Waterproof overtrousers
Not a wardrobe. One set to ride in, one set that stays dry.
What a plan says about it
The planner writes this from the ride you describe, so there is no version of it that is true for everybody. Here it is worked against one ride, named below, with a single answer changed at a time to show what moves.
2 nights · wild camping · below freezing (-5 °C) · gravel and tracks · towns daily
Nothing asks for this until you answer “How cold does it get at night?” with “Below freezing”, so the ride above is the example with that answer in it.
You said rain is likely and below freezing at night. Every other layer on this list is above the waist, which leaves the set you sleep in as the only dry legwear you carry — and that is the one thing here that is never ridden in. They earn their place twice: on the bike, and again in the hour you spend standing still pitching and cooking, which is where wet legs stop being uncomfortable and start being cold. What they cost you is sweat — they trap it the moment you start climbing, so you will be damp inside them either way. Keep them on anyway at this temperature: the jacket above is on this list because wet plus moving air is what takes the heat out of you, and your legs are not exempt from that. Damp from the inside is warm and wet from the outside is not, so use the side zips on the climbs. The zips have to run the full length of the leg for that, and to clear your shoes: a pair you have to take your shoes off for is a pair you put on after you are already wet. Pack them where you can reach them without unpacking.
On that ride the planner marks it essential.
The figure to hit
- Night low · Below freezing
- full-length side zips
Where to look
We hold measured dimensions for bags and for nothing else, so this hands the requirement to a search rather than picking something for you. Nothing on this page has a price, a weight or a maker attached to it, because none of those were measured.
A plain web search. We earn nothing from it.
Search for Waterproof overtrousers ↗Which one do I need?
That depends on the ride, and this page does not know it. The interview does, and it is the only thing here that can answer the question — no account, and every line it gives you names the answer that produced it.