TiHabanero

The Frogg Toggs is the O2 jacket. The jacket I use at the lot is the Bull Frogg. It is heavier fabric than the Ultra-Lite. Yesterday I was talking with a driver dropping vehicles and he asked me about the Bull Frogg as he had not seen this heavier model. He was wearing a year old UL that was filthy and had a few snags in it. The driver confirmed it is indeed waterproof, just not as durable as what he needs. After all these guys are like monkeys climbing all over their rigs getting in and out of vehicles 9 at a time.

The jackets are sized big to provide room for layering. For the past two days it has been raining and 40 degree air temp. I had a t-shirt, heavy hooded sweat shirt and a sports jacket on underneath the Frogg Togg and had room to spare.

I have zero complaints about the UL or the BF as they do exactly what they are designed to do, albeit at a price that is surprisingly fair. Not often does one encounter this strong a value in clothing.

Tourist in MSN

Note to OP: TiHabanero just made a good point that I had forgotten to mention. While a tight fitting jacket can seem like the right thing to have so it does not flap much in the wind on a bike, you might find that on a bike tour you want one that is roomy for layers underneath instead of being tight fitting.

There have been some cold mornings on a bike tour where I put on every layer I had, including the rain jacket over my down vest because of the cold. I was glad that it was roomy enough for that down vest underneath it. I bring a down vest on just about every trip I go on.

bathedinshadow

Take a look at Cleverhood

I make this "recommendation" having never used this gear on a bike. haha. I have the anorak and have hiked in it in the PNW and stayed dry. The anorak is quite loose, so that it allows air to flow and for it to breathe. They also have a cape that would provide more coverage and even more breathability. They are designed for biking and have large billed hood.

Again, just something to look into - no real world bike use with this.

GhostRider62

The down puffy should fit under the rain jacket.

staehpj1

Don't you find that a down puffy gets sweat soaked when riding? Or do you only use it off bike?

Tourist in MSN

I can't answer for Ghostrider62, but my comment a few posts higher about getting a rain jacket that is roomy enough for layers underneath, my down vest is almost exclusively worn in the campsite. If it is near freezing, sometimes I wear my down vest on dry days over the top of everything when I roll out of the campsite, over all other layers where it is easy to shed five miles later after I start to warm up.

GhostRider62

Almost always off the bike or in the early hours when it is freezing. If it is sleeting, I am in my puffy with rain jacket over it getting to shelter because then it is survival time.

If it is 30-40F when the sun goes down, down is best for me. If night lows are more in the 50's, I can get by with a wool cycling jersey.

staehpj1

That makes sense. While I haven't used my puffy for tours, I could see myself maybe using it in camp. At 12 ounces or so it is a lot of warmth for the weight. It (along with some warm dry socks or down booties) would add a good bit of warmth when sleeping on nights when the sleeping bag was near it's limit so it would add that function as well.

Wearing down on top at the start in the morning is an interesting approach that I can see working well. My puffy is snug and wouldn't fit over much else. I have used a vest as in camp warmth and a pillow before, but I don't think I have ever ridden with it. Usually once I start riding I put out heat like a furnace so my pile layer with a wind proof layer over it is good for pretty cold temps especially as long as it is dry. So I am not the guy to most need the technique of wearing down on top of other layers.

staehpj1

Thanks. That makes sense. I usually have only taken garments I might ride in other than sometimes zip off leg pants. I can see where the puffy can make sense though. The more I think about it the more I can think of times where it might have made sense for me to take.

GhostRider62

Mine is either a 4 oz zip puffy or a 7 oz 950 fill down Anorak with hood. Both stuff down very small. I was in the Western Mountains in June and cannot imagine not having it to be honest. OTOH, I took a heavy wool sweater to wear under my goretex anorak when touring New Zealand because down would have been stupid there and I wore the sweater almost all the time and indeed, it rained every single day.

staehpj1

Yeah, I have a pile sweater from my ww kayaking days that is one of my very favorite pieces of gear that usually suffices. It is great wet or dry.

GhostRider62

For whatever reasons, synthetics stink on me.....unfortunately.

Whatever someone choses, I wouldn't skimp on having something warm to wear.

fooferdoggie 

plus gore-tex tight to you is cold it end chilly so you want some space between it and your body.

fooferdoggie 

this is why I had to invest in really good gore-tex. I ride too often and the regular doesn't too dry out between rides. I will ride to work then homer and maybe the tandem after I get home. so this guy dries in about 2 hours. though the more waterproof and breathable the gore-tex the thinner and less durable it is.

Nyah

I really like hood-less rain-capes, such as this one. They offer lots of ventilation without compromising protection.

With the right kind of fender setup, the rain-cape completely eliminates the need for rain-trousers.

bathedinshadow

You must not ride in the pacific northwest! I agree capes are nice, but I don't think it eliminates the need for pants if it's really raining. Not for me anyway.

elcruxio

When it's really coming down I find that the issue I would have with a cape wouldn't be the water travelling down but rather water travelling up. Big droplets splash quite high up and that's where I like to have actual rain pants.

on another note, the puffy under a rain jacket was a new one for me. I don't think I've ever encountered conditions where I would have needed rain gear and a puffy underneath as typically rain happens above freezing where I tend to only need a few layers to keep warm. Wind doesn't really come into it because membranes block wind really, really well.