Quote Originally Posted by tctrek View Post
Catriona, the Mammut Ultimate Hoody advertises a "helmet compatible hood"... does this mean you can put the hood up and put your helmet over it?? Have you ever done that? I plan to ride in very cold weather this winter and need a top layer. I'm wondering if this would be it.
Tctrek,

I just went and tried a bunch of jackets with helmets... Most of the jackets that advertise helmet compatible hoods are made for skiing helmets which are a lot more rounded & not as long as biking helmets are... Skiing helmets also allow you to open & close the vents, and I'm not sure why biking helmets don't do something like that for a winter helmet.

So I tried them using my giro animas helmet and my limar something or other helmet - my giro has little things that stick out in the back, and my limar is rounded in the back - so all the jackets worked much better with the limar than the giro helmet.

The mammut ultimate hoody - I could put the helmet on over the hood no problem. When I put the hood on over the helmet, it covered all of the helmet but the front above my forehead - so the front vents were still uncovered. I gotta say, I prefer it with the hood underneath, because when you have a hood over your helmet, when you bob your head up and down, it moves your jacket... that was kinda an annoying thing about having a hood over your helmet period.

I tried a few of my other jackets with pitzips, which I thought would have helmet compatible hoods and they did better - but unfortunately most of them are arc'teryx, and all I can say is that they don't quite come cheap.

Hardshells... my arc'teryx theta lt and my theta ar 's hoods had no problem going over the bike helmet down to the visor. The jackets are gore-pro shell (the lt is lighter weight than the ar), so are waterproof, windproof, and have pitzips.

Softshells... The arc'teryx gamma sv hoody's hood also fit completely over the helmet, it's gorewindstopper & has pit zips - and as far as I know arc'teryx only makes it for men, so I have the mens small.

The marmot superhero jacket - the hood covered the helmet slightly more than the mammut ultimate jacket. it doesn't have pitzips (it's got thin fabric at the underarms to vent) and is a thicker windstopper than the ultimate hoody - its pitzips don't unzip as far.
However, it's currently on sale in the rei sale for $77:
http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/793678