Review: Gore Oxygen Jacket

Life is full of no-joy purchases; underwear, training tires and rain jackets.  These are all things we need but it's never fun when we have to replace them.  If you're anything like me, replacing any of these things is simply a matter of walking past the appropriate aisle and throwing it in the cart.  No discussion, no second thoughts, I know what I want and that's what I'm getting.

When my rain jacket crapped out this past winter I decided to change it up.  I'd been riding in a Cutter Cyclical jacket (eVent fabric) which I'd picked up at 90% off.  With that, the bar for performance and value had been set pretty high.

I picked up a 25th Anniversary Oxygen jacket by Gore Bike Wear on closeout for 40% off.  I was just looking for a jacket, nothing special, just something that would work.  To say I've been blown away by this jacket would be an understatement.  I wanted to write about this jacket earlier but wanted to hold off until the right moment.  Following Portland's wettest March in recorded history seemed like an appropriate time to write about a rain jacket.

Specialized Crux Review

photo from Specialized website

A few things before I jump into this:
-I purchased all of this equipment myself (I'm under no obligation to say anything positive, or negative, about this equipment, this is simply my opinion/reaction to it)
-I'm comparing this frame against the 2008 Specialized Tricross Pro I've ridden the past two seasons
-I'm 5'9" and 140 lbs (read:  I'm not going to be able to flex things the way you big guys can)