Here at Cyclingnews, we’ve put a lot of effort into helping you stay warm and dry over the last few weeks. We’ve not only put together a guide to the best winter cycling jackets, but also a separate guide to the best waterproof cycling jackets too. However, especially when it comes to waterproof cycling jackets, there is a fair amount of jargon. As far as we’re concerned, forewarned is forearmed, and the more you know as a consumer about the tech behind your purchases the better. It’ll allow you to make better decisions and potentially save some money too by not buying something that you don’t need.
In this article, I’m going to attempt to demystify everything I can think of about waterproof jackets. We will go through how they work, both the waterproof membrane part and the water-repellent bit, as well as diving a little deeper into waterproof and breathability ratings before doing a run through the key players on the market so that you can look at that Gore-Tex Pro label and think “that’s not actually what I need”, before reaching for something more suitable.
There is a big shift coming in the outdoors industry, with global supply chains moving away from fluorinated carbon chemistry. What this means is that, in the long term at least, waterproof garments as we currently know them will have to change. They will have to move away from expanded polytetrafluoroethylene to other options, and the durable water repellent (DWR) coatings too will have to change chemically. The mechanics of how it all works though, so far as we can tell at the moment, will remain the same.
A short glossary of terms
Before we continue, and given the stated aim of this piece is to demystify, I thought it best to begin with a short glossary of the key terms.
Waterproof – In order to be called ‘waterproof’, the item in question must be able to withstand a column of water 1000mm high for 24hrs, but as we’ll get into, there is a broad range of performance beyond that.
Water resistant – This is basically everything that isn’t ‘waterproof’, and will usually take the form of a DWR-coated softshell. Still able to resist a shower, but not prolonged downpours.
Breathability – In its simplest form this is a measure of how sweaty a jacket will be once you start moving. It’s measured in terms of how much water vapour can pass through a set area of fabric in 24hrs. This is always measured in lab conditions though, and can be affected by various factors.
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