Sometimes, after years, or even decades, of innovation, the old ways turn out to be the best. Carradice, a 92-year-old bicycle accessories retailer from Lancashire, UK, knows this all too well. He's been making bikepacking saddlepacks since the 1930s, so the sudden rise in popularity of bikepacking saddlepacks must have come as a bit of a shock to him.
Will the faithful rain cape (or rain poncho, as it has now come to be called) see a similar comeback? Let's see how it fares…
construction
Its design is incredibly simple: With just one piece of fabric, Carradice's Duxback Rain Poncho protects your torso, hands, and upper thighs. To achieve the same rain protection with today's essential gear, you would need four pieces of clothing (a waterproof jacket and trousers, plus two pairs of gloves).
The fabric itself is a waxed cotton, a timeless staple for outdoor activities. Modern synthetic fabrics boast higher hydrostatic heads and better breathability, but I think there are many benefits to using natural fibers. Plus, after 20 years, I know which ones will last the longest.
The Duxback Rain Poncho has a hood, but in practice, it didn't fit well with my helmet (to be fair, I've never come across a hood that did). The poncho has some fabric loops on the inside to help keep the poncho in place while you're on your bike, so it doesn't flap around while you're riding.
Ride
The first thing you'll notice when you put on the rain poncho for the first time is how well made it is. It's a reassuringly sturdy, robust piece of equipment. The cape does a great job of keeping your hands and thighs dry. It doesn't protect your calves, though, and even with the mudguard, you'll still get a little muddy on rainy days. If you want to stay as clean as possible, a jacket and waterproof trouser combination is a better choice.
On the other hand, I really appreciated having this one jacket to throw on. It made leaving the house or running errands around town much more efficient. It goes with everything, so I could wear whatever outfit I wanted and just wear the rain cape while I was riding.
A reflective strip on the rear gives the DuxBack a little extra visibility.
(Image courtesy of Carradice)
Unfortunately, stopping and starting at traffic lights and intersections is a normal part of city riding, and I found the poncho hard to use in these situations, especially the thumb loops, which I found difficult to use when raising my arms to signal.
There's one slight catch: while the rain cape does have a reflective strip on the back, most of the cape has a muted waxed-cotton look. It's very attractive, but it's hard to notice on a gray, rainy day. I think the flowy nature of the garment meant the traffic lights weren't as visible as they would be if I were wearing a light-colored jacket. If I spent most of my time riding on bike paths, though, that wouldn't be as much of an issue.
Fabric loops keep the cape from lifting off you or your bike
(Image courtesy of Carradice)
Another issue I found is that if you’re layering up, a quarter-length zipper doesn’t allow you to dump a lot of heat quickly. On the other hand, fully unzipping your jacket is a quick and very effective action you can take while riding.
That said, this isn't as much of an issue when riding an e-bike, as you can meter your effort more accurately, but on my analog bike, there's a lot of variation in the effort I put in, especially on hills, so the limitations of thermoregulation were more of an issue.
High quality zippers and fastenings show that this garment is built to last.
(Image courtesy of Carradice)
The Carradice Rain Poncho also cannot be used with a cycling backpack, as the backpack straps do not have sleeves to slip your arms through, so the Rain Poncho is better suited for those who ride with bike pannier bags instead.
It's also worth pointing out that wearing a rain cape will block your cycling computer or front bike light that are mounted on the top of your handlebars. I cycle to work by heart so not being able to see my cycle computer wasn't a big deal, but it was frustrating having to mount my front bike light on the drops of my handlebars (because the light would be obscured by the top of the handlebars). Some commuter bikes don't have drop bars, so this is even more of an issue.
Values and conclusions
At £97, the Carradice Duxback Rain Poncho is in the same price range as high-performance commuter cycling jackets we've reviewed, such as the Rapha Commuter Lightweight Jacket, and much cheaper than other options such as Castelli's Commuter Reflex Jacket (£200). However, the Rapha and Castelli options are much more versatile, and if you cycle occasionally at weekends as well as commuting, you could use the Rapha and Castelli for that higher-paced cycling too.
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