Technical apparel can be a very funny thing. For starters by its very name, it’s almost entirely technically driven. Anytime tech is the primary function, you can generally bet that fashion or style is going to get thrown out the window. No where is this more prevalent than the pocket protector, the sock suspender, overalls or our favorite – water resistant cycling apparel.
For years past, and for years to come, the bulk of the cycling apparel industry has and will continue to insult that very vain core of us that wishes for something a few notches cooler looking than the stock chartreuse trash bag sweat suits we are largely presented with.
That is…with one very righteous exception.
Showers Pass: The penultimate in cycling rain wear.
Before you continue, I want to remind you that we (Tacoma Bike) are based in…Tacoma, Washington. We’re about 3 hours north of Portland, Oregon. Showers Pass is based in…Portland, Oregon. These locations mean rain, and plenty of it. It also means median temperatures in the low 40’s and upper 30’s throughout the winter. Because of our position under the jet stream, we maintain “mild” temperatures at sea level in the cities of Portland, Tacoma and Seattle, while the mountains 45 minutes east of us get all the snow.
What this means to a cyclist is learning how to live in the cold and the damp. The rain can be “somewhat” heavy at times, but more often it sits as a constant drizzle from November to April. It is during these months that we can find no other cycling apparel in the world that holds a stick to Showers Pass.
I can’t muster the marketing strength to convey to you how rooted we are in the dominance of Showers Pass as the ultimate rain gear we’ve ever seen. It competes with the functionality of high-altitude mountaineering outerwear while actually fitting the way cycling gear should fit. We don’t ride around looking like trash bags in our Showers Pass. And we stay dry. It makes us want to ride when it rains. It is that good.
Showers Pass essentially uses three fabrics in their line:
eVent
In the 90’s DuPont Gore saturated (funny use of that word when talking about rain gear!) the market with their brand name. In the years following, other brands started to emerge. One of those was eVent which has come along and rattled the cage of what people considered a high performance, athletic material. Mind you, Gore is great at keeping the water out…but it can get a bit humid on the inside when your effort is high. This is wear eVent picks up the slack. eVent is a 3-layer fabric that is highly durable and extremely breathable. As hard as we work in these clothes, they remain the most comfortable in terms of moisture management – and not by a slim margin – but a lot. People come back all the time and say “I assumed I’d stay dry from the outside…but I was really impressed at how dry I stayed on the inside. I cannot believe how well the eVent breathes.”
The eVent pieces tend to be more performance minded. They fit closer to the body and are purpose built to be worn with close fitting cycling apparel beneath. Training, commuting, touring – these are where these clothes live. Racers will tend to stick with racy stuff, like clear plastic to let those sponsor logos show through.
eVent appears in Showers Pass’ best pieces.
Artex
This too is a 3-layer fabric….slightly less breathable and typically cut in pieces use for layering. It’s popular among commuters because it’s got extra room for whatever you may be wearing. It’s also priced a bit lower and is a great value for needs that exceed basic plastic.
Softshell
The softshell pieces are extremely nice. They are truly waterproof softshells. You would use these almost like a really warm jersey. They are trim fit, so they are great for high performance riding and they don’t flap in the wind like thinner shelled jackets tend to do.
And the other cool thing is that Showers Pass has extended the use of this fabric into some really cool looking lifestyle pieces too. Stuff you can wear off the bike without looking like you just got off a bike.
“Trashbag”
Yeah, I know. I said they only do “3” fabric technologies. But they also offer the fundamental “trashbag” tech. And yes, I totally made that word up. And Showers Pass probably does not like it.
It’s the basic, no-frills stuff you stash away for those days when you get stuck out in the middle of somewhere and the rain sneaks up on you. It’s cheap and contains almost no bells or whistles. It is the fundamental stuff that you buy, stash and only pull out in an emergency.
Other than that, it’s pretty darn good. After all, even Showers Pass “worst” is arguably better than most company’s mid-grade.
