There are few things as unpleasant as cycling in the rain in cheap waterproofs. Either they let the rain in, or they fail to let the sweat out; either way, you end up soaked.

Cycling in the rain in decent waterproofs, in contrast, can be quite pleasant.

Standard Gore-Tex used to be the material of choice in breathable waterproofs, but this was superceded first by eVent and subsequently by GoreTex Active Shell.

I started with a Montane Stormrider eVent jacket and would happily have bought another one five years later when it had developed a few holes and some stubborn oil-stains, but eVent seems to have turned into ubobtanium. All the reviews said that Gore Active Shell was even better, so I replaced it with the Gore Active Shell AW13 jacket shown above.

The more observant of you will have noticed that this time I've gone for a mostly-black jacket in the hope that any future oil-stains won't show.

At £157, it's not a cheap purchase, but even at the full retail of £175 I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it: staying dry in a heavy downpour is worth a lot.

With the Streamer fairing on the trike, I don't really have to worry about wet feet, but I do have a pair of eVent waterproof trousers for real storms, and a pair of ski-gloves as the only thing I've ever found to be both genuinely waterproof and warm in winter rain.