Another enthusiastic vote for Showers Pass Elite and Refuge (and other models) jackets as outer layers in cold/dry conditions. Winter riding in western Colorado at 6000' of altitude is exceptionally comfortable, whether it's snowing (which is basically dry conditions) or actually dry outside. I do find that the pit zips alone are not sufficient for ventilation (staying in that target zone of cool and dry) in the temperature range of 20-35 F. where I most prefer to ride. So I usually am working the front zipper of my shell (and also a half-zip 100 weight fleece underneath) up and down as needed to keep my upper torso cool (and therefore dry) rather than warm.
As I believe others have mentioned, ventilating the sleeves (and keeping your arms/layers dry) is typically more difficult due to limited options for directing airflow (compared to the torso). I mostly address this by keeping my torso/layers extra cool/dry when I feel my sleeves starting to get clammy. It certainly is true, at least in my experience over quite a few years, that it is MUCH more challenging to stay cool during cold weather riding conditions than it is to stay warm. Warm is usually just a zipped-up zipper or amped-up heartrate away, whereas cooling off and drying out takes time and patience and practice to get the correct "recipe" to match the air temp outside. But in the end, the (often rather expensive, admittedly) accumulation of clothing and gear, and the numerous test runs and trial/error periods of getting to the point of dressing properly for the NOW temperature/conditions and taking a few extra pieces to address the LATER temp/conditions is really, really rewarding. A sunny day at 25 degrees and a smooth asphalt shoulder along the highway is, for me, about as good as it gets for mid-winter bicycling. Willet M. Carbondale, CO On Friday, January 28, 2022 at 4:33:19 PM UTC-7 JAS wrote: > I like my Showers Pass Elite jacket for cold weather and rain. Yes, it > can be vented under the arms and has a cape-like back vent for air flow. > If I don't open the arm vents, it can build up a little moisture, but > nothing that makes me cold. If it's super cold, I use a very heavy wool > Patagonia crew neck base layer I got years ago to wear under my dry suit > for kayaking, but it would probably be overkill for folks who run hot. > > I use the fanny pack trick when it's really cold and windy. I don't have > a "pants-gap" issue; instead, I just like all the help I can get to keep > the cold out. Good point about tucking a couple of the top layers into > your pants and having a waist-band high enough to do so. > > One more tip: A stretchy Gor-Tex helmet cover keeps the rain out and > blocks the helmet vent holes. Combined with a thin wool beanie, my head > and ears stay warm. It looks a bit like mushroom-head, but that's the > price I pay for warmth! > > > On Friday, January 28, 2022 at 11:17:53 AM UTC-8 Patrick Moore wrote: > >> Joyce and others: a question and some remarks. >> >> On Fri, Jan 28, 2022 at 11:49 AM JAS <swanso...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> ....*Showers Pass jacket with pit zips for core ventilation. >> >> >> 1. I always assumed that SP jackets were meant for rain. Question: Do >> they serve well (because of pit zips) as an outer layer and insulator for >> dry-weather cold-temperature (32 south to teens) over wool layers? >> >> *Outdoor Research winter gloves with long gauntlet >>> >> >> ODR or other, certainly yes to long gauntlets. I very often will wear >> repurposed street gloves (like the Bundeswehr pair) that are very nice but >> leave a 1/2" gap between end of cuff and beginning of glove; not nice at >> 25*! >> >> >>> wearing a fanny pack or waist pack will also help keep the cold from >>> coming up the bottom of your jacket >>> >> >> Rant begins! *Cycling bottoms, tights or pants, should have waists high >> enough in the back that even when in the hooks of a drop bar the waistband >> does not separate from your top layer!!!!!!!* I can't say how many, >> often expensive winter riding pants I've bought only to find that they are >> stupidly, stupidly cut like last year's hipster jeans. I've had expensive >> pants -- Enduras, Osloh jeans so beloved of BSNYC -- retailored in the >> waist to fit more snugly and reduce this gapping tendency. And I'm not >> talking of gapping due to an oversized belly and slipping waist, either. >> Rant ends. >> >> But the most comfortable riding bottoms of all, ever, besides >> cycling-specific tights (which seem all to be cut high in back) are >> converted mens' dress pants from long before today's modern, low-cut and >> tight re-makes of 1960s pants. These come up high enough to well overlap or >> underlap your jersey, and to hold a tucked-in layer securely tucked in when >> you are bent over the hooks. (Speaking of 1960s: 1960s dress pants are old >> even for me, but I recall owning in the mid 1980s a very nice pair of dress >> wools that must have been 20 years old then: pegged like Jack Kennedy but >> high in waist like your grandfather's pants. Wish I'd kept them.) >> >> >> > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/fbe71513-99b1-4aa5-84f5-6bf34292ca16n%40googlegroups.com.
