tactical nw bike pants?
problem: commuting to work/riding around city for moderate amounts of time in the pac nw winter. getting wet is a given, so waterproofing and insulation of some kind is needed. sweater/water resistant jacket works well for top, but pants are less straightforward. "rain pants" are a big hassle of changing, and are expensive. jeans/bens get wet and cold, and stay cold. i don't actually mind this too much while i'm riding, but being soaked for hours afterwards at work is kind of annoying.
tentative solution: wool pants, (cost $6 and half hour of sewing). went to thrift store, bought heaviest weight wool pants that fit me. cut off bottom ten inches of legs and hemmed them because a) makes riding easier and b) the kitchen where i work is hot. also, can use newly extra fabric to reinforce seams.
data: works well so far. have ridden in pretty much the full spectrum of seattle winter weather, from cold and not raining to cold and raining a lot. pants stayed reasonably warm in all situations (even heavy rain), with occasional drafts up legs due to "shortening" of pants. contemplating wearing light weight silk-type long underwear if it gets much colder. dry exceptionally fast, esp compared to jeans. problems/things to work on -- could be heavier weight wool. didn't shop around for pants; recommend looking for really heavy ones. questionable durability -- don't know how long slightly dressy wool pants will last as bike pants. single stitching makes me nervous, may have to reinforce seams.
verdict: four stars out of five. for six bucks and less that an hour of work this was the best solution i could come up with, and it works really well so far.
other ideas? pdx crew, how do you ride in the winter?
tentative solution: wool pants, (cost $6 and half hour of sewing). went to thrift store, bought heaviest weight wool pants that fit me. cut off bottom ten inches of legs and hemmed them because a) makes riding easier and b) the kitchen where i work is hot. also, can use newly extra fabric to reinforce seams.
data: works well so far. have ridden in pretty much the full spectrum of seattle winter weather, from cold and not raining to cold and raining a lot. pants stayed reasonably warm in all situations (even heavy rain), with occasional drafts up legs due to "shortening" of pants. contemplating wearing light weight silk-type long underwear if it gets much colder. dry exceptionally fast, esp compared to jeans. problems/things to work on -- could be heavier weight wool. didn't shop around for pants; recommend looking for really heavy ones. questionable durability -- don't know how long slightly dressy wool pants will last as bike pants. single stitching makes me nervous, may have to reinforce seams.
verdict: four stars out of five. for six bucks and less that an hour of work this was the best solution i could come up with, and it works really well so far.
other ideas? pdx crew, how do you ride in the winter?
COMMENTS:
jon said: i have (had?) a pair of "white mountain" or some equally dubious-sounding brand rain pants that work great; plus, they stuff into one of the side pockets. i think they were around $20 at andy & bax. my only complaint would be an occasional case of wet-ass from extended rides when my seat was already wet before i got on. also, they tear pretty easily, but meh so do most babies.
Unknown said: steal the R.E.I rain pants. They are like $70 but of surprisingly bad quality once you have glissaded on them/eaten shit. They come in black or drab.
owen said: Although I'm in the NE, I had the same problem last fall/winter. I came to about the same solution - cut off lightweight wool dress pants. Same concerns- too thin, single stitching. After a year of near everyday use, they have 3 holes in the front (mostly from falling/dooring) which isn't a problem except that once they start to rip they go pretty easy if you snag them. Also I had to re-sew the crotch a couple months in. All around though, I'd say it's a high bang to buck ratio. I supplement with poly-pro long underwear start around early novemberish. I think I paid about 8 for them, but I may have paid extra for tactical pin stripes.
rmd said: sad but good to know that they probably will wear out as fast as i suspected. preemptive reinforcement seems in order. the shoddy stitching is already unraveling in the always stressed ass-crotch area. any tips on navigating the frighteningly 3-d sewing of crotch seams?so far they are great -- more rainproof and dry more quickly than my old rei goretex jacket, which, now that the coating has worn off, is really just a perpetually soggy windbreaker.
owen said: I will admit that I like to sew, but I am not a patient seamster, I just threw them on a machine at work during some downtime and followed the old lines where the stitching had been, probably a dumb idea since it was obviously a stress point, but they have held fine. The fabric seems surprisingly durable until it finally tears and then it's pretty worthless as far as repair. I did the same as you though and saved the bottoms that I cut off, which I think now will be employed to repair the fronts. The tears seem to originate mostly from having too much stuff in the pockets and then colliding with corners of things and/or asphalt.
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