In praise of... rain capes

[GrumpyGregry]

Your (Grand)Dad had one, my Dad had one, it might have been oilskin, it may have been PVC. It may have come with a matching sou'wester. But they fell out of favour as cycling became more a sporting leisure activity and less of a means to get to work, or into town, whilst wearing normal clothes.

Working in cph I'm very much into the whole "dress for the destination not the journey" vibe at the moment, largely driven by lack of space in my carry-on baggage for "special" clothes. If you know cph at all you will know it is very windy city, and one where heavy showers are an ever-present threat. The Danes have their own version of Wainwright's "No such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes" and those who dress smart for the destination can often be seen trundling around under a cape when, like this morning, the blue skies of 06:00 turning into the grey skies of the 07:00 ride to work.

A couple of weeks back I found myself on a day when the rain could only be described as torrential. I delayed my journey but soon realised it wasn't going to quit. En route to the office from the hotel, I stopped off at an outdoor store and as soon as I crossed the threshold, pretty darned wet, the guy behind the counter pointed me at a rack of Vaude Valdapino Rain Capes. The link is to Rose to prove these are a 'proper' cycling item btw. Needless to say there is no possibility of anyone buying a space lemon cape here, because hi-viz doth offend mine eye, and the eye of 99.99999% of cph cyclists it seems*, so those aren't stocked so I had a choice of light blue, dark blue or red. Dark blue it was, and I bought it "to go".

It packs down to the size of a paperback book so lives day-to-day in my messenger bag alongside my flat cap, which is excellent headgear for the rain affected commuter. Helmet cover you say? Er no, this is cph. Helmets are for small children and the terminally paranoid. It takes about five seconds to put on, essentially you shove your head through the hole and off you go, and once awheel you pass your hands through two interior webbing loops/straps and these keep the front of the cape in place over the handlebars. You have to extract forearms from said loops to do sociable and responsible stuff like signalling, especially when making the "Please miss! Please miss!" hands up signal which means I am stopping and which is a part of the hook left turn ritual inflicted on cph, and other Danish, wheelers on a daily basis.

The cape keeps your dry and pretty snug too in its own little micro-climate. It does catch the wind, but not as much as you might imagine, and if it is a chp cross-wind you will notice it tugging on your spokes more than on your cape.

So there you go. My Dad knew a thing or two about cycling to work after all...

*I have seen the same guy twice now in a flouro vest. I struck up a conversation with him on Norrebrogarde. He is British!

 

[Salad Dodger]

Not quite as elegant as a rain cape, but Decathlon sell a cheap, own make "over the head" cagoule, with overly long sleeves, which you are supposed to cut to fit.

I left the sleeves uncut, and they extend right over my hands, even when in cycling mode.

It was cheap - about £5 or £6 - and cannot be described as elegant by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a brilliant "emergency cagoule" and accompanies me on all cycling forays where the weather might possibly take a turn for the worst.

 

[psmiffy]

I cannot recall seeing many Danish cyclists using capes in the rain - Umbrellas - Yes

 

[Katherine]

Yes, my dad had one, he commuted on his bike down the back lanes until he retired in 2001.
I had one too! I cycled to college in the early 80s.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I remember using an oilskin cape (and the smell - like the smell of the oilskin table-cloths at junior school). There were no plastics then - just imagine! Oilskin capes were heavy and bulky, and it was a great day when the first plastic ones were introduced. My father used an oilskin (and souwester) to the end of his days, rolled up and and held with a spare toestrap or two. (No helmets then to cover anyway, of course).

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I cannot recall seeing many Danish cyclists using capes in the rain - Umbrellas - Yes

Not as common as legend has it. I've seen precisely one since the end of April. Riding along texting - loads. Drinking coffee- for sure, after al what is the coffee holder on your handlebars for after all? But umbrella wielding wheelers are an rare sight in the parts of town I frequent. Capes, in various shapes and forms, aplenty thobut.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

[QUOTE 3808912, member: 259"]It's strange you never see them in the UK. They are quite popular in other European countries.[/QUOTE]
In the other European countries where they don't don lycra and goretex, &c., to ride to work perhaps?

 

[psmiffy]

When i went to secondary school I cycled - come winter my father issued me with an oilskin cape -big WD arrow on the inside - twice as big as me and probably weighed almost as much - on dark wet windy evenings it took as much effort to control as riding the bike

 

[psmiffy]

Not as common as legend has it. I've seen precisely one since the end of April. Riding along texting - loads. Drinking coffee- for sure, after al what is the coffee holder on your handlebars for after all? But umbrella wielding wheelers are an rare sight in the parts of town I frequent. Capes, in various shapes and forms, aplenty thobut.

The first time I really noticed it was in Stockholm - arrived on midsummers day and it was P ing down - waiting to catch the boat to Turku in the old town and the bit of waterfront where the local ferries go from - every single bike seemed to have an umbrella - often two if the bike had a pillion passenger - true not so common in Denmark (and Holland) - they tend to zap along a bit more

 

[PK99]

One of the old timers in my CTC group used to wear an oilskin rain cape, he gave up after one rather interesting rainy ride into a swirling headwind

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The first time I really noticed it was in Stockholm - arrived on midsummers day and it was P ing down - waiting to catch the boat to Turku in the old town and the bit of waterfront where the local ferries go from - every single bike seemed to have an umbrella - often two if the bike had a pillion passenger - true not so common in Denmark (and Holland) - they tend to zap along a bit more

Oh yeah. Umbrella-ist fairly regular sight in sthlm. Typically being wielded by a snus sucking blazer boy with plastic-soled office shoes on his achingly hip fixie.

 

[Salar]

I used to love riding in my cape in the 70's, it even covered my Brooks copy saddlebag. Just like being in your own mini tent.

No problem changing down tube friction shifters either.

I'm now possibly on the look out for another decent quality one, it rains a lot in Wales.

 

[tyred]

I must admit I like my cape, it needs to be a nice heavy one though to work and have traps to tie it to your back.

I discovered a flaw with mine in that it won't fit over the quite wide butterfly bars I put on my MTB project. Of course I discovered this in a torrential downpour miles from home!

 

[steve50]

Rain capes still available on ebay, no idea what the quality will be like and to be honest i am surprised they are still selling them. I haven't seen anyone using a rain cape for many years.

 

[Pale Rider]

I used a cape to cycle to school.

I've now got a disposable one in a plastic bag about the size of a cigarette packet.

Yet to deploy it.