Tourmaster Transition Jacket and Venture Pants Road Test

By Margie Siegal
Published on April 5, 2010
1 / 7
Tester Margie Siegal stops for a break in Colorado on a sunny, hot day. She found it easy to adjust the Tourmaster Transition Jacket and Venture Pants to ambient riding conditions by opening or closing air vents built into the combo.
Tester Margie Siegal stops for a break in Colorado on a sunny, hot day. She found it easy to adjust the Tourmaster Transition Jacket and Venture Pants to ambient riding conditions by opening or closing air vents built into the combo.
2 / 7
Prior to making her California to Colorado run, Siegal tested her Tourmaster suit by thoroughly soaking it with a hose. It performed excellently in this test, although real-world riding produced a mild but embarrasing leak at the crotch seam.
Prior to making her California to Colorado run, Siegal tested her Tourmaster suit by thoroughly soaking it with a hose. It performed excellently in this test, although real-world riding produced a mild but embarrasing leak at the crotch seam.
3 / 7
Water beads point to effective sealing on the Tourmaster jacket.
Water beads point to effective sealing on the Tourmaster jacket.
4 / 7
Further soaking with a hose made the Venture pants look wet, but Siegal's legs stayed dry.
Further soaking with a hose made the Venture pants look wet, but Siegal's legs stayed dry.
5 / 7
In addition to black, red, green, brown and silver the Transition Jacket is also available in high-visibility yellow.
In addition to black, red, green, brown and silver the Transition Jacket is also available in high-visibility yellow.
6 / 7
Tourmaster Venture Pants. Same material as the Transition Jacket, available in black only.
Tourmaster Venture Pants. Same material as the Transition Jacket, available in black only.
7 / 7
Like the pants, further soaking made the jacket look wet, but it stayed dry inside.
Like the pants, further soaking made the jacket look wet, but it stayed dry inside.

Back in the day, if you wanted to go touring, you bought a waxed cotton riding suit. It was amazingly protective and waterproof, as long as it was kept waxed. One manufacturer boasted the only way you could get wet wearing one was to ride into a lake.

If it was cold, you layered a heavy sweater under the suit, and if it was hot, you wet down a T-shirt, wrung it out and put the suit on over it. The major downside was that waxed cotton is almost impossible to keep clean, and leaves dark smudges on upholstery.

The few hardy women tourers of the classic era often wore waxed cotton suits, too. Nothing came in women’s sizes back in the day, and the waxed cotton suits were loose enough to fit, more or less.

Fast forward 40 years, and we have the Tourmaster Transition 2 Jacket and Venture Pants, an updated version of that waxed cotton suit. Like its predecessor, it is waterproof. Unlike its predecessor, it is made of easy to clean and non-marking Carbolex abrasion and tear resistant polyester. Also unlike its predecessor, it comes in WOMEN’S SIZES. Although women now own 12.6 percent of all bikes, Certain Manufacturers Still Don’t Get It. Clearly, Tourmaster does.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-880-7567