Proofing cotton won’t last long. It’ll be uneven, wash out, and feel pretty waxy and gross. If you want good everyday pants which will keep most weather out, buy some canvas Cactus supertrousers: http://www.cactusoutdoor.co.nz/clothing/mens-pants/wk-slim-supertrousers.html
I’ve already got at least one FOAer onto the Cactus belt. Now to convert to the pants. Not 100% waterproof obviously - canvas not Gore-Tex - but they last short rides in rain or longer rides in light rain and keep the wind out on cold mornings. Good for snow sports. Also so goddamn tough they’ll survive and keep your skin intact when you eat it at 30km/hr and hit the pavement (believe me, I’ve tried).
at risk of losing all credibility (and undoing all the good work i may have done in buying a cactus belt):
http://www.rainlegs.com/en/home
they look like asseless cycling chaps because they are assless cycling chaps but these will keep whatever leg coverings your aesthetic sensibilities require (so long as relatively tight fitting anyway, probs not soo good for hareem pants, etc) dry without any monkeying with the aforesaid aesthetic leg coverings.
if it’s raining tonight i’ll be wearing them with my cactus belt on the way home
they come in WCP wet weather fluro and ZLTN’d denim ;p
wow, they’re terrible. sorry nik.
find me some rain protection that isn’t terrible.
Not gonna deny they look extra super fredly but don’t knock it till you’ve tried it ;p
they are actually pretty good (waterproof, east to use nice features) and live in my commuters handle bar bag.
I get changed at work but it’s nice to not have soggy shorts to change back into for the commute home
I believe blakey has a pair… in denim ;p
i’d rather ride in knicks, get changed and then ride home in whatever pants i’m wearing during the day. if i’m getting soaked on the way home i’m not really bothered.
"The innovative Rainlegs are international the most awarded raintrousers. "
I’m betting the awards night was a hoot
I’ve ridden in Levi Commuter jeans and they get wet and stay wet. It’s only really my thighs that cop the brunt of the water, which is why I was intrigued about waterproofing normal jeans.
Yeah, we have them for work pants at work, when they are new they shake off a light shower but they aint waterproof, and after 10 washes they are like normal denim. They do seem to be lasting better than other ‘normal’ jeans in terms of saddle wear but they are also quite expensive new.
Yeah, I got a pair on the normal jeans when the first came out in 2011, and another pair earlier this year (on sale in Japan). They are good initially, but if you wash your jeans the coating wears off. The actual wear is pretty good though.
Yeah! My shorts have survived multiple dirt, gravel and rock encounters off the MTB, at least once with keys in my pocket… the pants haven’t hit the deck yet. Vouch for the material being pretty good against the elements. I still handwash mine (after 18months… i love em) and it still takes a good bit razzing them about underwater for the material to wet through… stuff still beads water nicely.
Interestingly, I used to fold up the bottom of my shorts, havent done so for a while now, but where the fold was, and where it bent to kind of make corners (theyre still stiffer than new carhartts) there are little holes that have worn away, on the points of those corners. Not saying that as a bad thing, I’m pumped that after that long wearing them almost daily that I’ve made some kind of impression on them.
without hyperbole the worst thing i have ever seen. I would rather, literally, sit in sopping wet denim all day than put them on. This is function over form fascism taken to such an extent that it comes full circle and is no longer even that functional.