Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant vs Men's SL Neoshell Rain 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

Specialized Men's SL Neoshell Rain Jacket

Specialized

Men's SL Neoshell Rain Jacket

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 5

Material

nylon ripstop with Neoshell membrane, water-repellent coating

Confidence

35%

LikelyPFAS in water-repellent coating

PossibleFormaldehyde in adhesives and finishes

PossibleAzo dyes in colored nylon

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 Specialized.
  • We flag PFAS in DWR coating, Formaldehyde in adhesives and finishes, Azo dyes in colored nylon and VOC off-gassing from adhesives and coatings on the Specialized and not on the .
  • The is Synthetic fabric with water-resistant DWR coating, unspecified where the Specialized is nylon ripstop with Neoshell membrane, DWR coating, 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