Showers Pass Touring jacket review

I decided to get this jacket instead of the top-of-the-line Elite II. The main issue for me is that the Tour has two side pockets that are easily accessible while riding. For some reason the Elite II only has a pocket in the lower back but I hate those pockets, I'm not flexible enough to get into them while riding.

Additionally, the jacket comes in black. You may think that black is a bad color for a bike jacket, but it has reflective striping. The reason I wanted black is because HiVis Yellow is only slightly easier to keep clean than White; oh, did I say easy? I meant that it's a pain in the posterior to keep clean, sorry 'bout that misunderstanding.

The venting system works really well. You definitely notice if you forgot to zip up when you're blasting down a hill. Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to grab the zipper pulls, but bear in mind that it could just as easily be due to wearing long-fingered gloves.

I wore it throughout the winter and it was very effective in keeping my warm. On the coldest rides I would wear a jersey, a long-sleeve polypropylene shirt, a wool sweater, and the Showers Pass jacket. This combination is sufficient for keeping my core warm. I skip the wool sweater when it gets much above the mid-40's and replace it with a light Polarmax sweater.

This may sound gross, but I do notice some sweat buildup on the inside. I'm able to keep warm though so I'm not worried about it. I probably need to work on remembering to open the vents and unzip the front when I start climbing hills. I try to wear the bear minimum to keep me warm at effort so when I stop I cool down real quick. Not a big issue for day training rides, if I was doing an overnight brevet that would be a potential hypothermia risk.

So far the durability is excellent. I've worn it on just about every road ride since the middle of December (about 16 so far) and have not experienced any failures. I do notice that the cuff looks like it's pilling at the folds, but the full-finger gloves I wear have a long cuff so perhaps that is abrading the jacket's cuff.

I also purchased the rain hood but have only used it once. I was hoping that it would be large enough to fit over the helmet, but it isn't. Not really a negative point, just something to bear in mind.