Goretex worth it?!

cantdecide

Del2005 wrote: »

Lots of hassle having to stop, strip off your gear, put on poncho and get gear on again when it rains. I was in France a few years ago and went through a couple of torrential downpours followed by scorching hot sun, had to stop and put my over suit and then a few minutes later stop again to take it off. There's a lot less stopping if the outer wear is waterproof.

In an ideal world yes but the additional waterproofing premium is just not worth it to me any more. When you start reading reviews online, it seems they're all given to leaking sooner or later unless you spend a bomb - I just don't trust manufacturers enough to do a good job that will last. I used my method in the monsoon in Asia this summer to great effect. If there was a risk of rain, the poncho went on and stayed on and it worked superbly.

Del2005

cantdecide wrote: »

In an ideal world yes but the additional waterproofing premium is just not worth it to me any more. When you start reading reviews online, it seems they're all given to leaking sooner or later unless you spend a bomb - I just don't trust manufacturers enough to do a good job that will last. I used my method in the monsoon in Asia this summer to great effect. If there was a risk of rain, the poncho went on and stayed on and it worked superbly.

You'd be soaked with sweat instead of rain then. The thing is that Gortex will only licence themselves to quality products so buying Gortex means it won't leak, buy the own brand copy of Gortex and you risk a leak.

cantdecide

I wasn't soaked with sweat and it's not like breathable gear 100% efficient. The material won't leak but the seams and zips do. "Waterproof" goretex gear leaks all the time, it just needs to be manufactured poorly. you just have to Google it. It's not up to me to tell you what to do with your money.

listermint

cantdecide wrote: »

I wasn't soaked with sweat and it's not like breathable gear 100% efficient. The material won't leak but the seams and zips do. "Waterproof" goretex gear leaks all the time, it just needs to be manufactured poorly. you just have to Google it. It's not up to me to tell you what to do with your money.

There is nothing to Google. When you put PPE on then cover it in a waterproof over layer there is no where to breathe you will naturally sweat. You cannot avoid this without getting rid of your sweat glands. Anyone that says you don't sweat under a water proof layer is telling porkies

Lumen

listermint wrote: »

There is nothing to Google. When you put PPE on then cover it in a waterproof over layer there is no where to breathe you will naturally sweat. You cannot avoid this without getting rid of your sweat glands. Anyone that says you don't sweat under a water proof layer is telling porkies

Nothing is breathable when wet. Even Goretex. The reason to use breathable clothing is for the non-sweatyness when it's not raining.

listermint

Lumen wrote: »

Nothing is breathable when wet. Even Goretex. The reason to use breathable clothing is for the non-sweatyness when it's not raining.

Sorry Lumen, Thats not correct.

Hence the expense of Goretex, Thats the sole reason its expensive.


little explainer

Gore-Tex® contains layers of nylon, PTFE and polyurethane. The PTFE contains a lot of tiny holes called pores - there are around 14 million per square millimetre. Each one is too small for water droplets to pass through, but big enough to let water molecules from sweat go through.

Lumen

listermint wrote: »

Sorry Lumen, Thats not correct.

Hence the expense of Goretex, Thats the sole reason its expensive.

little explainer

I believe that you're wrong even though you believe otherwise.

Goretex is expensive because it's breathable AND waterproof, but not at the same time. Cheaper waterproof fabrics (e.g. plastic rain jackets) are NEVER breathable.

https://mountainwagon.com/the-blog/the-truth-about-waterproof-breathable

Waterproof breathable membranes and coatings work on the principle of diffusion. Diffusion needs a difference in humidity on each side of the membrane in order for your jacket to accomplish anything. The bigger the difference, the higher the rate of diffusion. When you are working hard, it's wet inside your jacket, so it's best at moving that sweat to outside your jacket when it's dry out.

Pissing rain means it's pretty damn humid out - which means the driving pressure for diffusion is low or straight up zero which means maybe your jacket is waterproof, but it just isn't very breathable. If you are sweating while it's pouring raining, you're getting wet. If the humidity outside your jacket is the same as the humidity inside your jacket - then there's just nowhere for your sweat to go, so unless there's some crazy voodoo going on that I don't know about, I don't know how a breathable jacket could keep you dry while you are working hard in a humid environment

listermint

This is getting silly but goretex doesn't work like that .

dashcamdanny

Alpine stars drystar stuff is a cheaper alternative . Commuted for the last 2 years with it. Plus about 4 machine washes. Still water tight

Richard tea

zubair wrote: »

Pulled the trigger on a pair of A*s goretex jacket and pants yesterday. Went in to bike world to try them on and then bought from sports bike shop. The jacket was 150 more and the pants were 100 more in bike world and they were on sale.

Thanks all for your help!

Just wondering how your getting on with the Gortex gear? What set did you go for?


Im putting a few quid aside and looking to buy something Nov/Dec. I spend up to 1k but ideally it will last 5+ years at least. Some Rukka gear gets good reviews on sportsbike shop

zubair

Ye it's been great. I ride from Newbridge to clonskeagh daily, 4 seasons. I bought them in September last year so they saw plenty of wet weather in that time and not a drop has gotten through. That said, i think any gear i owned previously survived the first year ok but then started leaking, reproofing did nothing. The reason I went for goretex was to hopefully get longer out of my jacket and jeans. If the 3 year old A* boots I have are anything to go by they should survive 40k+ km, this is why i went with A* again.

I got the A* ares jacket as it was on special offer on SBS and i got a great deal. I paired them with the A* patron jeans.