Best clothes to wear on bike in rain

[SuperABunDance]

DS has a 45km bike ride with school today. Rain and thunderstorms are forecast with high certainty the whole time he will be out. Temperature around 16 degrees. The PE teacher has said it will go ahead no matter the weather.
should he wear:
Bike shorts (padded,summer)
tracksuit trousers
tracksuit trousers plus rain trousers (uncomfortable to cycle in?)

What about his hands? He has normal short fingered bike gloves and I've some
long windproof ones, but neither are waterproof.

It’s the material that’s also important

How old is he? Surely he can drop his friends a message and see what they’re doing? And amongst them will no doubt be regular cyclists

Tracksuit trousers plus rain trousers??? Absolutely not

I’d go for bike shorts anything else will just be wet and stick to him
you can quickly towel legs dry when they stop for breaks rather than have wet clothes stuck to them
think he’ll be to hot in track suit bottoms and waterproof pants
gloves fingerless ones
He should be fine with it being warm

No, he doesn't have anyone's phone number.
it's not warm, it will be max 16 degrees and raining 😕

As someone who commutes by bike in the rain, not tracksuit trousers! They won't dry and will be very heavy. Shorts are the best if you think he can keep warm enough. Otherwise lycra leggings are great (although am sure he wouldn't be seen dead in those...) or waterproof overtrousers provided they don't flap around his ankles and are snug fitting.

Cycling in 16° he’ll be boiling!

I do a lot of mtb in the rain. I have waterproof shorts, but I doubt he has those?… I would wear shorts with thin waterproof trousers over the top…. Tucked in to socks of wide at the bottom. A thin long sleeve like a base layer with a thin waterproof jacket. I’d put an additional thin layer in my bag.

He’ll be warm at 16 degrees

I commute by bike and I'd go with shorts. I'd also consider 16⁰ warm. Certainly when cycling. If there's going to be hanging around he could dress to keep his core a bit warm, especially if there are layers he can unzip if he gets hot on the move.

In sports terms… that is warm!

how old is he?

Shorts and short ginger gloves. He'll overheat otherwise. Wet legs are much nicer to cycle with than wet trousers.

13

Cycling shorts certainly. He can always change into tracksuit bottoms afterwards if he's cold. Skin is waterproof and he'll need the padding for 45km, the seams of the trousers will chafe. He definitely won't be cold during the ride. I was cycling in rain in shorts at 10C at the weekend and it was fine

16 degrees is perfect temp
drop one of the mums a message to see what their son is wearing as you don’t want him sticking out
avoid tracksuit bottoms at all costs!

shorts I’d say

Teen DS cycles 6 miles daily, each way, in all weathers to get to school.
In conditions OP describes, DS would wear his school trousers (but padded better for 45km), gloves only because i hassled him (in case of falls, road rash) & a waterproof jacket.

Legs dry fastest when bare. I know people who cycle bare year round for that reason. 16 is not cold, and presumably they all have slow heavy bikes so will be working hard.

Imagine exercising hard for 2 hours - that’s how hot he’ll be so 16 degrees is by no means cold.

I’m a cyclist. Tracksuit bottoms and waterproofs are an absolute no. Cycling shorts are fine, he can just towel dry legs etc. when done. With regards to gloves, it’s whatever grips the best it won’t be about insulation.

Does he have much experience cycling op?

Not really. And never in bad weather!

Hope he had a good day OP 👍

How did he get on, OP?

He's exhausted and covered in mud! I took his shorts in for him at break time.