Cycling UK Forum

The one I've got is heavy plastic. It's German made. I got it at a jumble some years ago. I saw some similar looking ones perhaps two or three years ago at another jumble. I bought one for Mini V, but it turned out to be slightly different than mine.

Mine doesn't have thumb loops. It has some snaps to make a little fold in the cape. I put my hands through the fold, and there is enough cape to cover them, though it does have a tendancy to flap up. It the wind was strong enough once to unsnap it

Mini V's snaps all the way up to make a sort of sleeve, if she wants, but she can't keep her hands covered with it. Hers doesn't have any waist straps. It seems to depend on the snapped sleeves for holding it close. It does seem to work well for her on the back of the tandem, though.

tatanab wrote:Jackets and so on are fine for people who are out for an hour or two, but for hour after hour and day after day rain in tour you cannot beat a cape....

Dunno. I wore a Gore-Tex Paclite jacket on PBP 2007, which was the coldest and wettest for years, and it was fine.

Mmh, I hadn't really thought about indicating with a cape on...bit of a draw back

Sooper8 wrote:Mmh, I hadn't really thought about indicating with a cape on...bit of a draw back

Not really. Even with my long cape I can drop a shoulder and push a hand and lower arm out from underneath - not ideal but better than nothing. With a short flappy cape a hand signal would be even easier.

Ok, even with some of the negatives some people mention, I still think I'd like to give the cape a try.
Thanks for all your thoughts

Just curious....Does anyone have any alternative uses for a cape, when not worn?

Sooper8 wrote:Just curious....Does anyone have any alternative uses for a cape, when not worn?

As a porta-loo (according to Josie Dew).
Alternatively, as a groundsheet for sitting on when eating your picnic lunch.


I did try a cape for a while, but found that even in the absence of wind it put 5 minutes onto the 10 mile ride in to the start of the club runs, and that I got a sweaty & wet back where the cape lay against me, the same as if I'd been wearing a backpack.

I wouldn't use a cape during a group ride like a club run. But for an all day ride in steady rain my rotrax cape is far better than a waterproof jacket plus the other acoutrements ( waterproof trousers, rainlegs etc) which are needed to give a similar protection. Also gloves keep drier under a cape.
It does take some getting used to of course but some years ago when riding through Scotland on JOGLE I was very glad of a cape because it rained for all or part of every day - stopped at Gretna though

A few people mention Rotrax capes....I just don't seem to be able to find them on Google.

Could anyone post a link? If they are out of production, anybody got one to sell?

Thanks

I rode the Danube 2 years ago with 2 companions. I took a cape. It was either Argos or Wilkinsons. Pretty heavy, vinyl I think but only £10. It was brilliant! I used it for the two bad rainy days we had. It knows how to rain over there. My companions in their top of the range gear were soaked. I stayed as dry as a bone and had no condensation problems. I don't know how you can suffer condensation with all that airflow from underneath.
I think thay are great as long as you are not being batterd by the wind. They have many uses. Good cover if you are caught in the open. Use as a groundsheet. Wrap yourself in it if you're cold at night. Take a comfort break in the open. Cover the bike or panniers/gear overnight,etc,etc.
The only downside IMO is the weight of the decent ones.

thirdcrank wrote:http://rotraxcycles.wordpress.com/category/cycle-attire/

Thanks for that link.
I found that while searching yesterday but thought it was just a blog/review site. It wasn't what I was expecting

I've always taken an affectionate interest in Rotrax because one of my first bikes had a Rotrax frame - and very nice it was too.

AFAIK they are alive and well and living in Shirley Rd.

I don't think you can beat a good quality cape when you are out riding all day in heavy rain, not to everyone's liking, as others on here have pointed out but I do like mine in severe weather. Once you get used to the way it behaves in the wind it is fine and you will soon develope your own technique for signalling.
I usually wear a waterproof jacket but if it looks like the rain is going to be prolonged and heavy, out comes the cape. Mine is a Carradice cape bought from SJSC in 2009.

Advantages are it comes right over and protects legs to a degree rather than water running off the end of your goretex jacket and soaking into shorts etc....

Flapping around, surely you sit on the end of the cape behind you so it is tucked under your b*m on the saddle, this does prevent some of the flapping.

Disadvantages being of dimunuitive stature and struggling with winds anyway, the thought of being deposited into a drainage ditch at the side of a Danish road, in the dark with rain and high winds was the death knell for my old cape...

Other uses: portaloo, groundsheet to sit on ... as previously suggested.

Oh and on a summers day when wearing shorts, when off the bike you get the flappy wet edge around your lower legs ... horrid!

Seems the cape splits opinion in a pretty clear way

Love it or hate it, not many in the middle.

Can those cape lovers tell me what you think to the £9.98 on Amazon at the moment? Worth a go?

The other one I can see is the Vaude one on ebay at £30 and looks great but maybe not 3 times greater than the Amazon one?

By the way, the ebay one is listed as a poncho not cape....