Jacket or Vest?

[Triskeliongirl]

I like them all too. I also found that my preferences changed as I got leaner. When I was heavier, I found that I overheated easily in jackets, and preferred vests, something like a light PI whisper vest above 50 and something warmer like a sheebeest wind pro vest in the 40-50s. For 30-40s I'd switch to a goretex jacket. But, it also depends on what you layer under all this stuff, so you can probably make anything work with the right layers.

When I lost weight and had to buy new clothes, I bought a variety of pieces:

1. I started with the PI vagabound jacket (bought from TE), liked the zip off sleeves. I thought I'd wear it more as a vest but find that I get cold more easily so tend to wear it mostly with the sleeves. But, if it really warms up over the course of a ride I do zip the sleeves off.

2. But, I found I was getting cold in the PI vagabound so I bought 3 more jacket/vests:
a. Probably my favorite is the PI gavia jacket (on sale at sierra). I don't know if its the high tech fabrics, but I find it keeps me warm on a cold/windy day, yet I don't overheat if it warms up. I also like this for off bike use.
b. I also really like my craft rain jacket (got here from TE with the x-mass coupon sale), waterproof and breathable for when it rains, and pit zips so while its warm it ventilates well.
c. I also picked up a terry headwind vest, similar to the shebeest windpro on the terry half price sale. I thought it would be good to layer under the shells, but I find if its that cold I prefer my gavia jacket, but wear it a lot for everyday use, and under my regular shell jackets when its cold.

Other useful pieces are a helmet cover and ear band. I prefer the helmet cover to a warmer hat when its really cold, keeps the wind out of my helmet (sugoi waterproof breathable one) and of course protects in rain, prefer to hood.

I think the bottom line is when I was heavier, it was mostly my chest that got cold, so vests were adequate. As I got leaner, I like more pices that cover both my chest and arms, BUT, they have to be hi-tech pieces that ventilate well.

I should also add that all these pieces can also be used for other sports. I even bought goretex pants, which I do use on the bike when its really cold (below 40) and can pair with the craft rain jacket and appropriate under layers for skiing.