Cycling UK Forum

hi, i don't want to get wet this summer in Scotland....

can anyone tell me what the waterproofs are called that covers the cycle from the bars and most of the rider but is worn like a jacket with a hood....used to see them in yellow pvc but there must be more modern versions now?

tried searchin but not found exactly what i mean and i have never thought too much of them before but doing my longest tour this year, so................

cheers for any input

tony

Ah, you mean a cape? I'm sure there'll be a few on this forum who can fill you in on those. I occasionally use one on my 1950's roadster for short hops but prefer waterproof jacket and trouser combo for touring. I suppose it's the idea of cycling into a headwind in one that puts me off somehow, apart from the bulk.

A lightweight or too short a cape is no good at all. These sorts tend to lead to people forming the opinion that they are flappy and dangerous - also the opinion of many who have never used a cape. Heavier capes in a variety of sizes are avaialble from Rotrax Cycles in Southampton. These I can recommend having used them for the last 20 years or so. Expensive but worthwhile. Carradice do something that looks similar (see various advertisements in Cycle) although I've never seen one in real life.

Cape versus jacket and trousers - I find a jacket and trousers ok for short distances, say less than 10 miles. For all day, or even day after day in the wet I would prefer a cape because you have effectively a well ventilated micro climate inside which is very nice on a rainy winter's day.

but i thought only Batman wore a cape!...lol

ok i feel a bit silly for not thinking of the word cape to search with..... thanks guys

and as said i like the idea of a micro climate cocoon away from persistant torrential rain which i have been caught in the last 3 summers runnin, on both motor bikes and bicycles....but who hasn't...

cheers

I used to wear a cape when I first started cycling - they do keep you much drier than jacket and trousers and they don't make you sweat. I'm not sure why they fell out out of fashion, but they aren't the best thing in the strong wind which often accompanies heavy rain.

fair point mr t but i see the Ulm describes itself as wind as well as waterproof

anyone had experience of

Ulm
Munchen
Zwolle
or Heidelburg

all seem well priced under 35 quid..the ulm and heidelburg look a good spec with vents, tie downs and could possibly longer to cover upper leg area as well...

anyone have experience of these capes?..

cheers

the Ulm describes itself as wind as well as waterproof

My guess is that means the material is sufficiently tightly woven to prevent cold air getting through the surface under the pressure of a wind, but the overall aerodynamics of the cape would remain the same. But I respect the views of previous posters who find them useful, I can see how that might be the case.

I used one when I started cycling in 1962. I do remember how slow I went into the wind!!! I still used one as an emergency waterproof on my uprights (Tied to the special loops on my saddle bag.) until I gave up riding two wheels. They are no use on a recumbent as they catch the air and inflate leaving me unable to see!

ziptony wrote:Ulm
Munchen
Zwolle
or Heidelburg

I had to look these up. The Ulm is not a cape, it is a long smock type jacket as far as I can see, so will do nothing for legs and machine. Heidelburg I could not find. Munchen and Zwolle both look like lightweight materials to me, not what I would recommend. Also I would not use a hood attached to a cape (or jacket) because I find it restricts visibility in that you cannot easily look behind. I have used an unattached hood which overcame this but I found a hood is very noisy in the rain because the material is close to your ears. I favour a waterproof flat cap.

As has been mentioned, the effects of wind on a cape are all to do with its sail like properties and not windproof as in a jacket. It is something that experience lets you cope with and is not as severe as many would have you believe - usually people who have not used a cape.

A Rotrax cape is heavy enough to sit around you. It covers the handlebars and possibly a saddlebag as well and depending on size reaches just below the knee when riding. It is modelled on the old Lillywhite & Lewis capes that were popular in the 1960s and 70s. I am about 5' 9" and use a 48 inch cape. I seem to remember Rotrax sizes as 45, 48 and 52.

One other advantage of a cape is in a sudden heavy shower--we seem to get more of these nowadays. I tend to stop and put on the cape and sit inside it in the dry and comfort until the rain stops (I did say a shower but mebbe downpour would be a better term).Most of the places I cycle have no other temporary shelter available.My current one is a cheapo from Lidl and folds up fairly small.I have not tried it for longer term use but it should be ok.

I tend to stop and put on the cape and sit inside it in the dry and comfort

Suggests a hitherto unrealised advantage of the cape for the lady cyclists amongst us. I shall reconsider mine now as it could be very useful from time to time!

Carradice still do a traditional cape.

Paul_Smith
Touring Tips

I actually have two of them and if you don't have a headwind they are great. That, unfortunately, is a big if..

I seldom use them.

Hi AMC. Josie Dew thought of this idea a long time ago.

Waterproof jacket (with or without trousers) versus cape? Like many other things, it's horses for courses. For a long leisure ride on a very wet day, or touring, I use a cape - it's much less sweaty. For shopping/business/anything else where I need to be tidily dressed when I arrive, ditto, but if very wet, with waterproof trousers as well (in the old days, instead of trousers, it would have been 'spats' - waterproof covers just to the legs below the knee - but you can't get them now). Otherwise, days when it looks showery, waterproof breathable jacket, and rainlegs or trousers. My high speed days are over, but back when, it was lightweight race cape or jacket in back pocket. Finally, on a warm summer day when it turns wet on the way home, the heck with it - get wet and enjoy it! So it's very much what suits you.

PS. I've never found the wind signicently more of a hindrance in a cape than in a jacket (but I never tried to go fast in a cape). Where the wind is troublesome is when it comes from the side, and blows the skirt of the cape against your legs, channelling the rain down the lower part of your trousers.

PPS at the cake stop, the cape makes a splendid bike cover.