Commuter Rain Gear

[ny biker]

And if I get caught in one I ride as fast as humanly possible to avoid hypothermia.

That was the other thing my year-round-bike-commuting friend said -- sometimes it's about staying warm, not staying dry.

Which leads me to quote yet another friend who commuted by bike year-round for many years before he retired, and now rides more than 10,000 per year just for fun: Wool. "Naturally breathable, warm when wet, automatically adjusting to a wide range of temperature conditions: we'd call it a miracle fiber if it hadn't been invented at the Dawn of Time." He swears by his Wabi Woolens jerseys.

[Blueberry]

Yep - we know wool! Summer is hard - we've been investigating ponchos to try to minimize the sweat form of wet. We're talking more about rainy, cold winter days - and wanting to stay dry (or at least mostly dry) on those. I know everything will drip or leak *somewhere* - but I would like to avoid something where the waterproof coating just peels off in short order.

[shootingstar]

Most definitely armpit zippers, even for some winter days. For winter cycling, I make sure my jackets have this because of multiple layering. All my winter jackets for cycling and (mountain) snowshoeing have armpit zippers. I need that flexibility when temperatures change within a few hrs. /become very active. I must admit that cycling in rain at near freezing temp. to me, is way more unpleasant than cycling in much colder winter temp. @-20 C., but no rain. At least one isn't wet

[ny biker]

I have another rain jacket that I bought on advice from the friend who rides >10,000 miles per year. It's an O2 jacket.

http://o2rainwear.com/category/products/

The one I have is the Original, which is also the least expensive.

http://o2rainwear.com/2011/03/original-cycling-jacket/

I've only worn it once so I can't comment on the durability of their products, but I recall before I bought it I saw some reviews online that were positive.

The main reason I haven't worn my O2 jacket much is that I avoid riding in the rain, but another reason is that it's a men's cut and the fit is okay but not great for me. I got the small, and it is almost too narrow in the hips. So their products might work for your husband but the fit might be an issue for you. (I wasn't able to try on the medium for comparison because I special-ordered the one I bought from a small LBS, so I don't know if going up a size would have been okay or if the medium would have been too big in the torso.)