Kids' and Adults' Rain Gear for Bike Commuting - Where to Buy?
Greetings Community, we are commuting to work, daycare, and preschool via bicycle every day and in need of some functional, affordable rain gear and cold weather gear (like wind-proof gloves) for the family. If you have suggestions on where to find these things at fair prices, please advise! Family = average sized adult F and M, and two children wearing size 2T and XS kids (6 year old size or so). I like the look of the simple yellow rain slicker suits w/ reflective strips, also into ponchos for the kids, but they need to be easy to get on and off and not be too expensive (for this reason I'm avoiding REI so far). Thanks in advance for your advice! - Val
Dec 3, 2019
Parent Replies
Check out Decathalon in Emeryville. Their prices are really reasonable.
Look up the folks at Allrounder bikes in Emeryville -- they are an awesome family owned business and I'm sure will have a great suggestion. I got a People's Poncho from them for biking and it works great for the rain.
I hear that you don't want things to be expensive, but be aware those most kids' raincoats are not taped around the seams. This means that if you wear them in a downpour, water will seep through the seams and the kids will get wet. The only places I found seam-taped raincoats for kids was REI and Sports Basement, which also has a great selection.
As for boots, we have had great luck with the Crocs rainboots. It's just one piece of rubber, no cotton lining, so if water gets in through the top (for little kids, this happens a lot as they are short and love puddles), you don't have to wait a week for the boot to dry out completely.
Have you checked out Decathalon? It's a French sporting good retailer that sells pretty affordable gear. We purchased from them pretty frequently when we lived in France and were surprised to see that they just opened a large brick & mortar in Emeryville. I've not been to it but they also have a website that could be useful to peruse.
Frog Toggs makes lightweight inexpensive rain gear for kids and adults. That said, we usually get our kid stuff at REI - it’s a little higher quality and we get 4 years out of it (2 yrs/kid). I watch end of season sales and buy for the next year. I’ve paid between $10-$30 for kids rain pants and $25-$40 for jackets - and this is good quality stuff. I get the rain boots on consignment for $10 or so or if I’m lucky as hand me downs.
I’ll echo the earlier comment to not buy kids “classic” raincoats but instead buy actual outdoor rain gear. Kids raincoats are not waterproof enough for biking and are not breathable enough to let out sweat when riding so everyone ends up damp and cold.
LL Bean has good kids raincoats and good online sales. Dress Best For Less (2 locations) gets donations from the Piedmont area to help fund their schools. I haven't been but there is probably good stuff from the many families that live there. REI rain pants seem designed to last forever and they even have an inside label for up to 3 successive users. I love them for extreme outdoor weather.