Pearl Izumi Men's Elite Barrier Jacket Review

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I wanted a lightweight rain jacket for summer rain, i.e., rain when the temperature was above 55 degrees F. The best rain jacket, in my opinion, is the Showers Pass eVent Elite 2.0 Jacket, but that works best for cool to cold rain. The Pearl Izumi Elite Barrier Jacket is a close second! It is highly breathable and highly water resistant jacket for warm weather inclement weather. I just got it today at the post office (where it was delivered); I put it on for the light rain (~60 deg F) that was falling. Then, on our way back, we got hit with heavy rain. We were biking in it for ~15 min before we found shelter. Once we found shelter, I felt my shirt under the jacket, and it was completely dry! Amazing! Impressive!

Oh, I'm 5' 6" tall, 38" chest, a typical mesomorph, not one of those skinny-type bike riders. I wear a medium to large in normal shirts (depending on which brand), but I chose XL for this jacket because I'm familiar with the Pearl Izumi sizing. The XL fits me nicely.

And, I got the Screaming Yellow, which is also Screaming Yellow on the back. (One of the reviewers said the back was black, but he failed to say what the front color was.) Amazon doesn't show the back.

Finally, it is light enough that it is not hot in 60 deg F rain, nor is it hot once the rain stops falling and it is just cloudy.

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This is a great lightweight cycling jacket. There is no insulation, so wear it over a thermal jersey or thermal base layer in cold weather. The jacket fabric is thick enough to give you a lot of protection from wind and rain, but thin enough to stuff into your jersey pocket if the day warms up. There are even lighter weight jackets on the market, but they don't offer the same amount of weather protection. This jacket has mesh armpit vents to keep you from overheating. The black stripes in the photo show off the semi-contoured construction; those are not stretch panels or vents. The rear of the jacket is a couple of inches lower than the front to help keep your rear end dry when you are biking in the rain.

Sizing is snugger than casual jackets, but not super-snug like European pro bicycling jackets. Pearl Izumi is sold mostly to Americans who tend to be somewhat overweight. I weigh 160 pounds and size medium fits pretty well in the shoulders, but is a little loose around the torso. The waist is a little more contoured to keep cold air from seeping in from the bottom.

There is a rear pocket to hold a few lightweight items, but it is not very deep and has only a light velcro closure. I would prefer a zipper for security. I suppose the fabric is not real heavyweight, so they don't want to encourage you to stuff the pocket with heavy items.

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I'm 6'3, 200lbs, and wear a 16x37 dress shirt, 36 pant and a 44 suit. Normally in bike jersey I wear a 2-3x. I bought a 2X although I would have probably been fine in an XL. The sleves are plenty long and will more than reach my gloves. The jacket fits well but is a little large around the middle it catches more wind than I'd like. (This is strange because normally this is where things are tight on me.) It seems like it will be well suited for rain (I poured a cup of water on it and it didn't leak). It is very thin and rolls up enough to stick in my jersey back pocket.

The colors are great the back is all black which you really couldn't see in the picture.

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Zipper on this jacket is lightwieght and gave out in less than 6 months. Without a working zippper the jacket is not functional and worthless. Because of this, I do not recommend this jacket.

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This was my first real biking jacket so I don't have a point of comparison but I bought this jacket last fall and I've been very happy with it. I commute about seven miles to work and when combined with a thermal, this jacket was comfortable into the mid to upper 30's this past winter. At the other extreme, it's light enough to wear in the 60's and can easily be packed away. I wash it on delicate and let it air dry every couple weeks; so far I don't see any signs of wear. I'm 5'8"/165lbs and the medium fit me very nicely. It's obviously tighter than any normal jacket I own but my wife assures me that it looks fine. I went with the screaming yellow so let's just say there's no sneaking out of work early with that thing on!