Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant vs Men's Made in USA Cycling Jacket: 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.

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

New Balance Men's Made in USA Cycling Jacket

New Balance

Men's Made in USA Cycling Jacket

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 5

Material

polyester with water-repellent finish (water-repellent coating treatment unspecified)

Confidence

45%

LikelyPFAS in water-repellent coating (fluorinated water repellent)

PossibleFormaldehyde in polyester finish or dyes

PossibleAzo dyes in color fastness

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag Durable water-repellent (DWR) coating composition (non-PFAS hazards) and Microplastic shedding from synthetic fabric on the and not on the New Balance.
  • We flag PFAS in DWR coating (fluorinated water repellent), Formaldehyde in polyester finish or dyes, Azo dyes in color fastness and Microfiber shedding during washing on the New Balance and not on the .
  • The is Synthetic fabric with water-resistant DWR coating, unspecified where the New Balance is polyester with water-repellent finish (DWR treatment 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