#!markdown
Kevin,
Thanks - I did find a typo in there.
I hear what you're saying about the difference with winter jackets vs riding
ones and that's going to be different for a lot of people. We rode from the
peak of Mt Ashland in December, and two of us were wearing 'alpine' calibre
shells (one Revelation, one other gore-tex shell) and stayed warm and
protected as rain and near-freezing temps closed in on us - plus we were
working hard b/c there was 30 mins of climbing at the start of the ride. One
of us wasn't wearing as good a jacket, and he almost froze - a spare layer in
my pack saved his ass.
On a typical shore ride, the climbs and descents are more well-defined than in
some other places - meaning you go up for 30, down for 20, and do it again.
When I find that to be demanding on a jacket is when it's raining hard and
cold (if you don't stay dry inside, you'll freeze) or raining and warm (your
jacket has to stay closed to keep you dry, but then you risk overheating or
soaking through in sweat). In either of those cases, a high quality membrane
makes a huge difference. Do you have to spend $475 to ride in that? No, of
course not. But I haven't ridden in a $2-300 jacket that performs as well as
anything with Gore-Tex Pro, and the 7Mesh is the best fit I've had in a riding
jacket. It's pricey, but that's why.
March 19, 2015, 10:27 a.m. - Pete Roggeman
#!markdown Kevin, Thanks - I did find a typo in there. I hear what you're saying about the difference with winter jackets vs riding ones and that's going to be different for a lot of people. We rode from the peak of Mt Ashland in December, and two of us were wearing 'alpine' calibre shells (one Revelation, one other gore-tex shell) and stayed warm and protected as rain and near-freezing temps closed in on us - plus we were working hard b/c there was 30 mins of climbing at the start of the ride. One of us wasn't wearing as good a jacket, and he almost froze - a spare layer in my pack saved his ass. On a typical shore ride, the climbs and descents are more well-defined than in some other places - meaning you go up for 30, down for 20, and do it again. When I find that to be demanding on a jacket is when it's raining hard and cold (if you don't stay dry inside, you'll freeze) or raining and warm (your jacket has to stay closed to keep you dry, but then you risk overheating or soaking through in sweat). In either of those cases, a high quality membrane makes a huge difference. Do you have to spend $475 to ride in that? No, of course not. But I haven't ridden in a $2-300 jacket that performs as well as anything with Gore-Tex Pro, and the 7Mesh is the best fit I've had in a riding jacket. It's pricey, but that's why.