Rain Protection fitted to the bike - Reviews/Opinions needed!

[ilewis365]

Hi all,

Just started commuting to work via bicycle to avoid public transport during this time. I've got a caught a couple of times in the rain recently and don't have changing facilities at work.
I've been looking at rain covers for my bike, i've seen the two products below on the market? Has anyone got any experience or reviews?

The two products i am looking at are:
- "Veltop Urban Light"
- "Dryve"

I appreciate that they look a bit silly and expensive, but if they're practical it might be worth it.

Thanks for your help!

[Paulatic]

I watched a video assembling the veltop
Just buy a cape simpler to fit and easier to pack and probably catches the wind far less than the veltop.

[tatanab]

I too read it as a temporary storage cover for a bike. Then I looked at the products listed. Large areas, high up, very difficult to handle in the wind. Also, rain comes from all directions. Better off with suitable clothing (rain wear) which is likely to be cheaper as well.

[whoof]

Good quality rain jacket and over trousers with a wicking base layer. Might have to ride a little slower so you don't get too hot and sweaty but the wind resistance from that bike cover would probably slow you whenever the wind was blowing anyway.

With regards to changing facilities, a toilet cubicle?

[mjr]

A cycle cape is better, as long as it's not blowing a gale: less sweaty than jacket and overtrousers, catches wind less than rigid rain covers, easier to fit and remove than either.

[LollyKat]

How far is your commute?
How hilly?
How busy is the traffic?

A cycle cape or poncho is very good if it's not windy and best for ventilation but you can't indicate clearly. A good rain jacket with vents including underarm ones works well for your top half but if it is tight fitting (more aerodynamic) you will get hotter and sweatier. Full overtrousers can also be very hot.

FWIW for commuting 5 miles in ordinary clothes I use a jacket like this with Rainlegs. The Rainlegs are much cooler and keep off the worst of the rain. Mudguards with long flaps help a lot to keep your feet dry and you can always take a pair of dry socks with you.

Finally for head covering a cap or helmet with a decent peak will keep most of the rain out of your eyes.

[rmurphy195]

I used to use a cycle cape many years ago, a proper yellow oilskin (which you can't seem to get these days). Regularly cycled to work in it, rain or snow, light or dark, and it kept me warm. It also draped over the saddlebag, but could be a faff to put on, you get on the bike, make sure the cape is draped over the bits it needs to be draped over, put your thumbs through the thumb loops and off you go. Until you want to make a hand signal that is, you have to develop a knack for these things!

But that was back in the 1960's and cycle clothing has moved on a lot since then, so these days I'm happier with a cycling-specific jacket. I have two, a yellow showerproof shell that folds up in a pocket for summer, and a slightly heavier weight yellow jacket for the Winter and chilly evenings ( a bit like this https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/adrenaline-waterproof-mens-iso-viz-jacket-p7003.aspx/Yellow/?rrec=true. Look out for sales from mountain warehous/halfords/decathlon etc. Much easier to get on and off the bike than with a cape. I did have a cheap pair of overtrousers at one time as well, but even with those a dry pair of shoes and socks were useful to have to hand!

On todays busier roads I'd be a tad nervous that a gust of wind might put me where I don't want to be if using a cape - and I include some of the raised kerbs and boundaries on some cycle tracks in town!

You can get overjackets and overtrousers quite cheaply from the likes of Decathlon and Mountain Warehouse, I'd look at these if I were you. A cycling jacket will have a longer back, to drape over the back of the saddle especially if you are leaning forward. Look for sleeves with an adjustabe strap on the cuffs that you canfit over some cycling gloves in cold weather, otherwise any rain will trickle down into your gloves. Sleeves will, if the jacket fits properly, appear to be too long, that is until you stretch your arms out! If you wear glasses a cheap baseball cap can keep the rain off them.

BTW I hope you have mudguards, if you have breathable clothing in particular they can save lots of cleaning/clagging up of the fabric!

[simonhill]

In Japan you can get a bracket for fixing an umbrella to your handlebars.

[andrew_s]

Senz sold handlebar holders for their stormproof umbrellas until quite recently
https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2018 ... rainy-day/

I did try one of their umbrellas just attached to the bars via the wrist loop and supported between my neck and shoulder one time I got caught without a jacket - seemed to work OK.

[mjr]

A cycle cape or poncho is very good if it's not windy and best for ventilation but you can't indicate clearly.

That depends on the design of cape. Ones with sleeves or arm-holes allow clear indication. The traditional thumb-loop ones less so.

In Japan you can get a bracket for fixing an umbrella to your handlebars.

I've seen them on sale and in use in NL and southwestern France too.

[LollyKat]

A cycle cape or poncho is very good if it's not windy and best for ventilation but you can't indicate clearly.

That depends on the design of cape. Ones with sleeves or arm-holes allow clear indication. The traditional thumb-loop ones less so.

The one I have has armholes but they are too much to the front, so that when the cape is stretched over the drop handlebars I can't stick an arm out to the side. In fact they just let the rain in so I sewed and glued them up. I could be interested in a cape with sleeves (do you have a link?) but it might still obscure my bar-end mirror.

[mjr]

I could be interested in a cape with sleeves (do you have a link?) but it might still obscure my bar-end mirror.

I don't have a current link. My current cape basically has holes at the shoulder and I abandon my arms to the rain (I mostly use the cape in summer). It obscures almost everything on the bars but the only thing slightly annoying there is the camera, which I could move to a headtube mount if I really wanted to.

[PH]

I've got a caught a couple of times in the rain recently and don't have changing facilities at work.

Couple of side points - By caught do you mean soaked or a bit damp? When I commuted four times a week 13 miles each way, I often got damp but but getting soaked really wasn't that common, though luck can play a huge part. As I had a choice of workwear, I'd use something that would dry out from anything other than a complete soaking in half an hour or so. Then although not ideal, on the rare occasion I did get a proper soaking, I'd change n a toilet cubical. I never recorded how many times that was, I'd be surprised if it was more than ten a year, though there were probably times when it felt more often.
More recently I've been doing some deliveroo/just eat deliveries by bike. The wetter it is the busier I don't think there is any substitute for good quality dedicated wet weather gear, but you would need to change out of it for anything else.

[backnotes]

In Japan you can get a bracket for fixing an umbrella to your handlebars.

I've seen them on sale and in use in NL and southwestern France too.

I saw these for sale at a shop called Popins (as in Mary Poppins, I assume) in Bordeaux. I think they designed / make them too https://popins.fr/. Looked perhaps a bit optimistic for keeping proper rain off you if you were moving, and not particularly "aero" either.....