Test road bike rain jackets: 20 jackets from 30 to 330 euros in comparison

If you ask cyclists which is more disgusting - getting soaked by the rain or stewing in your own juices - the answer is a clear draw. That's why the ideal road bike rain jacket should protect you from both by permanently repelling raindrops and allowing as much sweat vapour as possible to escape from the skin so that you stay dry even when it's not raining on your road bike tour.

The most important feature of rain jackets: moisture protection

Part one of the task, the outer moisture protection, is not a challenge from a technical point of view, for example the plastic bag: it is absolutely waterproof - but on both sides. In a jacket made of such material, the rain would stay out, but the sweat would be trapped, and after a few pedal strokes you would feel like you were in a roasting tube.

The material must be partially permeable so that the vapour can get away from the skin. The large raindrop water molecules must not pass through, but the smaller water vapour molecules should. In a rain jacket, this task is performed by the membrane, which in most jackets is located between the water-repellent outer shell and the inner lining. The unit for vapour permeability, often also referred to as breathability, is: grams per square metre per 24 hours (g/m2/24h). Depending on the manufacturer, the values range from 3,000 to around ten times this amount. In practice, this would correspond to up to 30 litres of sweat in 24 hours or 1.25 litres per hour. It is not unrealistic for a cyclist to sweat that much, although the manufacturer's specifications only apply to the membrane under laboratory conditions. These values say little about how the mostly three-layer laminates of the jackets work in practice.

How the membranes of rain jackets work

The basic rule is: the more waterproof the material of a rain jacket, the greater the resistance to allowing vapour to pass through. Apart from that, the greater the temperature difference between inside and outside, the more vapour escapes. If you take the body temperature of 37 degrees as a basis, more vapour will penetrate the membrane of the rain jacket at an outside temperature of 15 degrees than at 20 degrees, for example. In short: the warmer it is, the worse the sweat transport of rain jackets works.

The nature of the outer layer of the jacket also influences vapour permeability. If the outer layer absorbs moisture, this slows down the passage of vapour. For this reason, the rain jacket should be as water-repellent as possible so that any drops of vapour that hit it roll off as quickly as possible. Manufacturers achieve this by impregnating them with a so-called DWR coating (Durable Water Repellent). However, this coating is not permanent; it should be cleaned at regular intervals according to instructions and refreshed with waterproofing agents so that the jacket remains water-repellent and vapour-permeable.

Only one membrane with Gorewear Shakedry

The standard for rain jackets is still the multi-layer design in which the membrane is surrounded by fabric. Gorewear, on the other hand, has been pioneering its own approach since 2016. Their Shakedry model consists solely of a waterproof, vapour-permeable membrane. On the one hand, this makes it very light; and since it does without any textile at all, it is said to provide better protection against rain and let more vapour through than its laminate competitors. In earlier tests, the single-layer men's jacket "One Gore-Tex Active Bike Jacket" scored top marks. There is now also a women's model with an adapted cut; all jackets of this design are now called "Shakedry" and are available in different versions.

10 road bike rain jackets for men in the test

10 road bike rain jackets for women in the test

Our rain jacket test shows that the most expensive models are not always the best. Surprisingly good: the very affordable model from the Decathlon brand Van Rysel. The much more expensive jackets from Assos disappoint in terms of rain protection. The "Shakedry" jackets from Gorewear are the undisputed leaders.

Test summary of the Decathlon Van Rysel rain jacket for 40 euros

Cut close to the body, hardly flutters, relatively short at the back; the flat collar fits snugly. The fabric feels slightly sweaty against the skin. Very light, small pack size. Cheapest men's rain jacket in the test and weighs 135 grams.

Six rain trousers for road cyclists in a quick check

How TOUR tests rain jackets for road cyclists

For the first time, our test procedures include a test developed in-house to assess vapour permeability. The set-up works on the same principle as the well-known MVTR test (Moisture Vapour Transmission Rate), which determines the amount of water vapour that can pass through a certain area of material in a certain amount of time. We use two hemispheres the size of a handball and stretch the jacket material airtight between them. One hemisphere always contains the same amount of water at exactly the same temperature, while the other contains a material that binds the moisture transported through the jacket. To speed up the process, the upper hemisphere is cooled. The amount of water transported and thus the performance of the membrane can be determined using a precision balance.

How waterproof are the rain jackets?

The waterproofness was determined using the Suter test (see DIN-EN-ISO 20811). We put the jacket under a pressure of 0.3 bar (3000 millimetres water column) in the area of a seam for two minutes. If water seeps through the material or seam, points are deducted. Similar to the spray test (DIN-EN-ISO 4920), the beading behaviour is determined.

Another new feature compared to previous rain jacket tests at TOUR is that we no longer rate the fit and cut of the jackets with grades; the individual preferences and anatomical differences from cyclist to cyclist are simply too great for this. Instead, we describe the cut and fit in more detail in the summary in the table so that every cyclist can identify the right cut. We consider the importance of reflective material to be so important that we have included it as a separate evaluation criterion.

The complete test with all information on weight, features and detailed grading of the 20 road bike rain jackets can be downloaded below for 1.99 euros.

Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has its price. That's why we guarantee independence and objectivity. The TOUR tests are based on standardised and reproducible test procedures, which we always disclose. TOUR articles can be bought - TOUR test victories cannot!

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Test: Rain jackets for men and women (PDF) - 1,99 Euro