There’s a new sheriff in waterproof cycling jacket town, and its name is the Pas Normal Mechanism Shell Jacket

I’ve really struggled pulling together a decent update to my guide to the best waterproof cycling jackets. As you’ve probably gathered by now, waterproof cycling jackets have gone on a journey in recent years thanks to heavy regulation clamping down on the use of PFAS, also known as forever chemicals. The production of waterproof membranes and durable water repellent coatings (DWR) has become safer and better for the planet, but the flipside is that they have become less effective at keeping you dry, and pointing this second fact out has led to people suggesting I’m part of the lobbying arm for the international chemicals industry.

Thankfully, finally, I have found a jacket that not only doesn’t perform badly like so many I have tried in the last 12 months, but actually performs well, so much so that it is, in my opinion, the best waterproof cycling jacket on the market at the time of writing. I’ve been riding the Pas Normal Mechanism Shell Jacket for several months now over the winter – not to be confused with the Pas Normal Mechanism Pertex Rain Jacket, a lightweight option my colleague Tom reviewed recently – and it’s very good, easily a match for some genuinely atrocious weather, and there’s one key reason to my mind as to why it’s so good: It’s quite baggy.

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