Pearl Izumi
A nice relatively light weight thermal lined jacket which allows me to stay comfortable in 45-55 degree range without excessive layering. I like that I can wear a standard base layer and long sleeve jersey underneath and not feel all bulky. I haven't worn it in the rain but wind protection is great. It has a nice size rear pocket that is perfect for my mini-pump, tube and CO2 cartridge. Not light enough to stuff in your jersey pocket, but on cool wintry days the jacket stays on anyway. More color selections would have been nice. I like being visible but am not a screaming bright yellow kind of guy.
These are my first sets of bike shorts with a pad or chamois in the butt area. Of course it's not like you're going to be sitting on a cloud with these, but they definitely feel like your second skin and make riding for a few hours manageable. I tried some of the interval shorts as well (a step below these) and these are better hands down. The fabric itself is better and the feel of when you put it on.
BTW I'm 190/180 lbs and 5'10 and these fit good. I also fell on my butt and slide on concrete and my cheek got scraped but no damage on the pants. These are really meant to last.
These are reasonably good shoe covers, but I do wish they were a little warmer / air proof. I am what most folks would call an avid rider - ride about 150 miles / week just for fun and exercise. I tend to ride in dry but windy conditions. I was looking for a boot cover that would take me down to about 30 degrees F for up to 2 hours so I can ride outdoors in the wintertime when its not too crazy cold. I found these covers reliably keep my toes from feeling numb down to about 40 degrees F - if I ride below that my toes start to suffer on rides longer than an hour. If I want to ride in the 30's, I've taken to putting plastic bags over the shoes (under the covers) to help block some of the wind, putting two layers of socks on, and plastic bags over my toes. By the end of 1 1/2 - 2 hours, if its say 35 degrees out and windy, my toes are numb and I've had enough. Of course your experience will vary, but that my two cents. On the plus side they are very easy to put on. I wear a size 43 Wide shoe and bought the Large size Amphib cover and they are plenty big - they would certainly accommodate a larger size shoe.
Overall I'd say this is a pretty good winter jacket, about 3.5 out of 5. Bought this for colder winter mountain bike rides where some of my Windstopper jackets don't cut it. When paired with a thermal weight shirt, this has kept me warm while riding down into the teens. Doesn't provide much warmth when stopped though, so don't plan to take long rest breaks when wearing it.
Fit is pretty good, but it runs a size smaller than the normal PI jackets I've bought before and it's a little short in the front for my tastes as a mountain biker, so it rides up some - clearly it was designed more for roadie use. It's definitely not as good at moisture management as described, I found during heavy exertion that sweat would build up significantly on the inside of the softshell portion and drip down my back, chest and arms, which is moderately annoying. It dries reasonably quickly.
If you buy the red, be prepared for it to be more of a seriously bright orange-red than regular red. It's loud and very noticeable, which isn't a bad thing for safety. So far it's proven durable, including during a couple of decent spills. Overall it's a good purchase when gotten on sale, though I wouldn't buy it at full retail.
