One jacket to rule them all?

Endura Mt500 at sportpursuit.com is a bit of a bargain at the moment. I ordered one last night.

https://www.sportpursuit.com/catalog/product/view/id/2924750

Ticks all your boxes.

If you're not a member you'll need to sign up - happy (obviously) to send a referral link in that instance as I get a voucher if you buy 😂

If you've not used them before:
Post is chargeable (about £5.)
delivery isn't quick but their estimate is usually fairly accurate.
Returns are easy but they do charge postage on them.

On recent "what jacket" threads, the MT500 has been pretty routinely panned for it's boil in the bag qualities and the poor quality of the construction
I don't think there's a one-jacket-for-everything if you ride through the winter in the UK. There's too much variation in the weather.

Yeah - Afraid I've had a MT500 before and found that above sentiment to be very true.

I wore my gabba for its first ride this year yesterday. Yes, it’s not all the things you asked for, but I wore it more than anything else I own last year. It’s a 95% solution, resists water enough for all but the wettest days, warm enough for most days and stretches enough for another layer underneath for the others.

Get one if you don’t already have one! I think it’s called a perfetto now, but it’s still epic.

Sorry to be a contrary Mary, but I wouldn't want one jacket for all my riding.

I think it's much better to have a softshell for dry and drizzly rides (80%) and a waterproof for rainy rides (20%), mainly because softshells are soooo much more breathable and comfy.

Bet you can get both for not too much if you scour the current sales.

, the MT500 has been pretty routinely panned for it’s boil in the bag qualities

Yeah – Afraid I’ve had a MT500 before and found that above sentiment to be very true.

Ah blast. It's supposed to be 20k/40k.

and the poor quality of the construction

My personal experience with endura kit historically isn't great, though I've a few riding friends who could wear out a brick in a few minutes and swear by the stuff and there's a number on here that also tend to make positive noises so I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Will see if it's too late to cancel!

With the comments about the MT500 taken on board, can somebody tell me know much they are on Sports Pursuit and do they have all sizes? I don't want to sign up and get a lifetime of spam email just to find out

Works out at £95 posted. A very blue colour.
Showing small, medium large and xl

Works out at £95 posted. A very blue colour.
Showing small, medium large and xl

Thanks!

https://www.paramo-clothing.com/en-gb/explore-range/product/mens-velez-adventure-light-smock/

I've got the Pumpkin one. Bright enough for commute, as breathable as they get and bullet proof. If you rip it you can just sew it up. It might not be as 'waterproof' as a true hard shell but it'll keep you comfortable. And that's key.

Also, I often wear it out/to work and get compliments from people who think it looks great

Sh1t the bed. £250 though!

Bit out the range of what I'd consider suitable to throwing down the trails.

I am three rain jackets now, admitted after years of using what ever I could find, I was able to afford them in sales... one for summer, one for autumn (used to do winter too) and one for depths of winter now ). 

I don't believe one jacket will fulfil all needs well.

Just to buck the trend, two of my jackets are from Endura and are brilliant and have lasted fine, BUT they came out before Endura went all green and removed PFC's from there jackets (allowing their jacket to wet out)

@z1ppy, yes that's a better way of saying it. Of course you can buy a rain-jacket and it'll be waterproof and windproof and breathable and so on, but it'll do some of those things well, some not so well, and at other things it will be crap.

I tend to have a windproof gilet, I use this Rapha one when I need another layer at the start of a ride, but I know I won't later, because it rolls up to the size of a small apple, and I can stuff it in a pocket and it'll be no bother, I've a old traditional pertex windproof that's been slathered in TX wash-in to make water bead off it, and that's good enough for most rain-again-dry-again-rain-again-rides, and a proper eVent rain jacket when it's already raining and you know it's not going to stop. I reckon there are two or maybe even three jackets in between that, depending on temperature, but I reckon that covers most of the basics of sloppy winter UK MTB riding

yeah, £250 is a lot for Paramo. Going to come clean and say I got mine for a LOT less.  They have an eBay shop and given they are bulletproof secondhand is not actually a bad option.

"https://www.paramo-clothing.com/en-gb/explore-range/product/mens-velez-adventure-light-smock/

I’ve got the Pumpkin one. Bright enough for commute, as breathable as they get and bullet proof"

Paramo are just brilliant.  My mate has been using one of these for about 10 years now. And he's not a careful rider !

I've got one as my everyday windproof and waterproof, and dog walking jacket.  I love it. One of those items I dithered about for years, and now realise I should have got it years earlier.

For a hardshell do it all for cycling, I've a Showers Pass Elite 2.1 which I'm very happy with.  You can get a bolt-on hood for it too if that's your thaaang.

I think the Paramo is a bit of a gamble at the prices they ask, If you're a sweaty rider, or you run hot I'd definitely think twice. I bought one of their dedicated cycling jackets (the weird one with the strap between the legs ) years ago and for me at least, it was way too hot and didn't have anything like enough venting to make it comfortable. It was the jacket that made me realise I don't like smock designs, and the next to skin element of the 'just one layer' made me nervous for some reason.

I think I wore it twice before moving it on, which was a expensive lesson.

If they work for you they're well made and should think will last a lifetime though.

@nickc that sounds like a description of the old buffalo cycling jacket. 

@nickc - That's good to know. I'm sweaty AF!

@ibnchris - How do you find the smock vs a regular full zip? Is it not a bit of a PITA?

Last jacket I got was the gore Lupra infinitum jacket.

Sold as highly water resistant. Its not fully water proof as I found in a total downpour, but it's much more breathable that the packlite gore jacket that preceded it.

Cheap in small and yellow

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/GOREWEAR/Lupra-Jacket/WNFM

My gore packlite jacket from 2006 is still mostly waterproof. Its been repeatedly shredded and sewn up in this time and lives on stuffed in a pannier on the commuter bike.

If it has to be waterproof, I'd get a packlite jacket. Although I've just seen the price of one now £250!!!!!!?

I also have a Scott waterproof. Not sure what the fabric is. Its not as breathable, but it has massive pit zips. If you get sweaty (like me) consider pit zips.

I really like the smock, you can get it over a helmet and you don't get that thing I sometimes find with zips when they bunch up. ANd you can open up the sides as vents if you run hot.  I wouldn't wear it in the summer but for then a cheap windproof is stuffed at the bottom of my back that will keep me MOSTLY dry...

Madison have relaunched their DTE , they've been good for me in the past just hope they haven't lost their waterproofness by going Green like Endura has .

I've had loads of waterproof jackets over the years, Beghaus, Paramore, Sweet Protection, Endura and Gore. The only one that has kept me consistently dry has been a 7Mesh Revelation Jacket. I;ve ridden it in some horrific conditions and its not once let me down. Breathes brilliantly and has some clever zip vents for when things are proper sweaty.

Not cheap, but I'm coming up to my 3rd winter and it still looks and performs like new.

I don’t think there’s a one-jacket-for-everything if you ride through the winter in the UK. There’s too much variation in the weather.

Agree with this... and much like every "one bike to do it all" threads, you need to be realistic about what it all actually means for you. Personallly if I lost my wardrobe contents and wished to buy a single biking jacket, it definitely wouldn't be a waterproof hardshell type thing.

that sounds like a description of the old buffalo cycling jacket.

More than likely! Are they not made by the same folks?

I like Paramo smocks too.  I have a few of them.  The original one I bought is covered in patches and still keeps me dry. It is 12 years old. <br /><br />They can be hot for proper hard riding in summer but for most of the time it just works for me and I run hot.  If I was just riding trail centre singletrack or v fast road riding I’d use another jacket.  For most other riding, commuting, days out in the hills, exploring all day,  it a great.  It is really good for bikepacking as you can use it as more than a rain jacket.  I live in Wales and it is sometimes quite drizzly here so the Paramo suits me as I just live in it when the cloud is down.
but… I know some people don’t get on with them… and if you want a close fitting tailored posh jacket the Velez isn’t what you are looking for.

Edit… while it has some similarities to the Buffalo idea, it is quite different and not quite such an extreme concept.