The Greatest Mountain Bike Jackets of 2023

When the temperatures drop or the rain begins to fall, a very good mountain bike jacket can hold you comfy out on the path. Whether or not for wind, chilly, rain, or all the above, there are many nice choices in the marketplace to maintain you driving fortunately by means of the autumn, winter, and spring.

For many mountain bikers, the altering seasons carry cooler temperatures and unsettled climate, together with a number of the finest driving situations of the yr. Having the precise gear for the situations you’ll encounter will be the distinction between ending your journey moist and chilly or with an enormous smile in your face. Fortunately, there are mountain bike jackets purpose-built for driving in climate starting from gentle to wild. From tremendous waterproof rain shells, packable wind layers, breathable waterproof jackets, and even a pair windblock jerseys, we’ve examined 13 nice fashions and have ideas to maintain you driving by means of cool temperatures, wind, and rain.

After in depth testing in a variety of situations, we selected our favorites and those who excel for particular causes/situations, adopted by the most effective of the remainder that are all stable choices to think about as nicely. To see the specs of all of the fashions we examined aspect by aspect, check out our comparability chart. If you happen to need assistance deciding what to purchase, our shopping for recommendation particulars the essential issues to think about when selecting the best mountain bike jacket, and our FAQ part offers solutions to widespread questions.

The Greatest Mountain Bike Jackets of 2023

Better of the Relaxation

Mountain Bike Jackets Comparability Chart

Why Ought to You Belief Bikerumor?

The crew at Bikerumor consists of cycling-obsessed people who’re scattered round North America and Europe the place most of us encounter all 4 seasons. And, we don’t cease driving as a result of the temperatures drop and the climate modifications. As an alternative, we gear up and get on the market. Using bikes is a giant a part of the job, in any case, however maintaining the wheels spinning by means of fall winter and spring requires the correct gear to maintain it satisfying, and we’ve got all realized the significance of getting a very good mountain bike jacket to maintain the chilly, wind, and water from ruining our enjoyable. We’re additionally fortunate to get to check plenty of the most effective new gear, so we’ve received an inside monitor on the most effective mountain bike jackets in the marketplace.

For our mountain bike jackets purchaser’s information, Bikerumor contributor, Paul Clauss examined the vast majority of the fashions on this assessment. Paul lives in northern Vermont the place driving within the fall and spring means coping with cool to frigid temperatures, frequent rain storms, and rain-soaked path situations, and having a top quality mountain bike jacket or two is important to staying heat and/or dry. A mechanical engineer by commerce, Paul can be fairly adept at analyzing designs and constructions and placing merchandise by means of their paces to find out their efficiency variations. Paul has spent plenty of time testing gear this yr, together with the finest mountain bike flat pedal footwear and the flat pedals to go along with them. Along with Paul’s testing, we additionally drew from Bikerumor’s editorial workers and included a number of merchandise that had been examined by varied members of our crew. Relaxation assured, each product included right here has been totally examined for no less than a number of weeks, and in some circumstances many months or extra.

How We Examined Mountain Bike Jackets

We try to supply our readers with reliable opinions to assist inform your buy selections, so each product on this purchaser’s information has been examined in the true world to see the way it performs. To check these mountain bike jackets, we weighed them for consistency and comparability to the producer’s specs and packed them into their smallest packed measurement to see how transportable they had been. We carefully examined the supplies, constructions, seams, and zippers to evaluate the standard of expertise and a focus to element. The match of every mannequin was examined each at dwelling and, most significantly, out on the path to get a way of how nicely they cowl the physique, transfer with you when you journey, and performance on the bike. Options like hoods, pockets, and changes had been analyzed to evaluate their performance and usefulness. And, every mannequin was used for prolonged intervals within the temperature and climate situations for which it was meant, together with chilly, windy fall days, crisp, frosty mornings, rainstorms, rain showers, and even a couple of hose checks.

Shopping for Recommendation: The best way to Select a Mountain Bike Jacket

There are quite a few components to think about when selecting the best jacket for mountain biking. One of the essential is the meant use or the situations you’ll be encountering in your fall, winter, and spring rides. This can enable you slim down your search to a selected kind of jacket that might be finest suited to your wants whether or not that’s wind, water-resistance, or each. After that, different components like match, supplies, packability, breathability, pockets, options, and worth are different issues relying in your particular wants and funds.

Supposed Use

The kind of temperature and climate situations you plan to be driving in might be crucial think about deciding what kind of jacket you want. The jackets we examined vary from light-weight wind shells to burly waterproof rain jackets and fashions that intend to strike a stability between these extremes.

Wind

If you happen to typically attempt to keep away from driving within the rain and easily want one thing to guard you from the chilling chew of the wind, a wind jacket, or probably a wind jersey could also be the most effective wager. Wind-resistant jackets are an incredible choice to have for chilly mornings or chilly spring or fall days when it’s typically dry. They’re usually light-weight and made out of thinner breathable supplies, and they’re typically fairly packable. Whereas they typically characteristic a sturdy water-repellant (DWR) coating and is usually a good choice in very mild precipitation and are efficient for dealing with splashes from puddles or mud, they’re normally not meant to be totally waterproof.

Rain

If you happen to purposefully journey when it’s raining or typically end up getting caught out in rainstorms, then a water-resistant (or extremely waterproof) jacket might be the precise name. Waterproof jackets usually incorporate waterproof membranes into their constructions, which, together with taped seams, intend to fully block all water from making its method inside. These supplies are nearly all the time handled with a DWR coating to the skin to advertise the water beading operating off versus soaking into the outermost layer of the material. Whereas trendy supplies permit actually waterproof jackets to be pretty breathable, they’re typically a bit hotter and fewer breathable than thinner windbreaker choices. A great waterproof shell ought to hold you dry in probably the most excessive moist climate situations you might be more likely to encounter on a journey and is a necessity in some areas just like the damp Northeast and Pacific Northwest of the US, or the UK.

Wind and Gentle Rain

For a lot of riders, a easy wind layer might not be fairly sufficient and a full-on rain jacket could also be overkill, so fortunately there are alternatives that fall into the center of the spectrum. These extremely versatile jackets present nice wind safety and a excessive degree of water resistance and are able to heading off mild rains, intermittent showers, and tire spray from rain-soaked trails. With a DWR coating and waterproof supplies, these jackets should not totally waterproof, however they may nonetheless usually hold you dry in most situations in need of heavy rain, which most of us attempt to keep away from anyway. In addition they are inclined to dry in a short time, making them an incredible choice for driving on these unsettled days when the climate simply can’t appear to make up its thoughts.

Chilly

If you happen to journey when it’s actually chilly, then you definitely undoubtedly wish to block the wind and also you most likely additionally need some insulation. Each wind and waterproof jackets will add a layer of safety from the wind that takes the sting off the coolness, and good layering beneath is among the finest methods to gear up for a winter journey, just like going snowboarding. Normally, the thicker supplies used on waterproof jackets will present a contact extra heat than mild wind layers. When it’s actually, actually chilly, many individuals will go for insulated jackets or mid-layers to assist keep physique warmth. Whereas we didn’t check any insulated jackets, there are many nice choices in the marketplace.

Supplies

Mountain bike jackets are made out of quite a lot of supplies relying on the meant use. These vary from superlight wind-blocking materials to heavy-duty totally waterproof supplies. Wind jackets have the simplest job and are typically made out of light-weight, stretch nylon or polyester that solely goals to dam the wind and/or splashes from puddles. These supplies are sometimes handled with a DWR to assist shed mild quantities of water. Examples of wind jackets we examined are the Rapha Path Light-weight and the Fox Ranger Wind Pullover.

Waterproof jackets are usually made out of extra superior materials that embody waterproof membranes just like the Gore-Tex PACLITE used within the Gorewear Endure, or the ExoShell 40DR used within the Endura MT500 Waterproof Jacket II, as examples. Waterproof materials range in weight, thickness, breathability, and even water resistance, and whereas all of them get the job carried out, they aren’t created equal. Jackets made out of waterproof supplies usually have a few numbers related to them, like 10K/10K, that present rankings for waterproofness and breathability, respectively. These numbers are derived by lab checks to find out the place they land on the ranking scale. The upper the numbers, the extra waterproof and breathable a fabric is, and vice versa. Moreover, these supplies are nearly all the time handled with a DWR to shed water on the floor.

In between the lighter wind supplies and the fully waterproof choices are these which are wind-blocking and extremely waterproof. These are basically a hybrid of the 2. Whereas not fully waterproof, these jackets are usually a bit lighter, extra simply packable, and extra breathable than rain jackets whereas nonetheless offering sufficient water resistance for many conditions. Gore-Tex Infinium is a generally used membrane discovered within the Rapha Path Gore-Tex Infinium Jacket and elements of the Gorewear Lupra Jacket that blocks wind and repels water nicely in most conditions in need of correct downpours. Likewise, the Patagonia Dust Roamer Jacket works equally with an incredible DWR that sheds water very successfully, however solely up to some extent.

Sturdy Water-Repellant (DWR)

DWR therapies/coating/finishes have been round for a few years and they’re a therapy utilized to the skin of most jackets that causes water to bead up and run off of the fabric versus soaking in. These therapies work very successfully when clothes are new, nonetheless, they do break down over time, use, and publicity to the solar, water, mud, filth, and many others. When this occurs, you’ll discover the outermost layer of the fabric might start to “moist out” or soak up a number of the water on the floor. With a very waterproof membrane beneath, you’ll nonetheless keep dry, however this may have an opposed impact on the fabric’s breathability. Typically, merely washing your jacket may also help to revitalize the DWR, however finally, it’s going to most likely should be reapplied. Nikwax makes a variety of wash-in DWR replenishment merchandise to be used at dwelling that work fairly nicely and there are technical tools cleaners that could possibly do it for you. Earlier than doing any at-home DWR therapies, nonetheless, we suggest checking with the producer for particular suggestions.

When DWR therapies first got here out, they had been principally made out of “ceaselessly chemical compounds” that had poisonous by-products that persist within the atmosphere and are “probably carcinogenic” in keeping with the Worldwide Company for Analysis on Most cancers. These chemical compounds, also known as PFAs and/or PFCs had been even banned in lots of international locations. Manufacturers have been searching for options, and as of late most corporations are claiming to make use of PFC-free or non-toxic DWR therapies on their clothes.

Match

Like all outerwear, a jacket ought to match nicely and permit a full vary of movement on and off the bike. A lot of the jackets we examined have mountain bike particular matches optimized for driving – a slim midsection, articulated arms, gusseted underarms, an prolonged rear waist hem to maintain your hindquarters dry, and a big hood to be used with helmets. The matches are tailor-made however relaxed – unfastened sufficient to be comfy on and off the bike and layer underneat, however streamlined sufficient to not flap round excessively, fall over your fingers, or catch in your seat whereas driving. 

For mountain biking, we’ve discovered that it’s essential to get the precise measurement, as a jacket that’s too small can limit motion or be uncomfortable and one that’s too massive may flap excessively within the wind, snag in your saddle, or have sleeves that stretch down too far over your fingers. Normally, going with the identical measurement you normally purchase for jerseys or informal put on will most likely work nicely, however not all the time. When doubtful, verify your measurements and reference a model’s measurement chart. Some manufacturers present photos of fashions together with their dimensions and the scale they’re carrying for reference. And, if doable, attempting one thing on before you purchase is all the time one of the simplest ways to make sure you get one thing that matches.

We’ve got observed up to now few years that many manufacturers’ sizing has been trending a little bit bigger than it used to. For instance, one among our testers is a 6-foot-tall male who has been a measurement Giant prime for so long as he can bear in mind. Just lately, he has been simply and comfortably becoming into measurement Medium jerseys and jackets, even supposing his physique measurement hasn’t modified. That stated, it’s price double-checking measurement charts before you purchase, or shopping for one thing that may simply be returned or exchanged if it doesn’t match fairly proper.

Options

Like the kind of jacket, the options you want or need might range relying on the meant use. Most wind and rain jackets characteristic hoods, a number of pockets, air flow, and quite a lot of changes to dial them into your wants or the situations.

Hood

All the jackets we examined have one factor in widespread, a hood. Not all hoods are created equal, in fact, and a few are executed much better than others. Issues we search for in a hood on a mountain bike jacket are the power for it to suit over a helmet comfortably and securely, adjustability, and for it to maneuver along with your head with out constricting or entering into the peripheral imaginative and prescient. In fact, it’s additionally good after they tuck away neatly and/or sit comfortably behind the top when not in use.

Pockets

Relying on what you want to hold with you if you journey, pockets might or might not be a giant consideration. The jackets we examined range significantly within the quantity, placement, and storage capability of their pockets. If you happen to’re a minimalist otherwise you carry most of your necessities in shorts/pants pockets, cargo bib pockets, in-frame storage, or a pack of some variety, then a jacket with a single pocket is likely to be simply nice on your wants. If you wish to carry a cellphone, pockets, keys, snacks, and instruments in your jacket, then you definitely’ll most likely wish to search for one thing with a number of pockets and ample space for storing. The Endura MT500 Waterproof Jacket II has probably the most pockets and storage capability of all of the fashions we examined, plus they’re nicely executed and designed to remain out of the way in which of pack straps.

Wrist Cuffs

Wrist cuff designs range by model and meant use of the jacket. Most mountain bike jackets have prolonged cuffs that dangle a little bit farther than regular so that they don’t journey up if you’re leaning ahead and to cowl the again of the wrist/backside of gloves. Some have elastic to maintain them semi-tightened across the wrist whereas others are adjustable by means of velcro straps. What works finest for you’ll rely upon the situations you’re driving in and the way you need them to interface along with your gloves (in case you put on them). If, for instance, you’re driving in extraordinarily moist or chilly situations, it’s your decision to have the ability to tighten the wrist cuff round your gloves to seal out the water or frigid air.

Drawcord Hem

The vast majority of mountain bike jackets have a drawcord hem that can be utilized to cinch the underside of the jacket tight across the physique. Whereas many riders might by no means really feel the necessity to use such an adjustment, it’s a good characteristic to have on notably chilly or moist days to stop chilly air or water/mud from coming into up by means of the underside of the jacket.

Air flow

Many jackets depend on the breathability of the supplies to permit warmth and moisture to flee. Typically, particularly within the case of rain-specific jackets, that isn’t sufficient, so some have armpit and/or pocket vents constructed into their designs. Vents is usually a nice characteristic to evacuate body-generated warmth if/when the fabric can’t do it for you. In fact, unzipping the entrance zipper can be a wonderful method to get some air flowing contained in the jacket. Each the Endura Singletrack II and the MT500 Waterproof II characteristic air flow. Including vents to a jacket does have the opposed impact of including weight and lowering packability.

Breathability

Once we journey we generate physique warmth and perspire, even when it’s chilly and/or wet. That is very true when driving with a jacket as most should not practically as breathable as driving with out one. And, when driving within the chilly, being moist with sweat could make you’re feeling even colder when you find yourself within the wind or begin driving downhill. Regulating temperature is difficult, and one thing that the consumer wants to remain on prime of as a result of even probably the most breathable waterproof material nonetheless finally ends up trapping user-generated warmth and moisture. Some materials carry out a lot better on this regard, successfully permitting your warmth and moisture to flee whereas maintaining chilling wind and water from getting in, whereas others are a bit stuffier and really feel moist on the within. The Patagonia Dust Roamer Jacket is impressively breathable and helps to keep up a constant consolation degree contained in the jacket, making it simpler to depart on on a regular basis with out overheating or getting drenched in sweat.

Packability

For these amongst us who prefer to carry a jacket on a journey within the off probability it would rain or as a result of you’ll be taking it off the climbs and placing it again on for the descents, packability, and weight, is a vital consideration. Our space for storing, whether or not it’s in a fanny pack, backpack, cargo bib pocket, or in-frame storage, is comparatively finite, so having the ability to pack your jacket all the way down to a compact measurement that matches in that area is important. For these carrying a jacket, weight can be a priority, and usually, the lighter the higher.

In the case of packability, the lighter wind jackets usually take the cake. For instance, the Rapha Path Light-weight jacket weighs simply 160 grams (measurement S) and packs into the chest pocket to a tiny measurement. Moreover, it comes with a strap that can be utilized to stash it in your body when not in use. Likewise, the Patagonia Dust Roamer Jacket weighs simply 219 grams (measurement S), stuffs into its personal pocket, and is roughly the scale of a 20-ounce water bottle.

In distinction, the thicker supplies utilized in most waterproof jackets make them a bit heavier and so they aren’t capable of pack down fairly as small. The exception to this rule is the Gorewear Endure which is made with Gore-Tex PACLITE, weighs simply 280 grams (measurement S), and is about as packable as totally waterproof jackets get. On the flip aspect of that coin is the Endura MT500 Waterproof Jacket II which weighs 550 grams (measurement M) and can be practically unattainable to suit right into a fanny pack in case you needed to take it off.

Wind Jerseys

Together with the ten jackets we examined, we included two wind-blocking jerseys as options for cool-weather driving. Whereas they’re clearly not jackets, a wind-blocking long-sleeve jersey will be the proper layer to put on on cool days when all you actually need is to take the chew out of the wind to remain comfy. The 2 choices we examined, the Rapha Path Windblock Jersey and the Mons Royale Tarn Merino Shift Wind Jersey, each characteristic merino wool mix materials that comprise the primary physique, coated by a wind-blocking nylon entrance panel to maintain the wind off your torso. We discovered each of those jerseys to be wonderful for cool temperatures the place you generate some physique warmth on the climbs however may catch a chill on the decents. They proved to be exceptionally versatile items that get a whole lot of use within the fall and spring.

Worth

There’s a massive variation in worth between the jacket fashions we examined, and like anything within the sport of mountain biking, they are often fairly costly. Spending extra on a jacket usually will get you larger high quality supplies, development, or one thing distinctive that excels in a selected method like waterproofness or packability (perhaps each). Different instances it will get you these issues plus a model title. Whereas we definitely love trying fancy in costly gear, we additionally respect a very good worth, and we all know a whole lot of different individuals do too. So, certain, you possibly can spend $330 to get the bombproof Endura MT500 Waterproof Jacket II, or it can save you over 100 bucks and get the Endura Singletrack II which performs practically on par with its dearer sibling. Sure, the Singletrack II isn’t technically as waterproof because the MT500, nevertheless it’s received to be so depressing outdoors to matter that you just most likely shouldn’t be on the market anyway. Equally, the Fox Ranger 2.5L Water Jacket prices even much less and will get the job carried out whereas trying fairly snappy besides. And, in case you’re solely searching for a wind jacket, the Fox Ranger Wind Pullover is the least costly choice we examined, but it performs nicely whereas having an off-the-cuff type that doesn’t pigeonhole it as strictly a driving piece.

Ceaselessly Requested Questions About Mountain Bike Jackets