Commuting Guides
Commuting Guides
Getting to work by bike in bad weather without arriving soaked, and without spending ten minutes changing at each end.
This is where VEAR started. Our first product, in 2015, was rain trousers for bike commuters, and the Kickstarter campaign for it did not fund. What came out of that failure is most of what we make now.
Start here
- Cycling to work in the rain: what actually works: where the water really comes from, the two viable strategies, and why mudguards matter more than your jacket.
Kit
- Waterproof over-trousers: how to choose: zip length decides whether you use them, and everything else is secondary.
- Waterproof and breathability ratings explained: why breathability numbers underdeliver on a bike.
- How to wash a waterproof jacket: daily commuting wears the water-repellent finish fast.
Where the design came from
The 2015 campaign raised $18,040 of a $25,000 goal from 192 backers and closed unfunded. The redesign that followed opened along the full length of the leg so it could go on over shoes, standing up, and raised $127,272 from 813 backers as the Legs Jacket. That history, and the backer geography that shows how much of our audience is in cycling cities, is on our campaigns page.
Products for commuting
- VEAR Pants: over-trousers that open the full length of the leg.
- VEAR Jacket: the shell, with reflective detailing.
- Backlight and Headlamp: visibility, which matters more than clothing.
- Shoe Protectors: for the spray a mudguard cannot catch.
Related
- What to pack for a UK city break: the same weather, on foot.
- Care and problem solving and our lab test results.