The nice fall weather here in Seattle is bound to give way to rain soon enough, and you’re going to need to keep your legs dry. Full on rain pants are an option, but if you’re riding hard your pants or shorts may get as wet from the inside out as they do from the rain. Rain knickers help balance out the moisture inequity by being ‘open air’ where your legs are largely sheltered from the rain, and waterproof where you get the brunt of the precipitation. Khyungyokpo’s got your DIY solution photo documented up on flickr. DYI still to expensive? There are other options as well.
If you’re looking for a high-quality pre made set take a look at some RainLegs.
Khyungyokpo got a couple bits of advice for rainlegs ghetto style — these work best with shorts, and swears by shorts + the DYI knickers as the perfect rain gear. The DYI version has a built in safety feature as well — the unsecured bottoms tend to flap, attracting incredulous attention from motorists and cyclists. No word on the garbage bag version yet.
dead link to Khyungyokpo’s photoset. Cant find it anywhere in his profile, either..
Ah crap, sorry, I dropped those pics….
I will put them back up…
I have been bone dry through december and january… I’m not even noticing the rain.
basically they are cheap rubber rain pants by colombia sprtwear and I cut them to a short just below my knee, and then i cut a deep V vent all the way up to the bas of the gluteal muscle… you really want the pant to be over the knee by about 3 inches when the leg is fully bent, otherwise when you are riding hard the wind will pick up the leading edge.
I’ll post pics soon…
~J~