Another great review by Mr. Hobbs.
I was going to do a separate review of each of the 3 Rapha outer garments I own, and I realized I should just combine them into a single novella, because I think of them as a continuum.
The 3 items we are talking about today are the Rapha Rain Jacket, the Stowaway and the Gilet. The Rapha whores among you may also have the Softshell Jacket, but I have not gone there yet.
First off, what is a gilet? Well, according to Wikipedia: Gilet (French gilet, from Spanish gileco or chaleco, ultimately from Turkish yelek) is a sleeveless jacket resembling a waistcoat or blouse. Hmmmm.....sounds kind of fancy. It would not be nearly as cool if you just called it a vest.
Let's start with the Stowaway Jacket, since that it what I have had the longest.
I have been using the Rapha Stowaway since last spring. I swallowed hard when I bought it.....it is not cheap, but my cheap jacket was really not very comfortable to ride in. The trouble with jackets is that they make you sweaty, but they are often too bulky to take off and stuff in your jersey pocket. The Stowaway has become a key item in the clothing arsenal. It is very light, packs down easily into a pocket, is totally windproof, and decently water resistant. Importantly, it breathes pretty well.
I wear it when the temps drop below 50º. If it warms up or I am starting a long climb, I just peel it off and stuff it. I even carried it in Hawaii for the ride up the Saddle Rd, which climbed to 6,000 feet. With a long descent on tap, and unknown weather up top, the Stowaway was a good insurance policy.
The Stowaway is NOT waterproof. After about 10 minutes in real rain, the seams in the arms start to leak and you will get wet. It does perfectly well in drizzle, though. It breathes well, but I get sweaty if I am climbing hard in it. High exertion and low speed are too much for any breathable fabric. The arms are the problem, because the fit is fairly close, and you can unzip the body but that does not get any airflow through the arms. Jackets that have pit zips for ventilation are heavier and have much more bulk.
The Gilet
So, that is a good segue to the Gilet. If it is in the 50s, the Gilet is the outer layer I choose. It is super light, but really cuts the wind. It is a bit warmer than your standard cycling vest with a windproof front and mesh back, but much lighter and smaller when stuffed. Unzip it and you are barely wearing anything....zip it up and it provides significant warmth. It is much easier to doff and don while rolling than a jacket. A great combo for a typical spring/fall Marin day is a wool base layer (Rapha, of course), short sleeve jersey, arm warmers and the Gilet. On the long climbs you unzip the Gilet and jersey and roll down your arm warmers.
What if it really rains? The Rain Jacket.
I only have one day (today, as it happens) with the Rain Jacket, but I am already a fan. I purchased it after getting wet in the Stowaway in a rainstorm earlier in the week. It is basically a Stowaway plus...in addition to an extra water resistant membrane over most of the jacket, the seams are also sealed and relocated away from areas that get wet. Today I was dumped on for a few minutes, and my upper body at least stayed dry. I gave it a difficult sweat test.....I hammered up Camino Alto (400w avg, thank you very much). Yeah, I overwhelmed the breathability and my arms got a bit swampy towards the top. But, within a few minutes, I was dry again as the sweat backlog made it out of the jacket. The Rapha Rain Jacket is the best breathing rain jacket I have worn, and is really close to the Stowaway in terms of breathability. Generally, more breathability means less water resistance. So, when I got home, I hit it with the hose for a while to test it further.....totally dry.
I looked at the Assos Climajet, a Hincapie jacket and a Gore jacket before choosing the Rapha. Ultimately, I preferred the fabric of the Rapha jacket. It doesn't have the trash bag feel of the other options. Instead, it has the soft "hand" of the Stowaway. It is probably not as water resistant as the other options, but is enough for my riding. Would it stand up to an hour in a downpour? I don't care. I won't ride for an hour in a downpour. I will sit out the storm in a coffee shop, looking sexy.
Normally, if it is raining hard, I am riding the couch, not my bike. But, this jacket makes getting caught in a rainstorm more pleasant.
If I were to choose one jacket, I would take the Rain Jacket over the Stowaway, because the Rain Jacket's breathability is very close. It is slightly more bulky, but you get downpour insurance. If you choose the white colourway, I hope you have fenders.
