Men's Cold-Weather Road Cycling Jacket vs Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant: which is safer?

Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant is our pick: better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.

Men's Cold-Weather Road Cycling Jacket

Decathlon

Men's Cold-Weather Road Cycling Jacket

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 4

Material

Polyester with water-repellent coating water-repellent treatment

Confidence

35%

PossibleAzo dyes in polyester coloring

Likelywater-repellent coating treatment leaching and persistence

PossibleFormaldehyde resins in fabric finish

Our pick

Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant

Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant

PFAS grade

Poor 25/100

Overall grade

Bad 17/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 2

Material

Synthetic fabric with water-resistant water-repellent coating, unspecified

Confidence

35%

Possiblewater-repellent coating (water-repellent coating) coating composition (non-PFAS hazards)

PossibleMicroplastic shedding from synthetic fabric

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag Azo dyes in polyester coloring, DWR treatment leaching and persistence, Formaldehyde resins in fabric finish and VOC off-gassing from synthetic coating on the Decathlon and not on the .
  • We flag Durable water-repellent (DWR) coating composition (non-PFAS hazards) and Microplastic shedding from synthetic fabric on the and not on the Decathlon.
  • The Decathlon is Polyester with DWR water-repellent treatment where the is Synthetic fabric with water-resistant DWR coating, unspecified, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • These two are 5 points apart, close enough that price and fit should decide it rather than our grade.

Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More cycling rain jackets: see the full ranking