GORE Wear Men's Waterproof Cycling Jacket, C3 GORE-TEX Active Jacket, 100034

Product Information

Conversely, doing threshold efforts in it will probably leave you damp from your own perspiration, so it's one for the classic long-and-slow winter riding gang. It comes up a little small, so as per Rapha options you’ll need to size up from your jersey. The reason these lamination techniques allow for water-repellent characteristics is that the inner membranes are full of holes. This may seem counterintuitive, but a Gore-Tex membrane boasts nine billion pores, each 1µm – a millionth of a metre – wide per square inch. The holes are big enough to allow water vapour created by sweat evaporation to escape, but are too small for water droplets to sneak through.

My major gripe with the dhb Trail was the hood: It’s too small to reasonably go over a helmet without the face box being squashed right against your nose and mouth. It’s fine for short downpours, but for extended ones, you’ll want it under your helmet. With the hood up, which is best under a helmet or the face box gets very claustrophobic, you feel more or less impervious to the elements. The lower hem can be easily cinched one handed with an easy drawstring, which I'd ideally liked to have seen complimented by adjustable cuffs. Yes, you can fit gloves underneath with ease, but I often go without gloves, and breezy cuffs in the cold are not the one. Every square inch of the extremely thin Gore-Tex membrane has nine billion pores, with each of these holes 20,000 times smaller than a drop of water.Gore-Tex is a trademarked fabric invented in 1969, which is both extremely waterproof and breathable. Gore-Tex, Thinsulate, Polartec and eVent are all internal membranes that are sandwiched between two other materials – usually something abrasion-resistant on the outside, with a soft liner on the inside. Even the Castelli Gabba Jersey is made using a Windstopper laminate fabric. With Shakedry, Gore turned the structure of membrane-based waterproofs inside out. Instead of sandwiching the membrane in the middle of a laminate, the membrane in Shakedry fabrics forms the outermost layer of the garment, supported by a single fabric layer. Gore-Tex swapped the polyurethane layer typically found on raincoats with a Teflon membrane which bonded with the nylon outer layer. This where those millions of pores are found, thus facilitating brushing off water and passing water vapour away from your skin.

If you want something to ride to work in every day and use in the woods at the weekend you’ll have a hard time finding an option that does both as well as the POC Motion. Plus, especially in the lovely Dioptase petrol blue colour, it’s another looker that’s perfectly fine on the office floor. The membrane on the outside also repels water, without needing a DWR coating. So it’s permanently water-resistant, water beads off and – as its name says – it shakes dry when the rain stops. The treatment does not inhibit breathability because it doesn’t fill the gaps between the fibres. Instead, it bonds the individual fibres to help the garment shed water and prevent saturation.

The fabric is gossamer thin to the point of translucency, with a light stretch to it. The fit is most definitely race, though the tail could be dropped further. I usually wear a small jersey, and a small Supreme is on the cusp of being too tight, especially in the forearms, so if you want to account for a mid-layer then I suggest you size up. Gore-Tex Active –extremely lightweight and breathable, but doesn’t provide the same level of protection against the weather. Best for aerobic activities like running and cycling. When the DWR is applied to a fabric, it creates micropegs or microspikes that protrude from the fibres and prevent water from spreading out, forcing it to form beads that slide off the fabric without seeping in.

Indeed, Gore-Tex promise that each of their products provide at least three core benefits: waterproof (even in the heaviest storms), windproof and breathable. Since Shakedry has been discontinued there's been a bit of a shakeup at the top of the tree, with brands reaching for alternatives from Gore, Pertex, or in-house. In the last year I've certainly seen a lot more of Pertex Shield than I have anything else, and given how well it performs, and how versatile it can be (anything from the feathery Rab Cinder Phantom to the much more sturdy Albion Zoa) this can only be a good thing in my eyes.It’s all about layering fabrics. When the Gore-Tex membrane is laminated to an inner and or outer material, it becomes a Gore Fabric. The cut is for MTB riding, and is pretty true to size. Given the more relaxed cut, opt for your usual jersey size for this one.Claire found she could probably go for a smaller size, but the looser fit worked well for us both when it comes to layering potential. The dropped tail isn’t as pronounced and the sleeves aren’t quite as long as others, but despite this, it works very well for blasting around the woods at full gas. It’s noticeably more breathable than the other options on the list, and the real bonus is the hood, which can be adjusted easily while riding and doesn’t leave your face being squashed by the face box. The breathability is further enhanced by stretch panels under the armpits, which function as pit perforations do whilst also improving the freedom of movement. Still, it’s important to keep waterproof fabrics clean because dirt and oil can clog membranes (limiting the fabric’s ability to breathe) and degrade DWR treatments, too. Always read washing instructions carefully.