I wore these for a 25 minute bike ride through the rain in London
The light coloured cotton trousers I wore underneath were soaked at the outside of the knees and where the pockets are:
Basically the zips are not waterproof and there's no velcro to help seal them. If you are doing anything active (like cycling) the water can dribble in through the zip.
Also the seat of the pants got damp where I was sitting on the seat (I did try to wipe as much moisture off as I could before I sat on it).
Just another reminder that "Waterproof Breathable" is an industry accepted term for something that's quite waterproof, but will let water through when you have the combination of wetness + pressure.
That 10,000mm hydrostatic waterproof figure they always quote means that if the fabric was at the bottom of an unmoving column of water 10 metres high, it would start to leak. My interpretation is that in the area where you sit on your bike seat, or where your pack sits against the jacket, you could be sandwiching water against the fabric at dynamic pressures that are sometimes higher than those lab conditions, and so the wetness ensues...
Now looking at the Marmot site in 2016 they do claim to have "bonded storm flaps" on the zips, so maybe there has been some improvement, but still
Conclusion / recommendation:
Overall I'd consider non-zip PreCip pants because they are light, breathable and quite waterproof. Just don't expect your bum to stay dry if you sit on wet ground etc.
If you wanted the full zip because you wanted to put on without taking boots off... maybe you just want some really baggy PVC pants (i.e. actually waterproof but non-breathable).
They can be had for as little as 4 quid.
