I must admit with apologies that I went a little too far in my attack on the rain cape. James is right, for certain purposes rain capes are very useful. Being stopped in my tracks has been very useful in reflecting on this, and I should not have been so quick to be judgmental.
Rain capes are inherently practical in that they can be left on the bicycle. To this extent, they function well, in that scarce few thieves would bother taking them. I have somewhere a carradice rain cape holder that ties the cape to the loops on a saddlebag, within easy reach. That means that in a sudden downpour they can be quickly be retrived and adopted. This makes them useful in the same way that a foil space-blanket is useful to mountain climbers, or a poncho to hunters. That isto say, they have a utility to which sartorial finesse does not belong.
This only highlights the utter perversity of the Brooks creation, which as James rightly points out is another matter altogether and separate from the $20 capes that at least serve some practical purpose. Could you imagine leaving a pretty Brooks $268 cape on bike? Admittedly I leave a $300 titanium railed B17 on my parked bike, but that is bolted on and doesn't draw attention. What makes me so angry about the Brooks object is that it was being sold as a practical device. But in reality, it is a kind of Utopian statement. It reminds me of a fur lined silk raincoat I once saw at a fashion show. It may look wonderful on the catwalks, but it's about as useful as a chocolate teapot as we say.
Regards, Mark
Mark Lawrence Oxford England
________________________________________ From: james black [chocotaco@gmail.com] Sent: 11 January 2011 18:14 To: Mark Lawrence Cc: Jim Merz; paccoastcycles; Jon Spangler; Dale Brown Subject: Re: [CR] Brooks introduces the world's most fashionable rain cape(KOF candidate)
On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 09:47, Mark Lawrence
<mark.lawrence@firstreadthis.com> wrote:
> I'm fiercely proud of my countries clothing heritage, it is something that we have had a peculiar genius for. But the rain-cape chapter was a big mistake in our sartorial history, and I'm not happy to see it revived.
My yellow Carradice rain cape is effective and useful for my three-mile commute I now ride, sometimes in the rain.
We can deride Brooks' excessive new product without maligning the proud institution of the British rain cape and insulting my preferences. Rain capes may be of no use to you, and I don't find them very useful for recreational riding, but they work quite as intended for certain purposes.
James Black
Los Angeles, CA