Showers Pass Elite Jacket
by: admin
Posted on: Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 11:05 am by: admin
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Finally! The good folks at Showers Pass have filled one of the most obvious market vacuums of all time: cycling gear for all of those people who just love to ride their bikes in hurricanes and thunderstorms!
Finally! The good folks at Showers Pass have filled one of the most obvious market vacuums of all time: cycling gear for cyclists who just love to ride their bikes in hurricanes and thunderstorms! If my tone sounds sarcastic, I assure you it is not. For avid cyclists, bad weather is a fun and welcome challenge. The Showers Pass Elite Rain Jacket (and it’s big brother, the Elite 2.0) are, in all seriousness, pretty damn nice little raincoats.
The Elite and the Elite 2.0 are made by people who know a thing or two about weather-resistant cycling gear. Showers Pass is headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, and they’ve been making waterproof and windproof cycling clothes since 1997.
The Elite Rain Jacket is more than a nice jacket–it’s something of a scientific marvel. (And it’s a lot cooler looking than most scientific marvels.) This sleek jacket succeeds where so many pieces of cycling gear have failed in the past. That is to say, it’s a lightweight jacket that is fully waterproof and well-ventilated. A cycling jacket that keeps the rider dry and aired-out is an amazing achievement in itself… the fact that the Elite (and/or the Elite 2.0) accomplishes this and is comfortable to wear while riding a bicycle boosts it up into miracle territory.
The Elite Rain Jacket achieves its lofty goals with a combination of smart product design and space-age material. The design elements include nifty zippered vents at the armpits and a large, covered vent in the back. The space-age material in question is called eVent. According to military tests, eVent’s vapor transmitting properties are 50% better than those of Goretex.
Perhaps the best thing about the Elite Rain Jacket is the fact that you can comfortably wear it even when it’s not raining. It looks cool, it’s well ventilated, and it’s light. “Rain Jacket” is almost a misleading name for this particular piece of cycling gear–it should be called “Showers Pass Elite Pretty Sweet Jacket and, Oh Yeah, It’s Waterproof and Windproof Too, Dude.”
Some key features of the Showers Pass EliteRain Jacket are:
· Fully-waterproof zippers and seams.
· Velcro cuffs with airflow-regulating technology.
· Elastic cords at the collar and hem.
· Optional Velcro-attachable hood.
· Reflective taping and an apparatus to attach a flashing LED.
· Use of snuggly micro-fleece at the collar region.
The Showers Pass Elite 2.0 Rain Jacket will run you about $200 and is available in black and goldenrod. The regular Elite (no sexy “2.0″ at the end) costs a little less, but is available in limited sizes only. There–now you can go live out your dream of riding your bike in a flash flood, and sport some pretty sexy cycling gear while doing so.
