- If you're looking for rain protection when you ride,
you'll be faced with a choice of two types of jackets,
a traditional waterproof,
which is often called a hardshell
because the fabric isn't very stretchy
and it kind of feels a bit stiff.
The other option is a softshell jacket,
which is much softer, also much more stretchy,
but typically not waterproof.
You'd have to call them water-resistant.
But on the flip side, though,
they are much, much more breathable.
Now, traditionally, you'd say, well,
if it's raining really hard, you'd want a hardshell jacket,
but if you're working really hard,
would you not actually be better off with a softshell?
Because whilst they might let more rain in,
conversely, they would also let more sweat out.
Ah, to find out, (dramatic music building)
we need to do some science.
(music ending abruptly)
Cool, thanks for that.
(metallic whooshing)
For this experiment,
we need one typical garden sprinkler
and one traditional turbo trainer.
A smart trainer might not be very smart.
We've also left it until it's just above freezing
before filming this video, just to make it really pleasant.
All I need now is a willing volunteer.
All right, Ollie? - Hi, mate.
- You, uh, fancy you some science?
- Yeah, always. - Awesome.
We're looking at waterproof jackets.
- (stammering) I've got this thing I've got to do.
- Ollie?
You forgot your coffee, mate.
Ollie?
Chris, mate, you all right?
- Hi, Si, how's it going?
- Yeah, all right mate.
Do you, um, do you fancy helping out in a quick video?
- In a video? - [Simon] Yeah.
- Ooh, no, actually.
Oh, I think my phone's ringing, Si, actually.
Uh, hello?
Yup.
I'm going to be a minute.
Sorry, man.
(cheerful music)
- All right, Jon.
- Not happening.
No way.
(quick slamming)
- Jon?
Jon!
Basically, if you hadn't worked it out already yet,
I want to prepare the jackets
but rather than ride in the rain,
which is open to all sorts of variations and errors,
I would replace the rain with a consistent water source,
our garden sprinkler.
I'll then jump on the trainer,
ride quite briskly to get a bit of heat up,
and then turn on the rain.
After a set amount of time,
we will then finish that particular test
and we will compare the state of my undervest.
So the theory being if we weigh this
before and after the test,
we'll know that any extra weight on this vest
will actually be moisture.
The thinking being that a hardshell jacket,
which might be less breathable but more waterproof,
would actually have more sweat in here but less rainwater,
whereas the softshell would have less sweat
but more rainwater.
And then the mark of success,
the best type of jacket will be the one ultimately
that yields the drier undervest.
Genius!
(upbeat funk music)
First up, then, we've got the hardshell jacket.
Now, I've got the luxury of being able to use
Assos's legendary Sturmprinz jacket for this.
It's made out of a proprietary fabric they call Triton,
which they say is temperature-sensitive.
So it actually is more breathable in warm conditions
and then less breathable in cold conditions.
Now I don't want to bang on about it,
but I'd suggest that today
it's probably going to be the less-breathable end
of the spectrum because it is absolutely freezing cold.
Have I said that before?
Yeah.
Oh, and by the way,
if you're wondering why I'm wearing a helmet
on a turbo trainer, I gave it quite a lot of thought
and, basically, I didn't want to get a wet head,
so I thought this might be more kind of appropriate
to real world, but I appreciate I will look like a plonker.
Right then, five-minute warmup coming up
before I start to get wet.
(upbeat funk music)
I'm actually getting quite warm,
so the thought of some cooling rain
isn't completely abhorrent at the moment.
(panting)
Well, guess we've got to do it.
(yelling) Turn on the rain, please!
Ah!
(energetic rock music)
Ah, man.
(exhaling loudly)
It's unlike any rain I've ever been in.
It's really minging.
Oh, my legs!
Oh, god.
It's really very unpleasant.
I'll be honest, I might even have to go a peep down.
There is one slight issue with this test,
it's become apparent as I've been spinning away,
and that is that when you're out riding normally,
you obviously have windchill.
And there is zero wind here at all today,
so it's definitely not representative
of real world riding conditions.
It's a lot warmer than it otherwise would be,
which I'm not complaining about today.
But hopefully though,
the fact that conditions would be exactly the same
for each jacket will mean then
that although they perhaps don't represent
real world riding conditions 100%,
it's at least consistent and comparable between the two.
That's how I put it, anyway.
And you're probably too far away.
You might need to come a bit closer.
Just come on, a bit closer.
No?
It's got to be said
that less expensive, entry-level jackets
are going to perform less well
in comparison to more expensive hardshells,
'cause basically the more expensive you go,
the better the fabric's going to be
and there's a lot of tech in those.
So your traditional Gore-Tex, for example,
will have a membrane that's basically got billions
of tiny, little pores for every square inch of fabric.
And they allow water vapor out
but they prevent the water droplets that you see
on the surface from getting in.
One more minute to go.
(panting)
All right guys, can you make it stop raining now, please?
(mysterious electronic music)
Guys?
Guys, can you turn it off?
(panting)
Guys!
(freewheel whirring)
(cleats tapping)
That was pretty unpleasant
but not anywhere near as bad as I was expecting.
The question is how are things looking
underneath the shell?
Can you see a bit of steam going on?
There's definitely some water vapor.
(zipping)
I'll keep that in for now,
I'm going to quickly take this base layer off
and then we're going to stick it on the scales.
Right, hold on.
(jazzy lounge music)
Right, let's get this over with, shall we?
Ready to roll.
I've got a fresh undervest that we've just weighed
within a few grams of the other one,
fresh bib tights, thankfully,
and also, of course, a fresh jacket.
Although, technically I say fresh,
this has actually been with me for three years
and I wanted to use it because this kind of
what I consider my go-to piece of clothing
in the winter months.
Assos have since superseded it.
I think the Equipe RS is the newer version in the range.
Right, let's do it.
(squeaking)
That's not my legs, by the way.
Honestly, it's not my legs.
It's not my chamois either.
Right.
It's time.
(yelling) Turn on the rain!
Ah!
Oh, man.
(lively acoustic jazz music)
Now, let's talk a little bit more
about softshells, shall we?
So it's fair to say there's probably a bigger discrepancy
between different types of softshell
than different types of hardshell,
in a sense that this one has actually got bits of fabric
that don't have a membrane behind them
for improved breathability and ventilation,
whereas some might be exclusively made
out of a windproof material.
The fundamental difference between a waterproof
and a water-resistant fabric in this case, though,
comes down to the size of those pores in the membrane.
So there are less pores on a windproof fabric
but they are far, far larger,
which basically helps all that vapor escape
from the inside out.
However, some of you will notice
on my much-loved, much-washed jacket
is that that coating on the hardshell
that caused the droplets to bead off has now washed off.
So eventually, that happens on both softshell and hardshell.
When it does, you need to re-proof it quickly
because the breathability is going to be significantly impaired
on this one now because the fabric is so wet.
(panting)
But it's simple enough to do.
One other major advantage of the softshell
that we're not getting from this really bizarre,
slightly unpleasant test
is the aerodynamic qualities that a softshell has.
And I know aerodynamics are a byword for boring,
but it's really important.
Ollie and Chris went to the windtunnel to test it out
and they found that if you were riding at 30K an hour
for 100 kilometers with a waterproof jacket,
if you swapped it out for a softshell,
the same effort would actually get you
one kilometer an hour faster,
which means you'd finish your 100 kilometers
about 10 minutes early,
which is not to be sniffed at.
And if you're a pro, the difference in time is less.
In terms of percentage gains, it's even more.
So, again, it comes down to if you're working really hard,
you might be warmer, you might need more breathability,
but you'd also want to see more dividends for your effort
in terms of out-and-out speed.
Right. (panting)
Just a few seconds to go now.
(exhaling loudly)
Here we go.
Three, two, one, stop, and ride, yes.
End the ride.
(panting)
I'll be back for you later.
My perception is that I'm a little bit damper this time.
You can see the inside.
The water has come through, unlike on the hardshell.
There's quite a bit of water vapor going on,
(zipping)
showing it's wicking very fast.
Let's get this undervest off and get it weighed.
(quiet electronic funk music)
Wow, 300 grams.
So the base layer then underneath the hardshell jacket
weighed 100 grams less than the base layer
that was underneath the softshell jacket,
showing that when faced with a deluge of hose pipe water,
the hardshell did keep me dryer at the end of the day.
Now, are these results scientifically valid, no.
Are they interesting?
Well, certainly for me, actually.
But to actually draw this out to real world conditions,
I am actually going to have to draw on my experience
that perhaps I was hoping to discount
in the name of science.
Basically, under super-heavy rain,
you can't beat a hardshell,
but a softshell is probably going to be more versatile,
in the sense that you can wear it on dry days,
you can wear it when it's drizzly,
when there is a threat of rain.
But the hardshell, of course, can be rolled up
and stuffed in a back pocket in case of emergencies.
So whereas you might get more use out of a softshell,
it definitely doesn't replace a full-blown waterproof jacket
in a cyclist's wardrobe.
I'd be very interested to know
what you think about all this, though,
so do make sure you let us know
in the comments section down below.
Please, in the name of 40 minutes of suffering
underneath a hose pipe,
give this video a big thumbs up as well.
And if you would like to see some tips
on riding in wet weather, we have a video on that.
You can get through to it by clicking on the screen now.