Originally Posted by
Doug64
That is nearly identical to my set up - disk trucker, fenders, and a full set of Ortlieb's. Good stuff!
I have been hypothermic in rain with air temperatures in the 70's backpacking and riding. You wouldn't think it, considering how much of a workout you can get doing either activity, but the truth of it is being stuck in a lot of rain and staying soaking wet wicks away body heat and you can get pretty darn cold. Been there done that. I am fairly thin and get cold easily anyway, so maybe that is just me. In any case, don't take getting wet lightly.
On the other hand, I've been on trips where it has been 80-90 degrees and had thunderstorms. Getting wet then was an absolute blessing to cool off. As long as I'm not stuck in the rain for too long I don't really mind it at those temperatures. Mid-70's or below - yea it gets to be another ballgame entirely.
If being in the rain for a long period of time (several hours, half your riding for the day, or more), regardless of what the air temp is, I'd say its time for rain gear. The warmer it is the more you will sweat inside and deal with getting wet on the inside anyway, though. So it is a trade-off. In that case, it may just be worth it to wait out the rain.
One, perhaps unconventional, idea is face protection in the rain. I wear clear safety glasses or sunglasses when I ride 90% of the time, mostly to keep bugs out of my eyes. The clear lenses can help in lower light/cloudy weather, but can also do a lot to shield your eyes from the rain when riding. You might think this is a bit awkward of an idea, but on open boats I wear face shields when I am caught out in the weather. It's no fun getting face-blasted with rain going 20-40mph. The shields actually work quite well. You may be able to use the same theory for better face protection when riding, though just to keep the water off, I doubt anyone is going to be going fast enough to get face-blasted by rain drops on a bike.
https://www.harborfreight.com/safety...sor-62995.html