mrodent

As ever, when I look online I find exactly what I don't want.

The context is London cycling: I live in London and don't commute. I don't spend hours cycling through wind and rain. I'm not a MAMIL. Cycling is just a great way to get about, one that I've been using, in London, since 1980.

Showers, let alone heavy rain, are pretty infrequent in London, even in winter.

What I want is some short overtrousers, which will just about cover my thighs, where (surprise!) the rain mainly falls when I'm cycling through rain. Easy on, easy off.

I want them to be WATERPROOF. I don't want them to be "showerproof" or "not very absorbent" or "dry out remarkably quickly". I don't even care whether they're "breathable" because I doubt whether I'll ever find myself cycling for hours on end when it's both warm and pouring down like a monsoon. I just want them to be some plasticky material which is hopefully not too ridiculously heavy or bulky. I'd rather they were hi-vis yellow rather than black: why would anyone ever be foolish enough to want to buy black cycling gear?

I've looked all over online and found STRICTLY NOTHING. A pair of (black, FFS) trousers, "Gore Bikewear", Amazon calls itself "knee length", but is clearly nothing of the sort.

Why are all cycle-related consumer goods so utterly utterly rubbish?

Wileyrat

My guess is if there was a market for what you're looking for, they'd exist. Buy some rain pants and have them shortened.

fietsbob

I like my Cycling Rain Cape .. Carradice Pro route, since you're there and so are they. LankS

make knickers out of some Marine foul weather Gear .. Grundens .. a Swedish-Portuguese company ..

heavy PVC, does not breathe at all ..

They made my cycle rain cape , but exclusively for the Rivendale Bicycle company in California. [ they're U$D 125.]

[edit, to add]:
A search finds these; [though their function Rendered Moot by a rain cape ] https://www.rainlegs.com/en/home

(they're from the same country that gave you the 1066 Conqueror..)



....

BikeLite

Buy the cheapest rain pants and cut them down ; ).

alcjphil

Any time I have been out riding in the rain my lower legs got a lot wetter than my upper legs from water splashing up off my front wheel. My take is that you are looking for a solution to an almost nonexistent problem which is why you are not finding what you want
As additional information I did most of my wet weather riding on a bicycle equipped with mudguards

wipekitty

+1

This, in fact, is exactly what I've done It started out as a quick fix after my cheapo rain pants got ripped along the bottom, but ended up working out very well.

FrozenK

Endura MT500 shorts. Or as someone else suggested, cut a pair of rain pants.

JohnDThompson 

Maybe some wool "plus-fours?"

Leisesturm

Chaps. He wants rain chaps. But... rain shorts? Is that an oxymoron?

dabac

AFAIK rain shorts doesn't exist. Rain chaps OTOH do:https://www.rosebikes.se/artikel/rai...ion/aid:288722
I have a pair myself that I'm reasonably happy with.
There's a strap that occasionally gets hung up on the nose of the saddle, but that's about it.
Acting as a wind break, they provide a surprising amount of extra insulation, and I sometimes use them for the warmth only. Being entirely open at the rear, ventilation is fine.

I have some weird Adidas 3/4 length baggy trousers which are quite waterproof. IMO they don't work that well for the same reason full length rain trousers rarely work well for dedicated riding - you get clammy/wet from the inside instead.

Chuck Naill

If you can afford these, the answer to your need for shorter legs is to roll them up when riding.

Gore Bike Wear Element Urban Windstopper Softshell Pants - Men's | Competitive Cyclist

indyfabz

Uh...There is a 45% chance you will get rain in London on any given day throughout the year. Lowest average No. of days with rain in a month is 13. Highest is 17 (January, which is winter in the northern hemisphere.)

Showers are NOT infrequent in London. I'm calling B.S. on this one.

jgwilliams

As someone who regularly cycles in London I'm with the OP on this one. I've had to wear waterproofs once so far in January and for the most part my waterproof trousers stay in the bag. Don't forget that you don't ride 24 hours per day and the rain doesn't often fall solidly for entire days, so your chance of being out in the rain drop considerably. So although there may be a 45% chance of rain in any given day - and in fact I question that too - I can certainly tell you that my rain gear is needed way, way less than that. If I had to guess I'd say it was nearer 5%.

If you want some cheap rain trousers that you can cut down I'd suggest going to Sports Direct and getting some Karrimors. I have a pair that have been totally waterproof so far: they have zips from ankle to hip to easy to get into without taking your shoes off. I don't think they're very breathable or light but that wasn't a requirement. I can't remember how much I paid for them but at the time my main criteria was cheap.

John

indyfabz

Alternative facts.

Rainfall in London, England, Uk Average Precipitation and Wet Days

jgwilliams

No, I'm telling you the number of days I have to wear rain gear, not the number of days it rained. I'm prepared to accept the official figures on the number of days rain fell, but 0.1 mm is not really significant when you're cycling - that's more like a damp mist (which we do get quite a lot of).

In fact the Met Office gives figures for days where more than 1 mm fell which comes out at 11.4 for January and 109.4 days overall, which comes out at 30% of days. As one of my university lecturers once said: statistics are like a good bikini in that what they reveal is interesting and what they cover up is vital.

Climate figures for Greenwich Park

John

Leisesturm

I cycle in the Pacific Northwest. I think most Americans agree that Portland, OR is a pretty rainy city compared to... Phoenix, AZ. My friend from Phoenix tells me he has had to get the raingear out several times this winter. I don't think anyone is re-writing the Fodor's entries on Phoenix just yet. I've had to get the raingear out several times as well but there have been several days when it wasn't needed. Let's not get stupid with the charts and graphs and what not. The comparisons between the climatology of the western Pacific Northwest, and the U.K. overall, have been made for decades. I am going to go along with the general wisdom of people who do climate science for a living, vs a couple of biased opinions on an anonymous discussion forum.

fietsbob

Any how, all Mill Coated nylon fabrics I have tried have a limited lifespan
from the wear you apply to them sitting on the saddle and riding a bicycle..

Added to 3rd post. [Your trouser's seat is not inside the rain legs]



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Leisesturm

Doesn't need to be... seriously, it doesn't.

BlazingPedals

That's what I've done in the past. Get a cheap plastic rain suit, cut the arms and legs short. That way you've got radiator surface in warm-to-cool rain. It's even better if you get a suit with a hood, which can go under your helmet. Keeps the road grit out of your hair.

tyrion

Yeah I've heard of this. Keeps you just about as dry but better ventilation and you can put them on without removing shoes.

mrodent

Many years later.
I did find nearly what I was looking for. These are "waterproof shorts" by tenn-outdoors. Unfortunately I find that that company went into liquidation in 2019.
I went out last night in London in an absolute downpour. These tenn-outdoors trousers are not in fact what I would call 100% waterproof: when I got home the surface was in fact not totally dry to the touch and did need to be dried out. A totally water-repellent outer fabric (some kind of plastic) would simply need to be wiped down to be totally dry.
Crucially, however, they make an enormous difference to just wearing jeans and cycling in a downpour. With just jeans my thighs and knees get horribly wet and cold in such a downpour, and of course I have to keep wearing these jeans once I get where I'm going, but with these shorts it is only the shin part of my trousers which get damp: this makes a massive difference.

canamdad

https://www.groundeffect.co.nz/colle...oof-rain-pants

tangerineowl

^ Beat me to it.

I have those. They are excellent.
There is a bit of swishing noise back and forth when riding as they're not super tight around the knee.

indyfabz

Many waterproof garments have to be treated after years of use. Try Nikwax.

https://www.amazon.com/Nikwax-TX-Dir...8617182&sr=8-1

tomato coupe

Short overtrousers? Is that like a long-sleeved vest?