Showers Pass Elite 2.1 Jacket

I live on the Olympic Pennisula of Washington State, and I cycle year round. This jacket has been the perfect addition to my cycling gear. Encountering cold weather, rain, and wind, this jacket has made my rides more bearable, and comfortable. Have not found anything yet I don't like.

I use this jacket in rain or when it is on the chiily side (which happens rarely here in Hawaii). I have the hood also and leave it on the jacket (except I remove it when riding my roadbike because it inpedes view to the rear somewhat). I have tried a number of breathable rainjacketsraincoats and was disappointed in them all. This jacket is not perfect (it still gets sweaty in there when temperatures are warmer and relative humidity is high). These are the most difficult conditions for any breathable jacket (including the Elite 2.0), but this jacket does much better than anything else I've tried. Not only does it breathwick very well, it also has an EXCELLENT venting system consisting of a front zipper, pit zips, a vent across the shoulders in the back, and large cuffs which will let a lot of air into the jacket if they are open wide and the wrists are in a favorable posiion. (The cuff openings are a little stiff-which is good-but it would be even better if there was a built-in device of some sort for holding the cuffs fully open in a circular shape if the rider so desired.

I have been an every-day cycle commuter for the past five years. I commute on my road bike, no fenders, and I live in Seattle so I deal with wet weather a lot. I had a Novara hard shell jacket that I bought at REI, but it had lost all semblance of rainproofiness. Seattle has a lot of hills, and I always seemed to steam up in my jacket on wet days riding up hills. I needed something waterproof and vented. From the reviews I have found online, this seemed the best. So far, so good. I still get a little damp heading uphill from sweat, but that is primary because I ride fast uphill with a backpack. This is much, much better than the rain jackets I have owned in the past.

Lived with this jacket for several months now and have formed some opinions. FIrst it is comfortable (opinions will vary) and the jacket is quite water tight. So far not one drop has leaked in. Impressive. It is comfortable on the bike more importantly. The venting is decent and the zippers while slightly tight and fussy done leak. The rear pocket over your but is pretty easy to get at when riding but closing it is a bit tricky. better than most. Not used the audio port but as the front pocket does not leak and I suspect the wire port, being a hole, will work, I dont anticipate issues. Cuffs are not bad but personally I've never seen a velvro cuff that was perfect so we live with them. Now that aside commuters take note. I got the coat in black and unlike the picture the reflective strips arent. Not kind of, sort of, in the right light. I mean do NOT reflect anything. There may be a wavelength that is reflected but humans cant see it. No idea what SP is thinking here but how hard can it be? As I have lights galore I'm not too worried but this aspect is a fail with no doubt. Looking at the picture I see the strips are white and mine are basically black. I may contact SP and inquire. I rate as average given the reflectivity and if SP calls it a defect and fixes I will review again here and make note.

I did hear back from the folks at SP and they are pretty cool. They also offered to replace the coat if it did not meet my expectations. No questions asked. Nice. As Theo mentions they intended the reflector strips to be quite subdued so when you are off the bike you blend a bit better. Not a fail then. Apologies to them. Now given that personally I'm keeping my coat for the positives and I find the lack of reflective strips to not be a significant issue. YMMV. If you are a duskdawn commuter consider some more lights. Than again you likely are not wearing black so perhaps a non issue. Gotta rate again so I will add a star. Make it two. Fast response and offer to replace deserves credit.

The jacket accompanied me on a bike ride of the Natchez Trace from Tennessee to Mississippi. We went through some rough storms but through all the rain I stayed dry and comfortable inside. There was great ventilation while peddling. Riders in nylon rain jackets were as wet inside as the rain was outside. The only thing I felt should have come with the jacket was a detachable hood.

Vents provides breathability.

Superior craftsmanship.

Very light.

I bought this hoping for three major things staying dry, being visable and durability. I got that and more! I love this jacket and plan on buying the hood to take it camping. It packs nicely and I wear it at night even if it's not raining. It fits me 5'1, lady 125 lbs. Bought a size small and the only thing that doesn't fit perfectly is to be expected as I have a giant headneck so zipping up the collar is comfortable albeit snug.

This is my road cycling shell from the mid-30's thru the upper 40's. Love the pit vent and long back to keep me dry.