Become an all-season rider with the right clothes
Kit for less-than-ideal conditions will get you on the roads and trails whatever the weather

A look out the window. A glance at the weather app followed by a few refreshes when the forecast isn’t exactly what you’d hope for. Those are rituals all of us do across the country as we size up the conditions outside for a ride. With the right gear, you’ll have more opportunities to get on the roads or trails. Sure, often Mother Nature does have the final say, especially with a doozy of a snowstorm. But with the right jacket and tights or pants, temperature and precipitation hold you back less and less. Then, with ease, you can enjoy what riding is all about: covering ground outside.
No, these are not the thickest gloves out there. But the Leatt MTB 2.0 WindBlock gloves ($80, leatt-canada.ca), with their two-layer construction, do an excellent job of keeping out the chill even around 0 C. The MicroGrip fabric at the palm lets you have a good grip on the bars. An extra bit of re-inforcement protects your ring and pinky fingers.
The Leatt MTB HydraDri 5.0 mono suit ($660, leatt-canada.ca) is well-designed with pockets galore. The outfit even has icons to help out. Keys go in the left pocket, it seems. The suit has a waterproof rating of 30,000 mm. Its 30,000 g/m²/24h breathability is bolstered by vents at the sides and thighs. Hook-and-loop straps at the waist let you dial in the fit. While this onesie is a natural fit for West Coast riding, commuters across the nation will dig its near-bomb-proof weather protection. The test suit here at Canadian Cycling Magazine is size medium so a size small rider can slip it on over his office-wear (and, to be honest, at CCM office-wear is pretty darn informal).
The Biemme Adamello men’s jacket ($200, biemmeamerica.ca) is made with a three-layer membrane. It’s warm and excels at keeping out the wind. The jacket has a classic three-pocket setup in the back with a bonus fourth pocket sealed with a zipper. This model is size medium but fits quite snug. You might want to size up.
The chamois in Biemme Sellaronda men’s bib tights ($200) is optimized for six-hour road rides, which is a long time out in the cold. The garment’s fabric traps heat well, so as long as your legs are up for the effort, they’ll be warm for the duration of the outing. Zippers at the cuffs finish the fit.
Rapha really does an excellent job of creating cold-weather gear for road rides. The Rapha Pro Team Insulated Gore-Tex women’s rain jacket ($580, rapha.cc) is no exception. The 2.5-layer GoreTex Paclite Plus material is waterproof, breathable and windproof. Inside, the insulation traps your warmth well. The zippered cuffs can be a bit of a struggle to do up, but they do work to keep cold out and heat in. Maybe get some help with those zips?
The Rapha Pro Team women’s winter tights ($450) are fleece-lined on the inside and have a durable water repellant treatment the outside. The fabric at the waist has a waffle texture, which the company says will help trap warmth and wick sweat away. A magnetic quick-release buckle facilitates speedy nature breaks.
With Gore-Tex layers and fleece insoles, the Shimano MW702 shoes ($400, ridecanada.shimano.com) will keep your feet dry and cosy in the grossest conditions. A generous amount of neoprene with a hook-and-loop fastener at each cuff lets you seal off the elements at your ankles. The large lugs on the outsoles provide serious traction in mud and snow, but take extra care on ice. Naturally, you can outfit these shoes with the company’s SPD cleats for off-road riding.
The Rab Vapour-Rise Cinder women’s jacket ($240, rab.equipment) is just the piece of kit for your bikepacking adventures. It’s highly packable. The jacket is soft on the inside and durable on the outside. It’s made to Rab’s high eco-standards, from a renewable-energy powered production process to the jacket’s fluorocarbon-free waterproof coating.
The Rab Cinder Downpour Light women’s waterproof pants ($220) have a waterproof rating of 20,000 mm and breathability of 20,000 g/m²/24h, making them a top choice for rainy rides. An elastic drawcord manages the fit at the waist, while well-placed hook-and-loop straps keep the fabric from flapping or getting close to moving bike parts.
Heading deep in the woods? The POC Signal All-weather women’s jacket ($450, poc.com) has features for remote riding. The loonie-size bump in the right sleeve is an NFC medical ID chip that can store some of your important data. On the back, the Recco Reflector transponder can assist in a search and rescue. For a rainy ride, the jacket’s 20,000 mm waterproof and 20,000 g/m²/24h breathability ratings will keep you dry. If the weather clears, stuff it into its own pocket, K-Way style, and attach it to your handlebars.
The POC Ardour All-weather women’s pants ($300) prioritize waterproofness (15,000 mm) from the knee to the cuff. That area, as well as at the seat, is reinforced to increase durability. Overall breathability of the pants is 30,000 g/m²/24h. Two zipper pockets at the sides and a sneaky one at the back right near the waist let you carry a few small items.
The Leatt HydraDri 5.0 ProClip shoes ($290, leatt-canada.ca) are built with the company’s HydraDri material. In this case, it’s the version that offers 10,000 mm of water protection and 10,000 g/m²/24h breathability. A lot of thought went into the construction of the outsole. Its compound provides good pedal-feel, while its waffle pattern works well with pins. There are recesses and bolt mounts if you want to run cleats. On each shoe, a hook-and-loop strap and Moz dial snug things up nicely before you hit the trail. Reinforcement at the heels and toes will protect you well from whatever the trail kicks up.
The Castelli Fly Thermal women’s jacket ($450, castelli-cycling.com) uses Gore-Tex Infinium. Its primary duty is keeping you warm in a headwind. The insulation feels generous, white the jacket itself packs down well. If you start to cool down at mid-ride stop, flip up the hood and stuff your hands in the front pockets. This jacket is perfect for dry, chilly days, ideally in the sun.
The cargo pockets on the Castelli Unlimited Cargo DT women’s bib tights ($280) have flaps at their tops to make sure your gels, bars or even your phone doesn’t eject on a rough gravel road. The straps, crossed at the back, allow for speedier nature breaks. The primary fabric of these tights is highly water-repellant.
Launched this past fall, Shimano’s new gravel kit is for your big rides in low temperatures. The lineup’s warm top, the Shimano Evolve Prima men’s jacket ($280, ridecanada.shimano.com) has puffy-jacket vibes with 4.5-cm baffles at the front holding Primaloft insulation. The back panel and sleeves use a thinner fleece-lined material. It all adds up to a balanced system that will keep your core at just the right temperature.
The Shimano Evolve men’s bib tights ($280) have what all good gravel tights have: cargo pockets at the legs. The company says its chamois, the Sterrato 2.0, is perfect for rides lasting as long as six hours, on whatever surfaces catch your fancy.
The Castelli Diluvio UL shoe covers ($70, castelli-cycling.com) have some smart features. The top of each neoprene cuff is constructed to create the best seal against your tights. The zippers at the backs and hook-and-loop straps at the bottoms mean less of a struggle when you are putting these booties on over your road, gravel or mountain bike shoes.
How waterproof is waterproof?
When you’re researching a garment for foul weather, you’ll often see its waterproof rating. It’s usually thousands of millimetres, such as 30,000 mm or 20,000 mm. But 30,000 mm of what? Obviously the waterproof material isn’t 30 m thick.
The figure comes from an industry-standard hydrostatic head test. A piece of the waterproof material is put at the bottom of a column. That column is filled with water until the fabric springs a leak, indicating the limit of its water-blocking abilities. With cycling gear, anything 20,000 mm or better is pretty darn waterproof. The hydrostatic head values are presented in this story where available.
How breathable is breathable?
The unit used to show a material’s breathability might give a math-phobic cyclist the sweats. It’s g/m²/24h. The number associated with all that shows how much water vapour, in grams, can pass through a square metre of fabric during a 24-hour period. Zero g/m²/24h is for a garbage bag. A rating of 15,000 g/m²/24h or higher should perform well even during intense activity. The breathability values of the clothes are listed in this story where available.