well, especially on jackets that cost $500 and up...