cold weather jacket with good breathability?

torydiver

Been using the aldi winter jacket for years,
Softshell type material, great value and my go to jacket for most rides from Autumn to spring,

I do find it can be very clammy inside during and especially when finished a cycle, appears to trap a lot of peresperation.....

Can anyone recommend a similar style jacket , with good breathability and water/ wind resistance?

Preferably not a racing fit and something suitable for bloke with 46" chest...

Don't mind paying a decent amount for a jacket if the quality is good, given the amount of use my last one got..

Brian?

Great jacket:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/castelli-mortirolo-due-jacket-1/

Diggabot

Sportful Fiandre jacket.... great piece of kit.

rtmie

Bicycle Line Eternity from Cycle Superstore

Hmmzis

Have a look at the dhb line on wiggle. I have a few of their winter jerseys and jackets in the house and they all are great performers. The windslam blade is my favourite but does have a racey fit, the non blade version might be of a less hugging fit.

ckeego

I got a lovely gift a few years back of a Rapha softshell-it is still as good as the day it came out of the packet but I nearly died when I saw how much it was (and that was on sale!!!)

Really brilliant jacket..

HOWEVER...At a fraction of the cost is the Spin 11 winter jacket..Super piece of kit and if your club doesn't use them, perhaps contact Spin 11 and see if they have any samples or overruns..About 100 euro, but an absolutely cracking jacket...

ckeego

+ 1 on Brian?'s comments on the Castelli-like the Rapha, an expensive buy, but you will only buy once..

An awful lot of the shops here will stock shockingly crap quality stuff and charge through the nose for it-the only problem is that by going on line, you need to be very sure of the sizing..The Italian brands in particular can vary greatly in their sizing..

As a guide, Castelli, Sportful, Campagnolo, Assos,Gore, Rapha and Santini will not let you down.

On the budget side, have a good look at PBK (it's brilliant) and DHB (equally so)-both are own brand, one for ProBikeKIt, the other for Wiggle but I am very reliably informed that both of them are being manufactured by 2 very well known brands under licence.

Endura stuff is top notch and they are working with a number of trade teams in the UK, so have stepped up their game from purely commuter style..I recently got some of their winter overshoes and they are awesome at a brilliant price point.

The Aldi and Lidl stuff can be very hit and miss-you can be very lucky, other times not..My own personal experience with Bicycle Line, well...I'll just refer you to the start of para 2..I have found it to be very poor quality with a relatively high price tag..

Cee-Jay-Cee

If you can find one, I'd recommend an Altura Varium. There should be countless people here with them that bought them from Sports Direct last year when they were on sale. Theyre very warm, very breathable (2 zipped under arm vents) and light, theyre also waterproof and windproof. For your size you'd need an XL.

torydiver

ckeego wrote: »

+ 1 on Brian?'s comments on the Castelli-like the Rapha, an expensive buy, but you will only buy once..

An awful lot of the shops here will stock shockingly crap quality stuff and charge through the nose for it-the only problem is that by going on line, you need to be very sure of the sizing..The Italian brands in particular can vary greatly in their sizing..

As a guide, Castelli, Sportful, Campagnolo, Assos,Gore, Rapha and Santini will not let you down.

On the budget side, have a good look at PBK (it's brilliant) and DHB (equally so)-both are own brand, one for ProBikeKIt, the other for Wiggle but I am very reliably informed that both of them are being manufactured by 2 very well known brands under licence.

Endura stuff is top notch and they are working with a number of trade teams in the UK, so have stepped up their game from purely commuter style..I recently got some of their winter overshoes and they are awesome at a brilliant price point.

The Aldi and Lidl stuff can be very hit and miss-you can be very lucky, other times not..My own personal experience with Bicycle Line, well...I'll just refer you to the start of para 2..I have found it to be very poor quality with a relatively high price tag..

Hi cheego
Really appreciate you taking the time to post such a comprehensive reply,
some great information,
many thanks....

torydiver

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

If you can find one, I'd recommend an Altura Varium. There should be countless people here with them that bought them from Sports Direct last year when they were on sale. Theyre very warm, very breathable (2 zipped under arm vents) and light, theyre also waterproof and windproof. For your size you'd need an XL.

Remember following that thread at the time,
sorry I didn't go for one,
great price at the time

Cee-Jay-Cee

Theres a new XL one on ebay for £40 but you'll need a parcel motel address as shipping to Ireland not offered but postage within UK is free. Great price.

eBay

nak

+1 on the Rapha Softshell. Have had mine a few years, got it on sale and it still looks new.

Also have a Spin 11 jacket (bargain in a Cycleways sale) and it is certainly warm, think it's windstopper. Not water resistant, but it's fine in a rain shower.

torydiver

Just been on the Rapha website for a look at the softshell
You weren't kidding about the price of their gear...

bazzamac

am selling 2 spiuk jackets.excellent tops if your interested.

ckeego

torydiver wrote: »

Just been on the Rapha website for a look at the softshell
You weren't kidding about the price of their gear...

If you can wait a couple of weeks, they tend to have them on sale in April when they are getting rid of the winter gear..

Whilst it is brilliant gear, NEVER EVER (EVER!) pay full price for Rapha!!:eek:

There is a good reason for some of the price point-they have the best returns policy and repair (both free) that I have seen from any retailer, bike gear or otherwise..

Like I said, wait for a sale!!

JJJJNR

Try this one, very good

rtmie

rtmie wrote: »

Bicycle Line Eternity from Cycle Superstore

Actually just checked , mine is Bicyle Line Derby, but that's not on CSS webiste any more, Eternity looks similar may be the replacement.

Re ckeego comment, this is the only Bicycle Line item I own, bought it for €70 in early December and it has been out in all weathers since. Maybe I don't have it long enough to make more comment, but so far it has served me well and kept me warm and not clammy, been through the wash several times and holding up ok. While not cheap it is less expensive than some!

Brian?

torydiver wrote: »

Just been on the Rapha website for a look at the softshell
You weren't kidding about the price of their gear...

Here's my thing with Rapha and, to a lesser extent, Assos. Some of their gear is marginally better than the equivelant Castelli gear, but the price difference is more than marginal. I have A LOT of Castelli stuff and none of it has let me down, it would take a serious price drop to convince me to buy Rapha.

Rapha is fine gear, no doubt about it.

Brian?

Also, the Castelli logo is a scorpion. That's cool as feck.

torydiver

Been looking around the usual websites in recent days,
There are some decent offers to be had on the likes of castelli,
I don't mind spending for quality, and secretly I would really like a castelli top,
The reviews are generally all brilliant,
But it's the Italian sizing and my 46" chest that scares me,
Most of castelli's range, along with other brands such as sportful etc doesn't even come near my chest size,
The limited number of jackets that may fit would likely be a tight squeeze at best given the online feedback...
Is there anyone on here around the 46" chest with castelli jacket, would be great to get some feedback from them....
Might allay my worries about buying castelli or similar....

Brian?

torydiver wrote: »

Been looking around the usual websites in recent days,
There are some decent offers to be had on the likes of castelli,
I don't mind spending for quality, and secretly I would really like a castelli top,
The reviews are generally all brilliant,
But it's the Italian sizing and my 46" chest that scares me,
Most of castelli's range, along with other brands such as sportful etc doesn't even come near my chest size,
The limited number of jackets that may fit would likely be a tight squeeze at best given the online feedback...
Is there anyone on here around the 46" chest with castelli jacket, would be great to get some feedback from them....
Might allay my worries about buying castelli or similar....

A Castelli XXL would be fine.

DaithiMC

torydiver wrote: »

Been using the aldi winter jacket for years,
Softshell type material, great value and my go to jacket for most rides from Autumn to spring,

I do find it can be very clammy inside during and especially when finished a cycle, appears to trap a lot of peresperation.....

Can anyone recommend a similar style jacket , with good breathability and water/ wind resistance?

Preferably not a racing fit and something suitable for bloke with 46" chest...

Don't mind paying a decent amount for a jacket if the quality is good, given the amount of use my last one got..

Decathlon stuff is on sale at the moment - the 700 Warm Cycling Jacket is very good.... http://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-785234-cycling/N-111081-type-of-product~jacket

Seweryn

If you are looking for top quality, well priced jacket, here is a good one, or this one for slightly milder weather.

See a short review, but also, if you like the cool factor, Giordana would be hard to beat, as it is most likely the only jacket mentioned here that is Made in Italy.

And that's cooler than anything .

Pinch Flat

Picked up a gore bike wear phantom 2.0 before christmas. Windstopper fabric and nice and breathable. Had a merino baselayer on in minus 6 under it and was still toasty.

torydiver

Just to update,
opted for PBK jacket and jersey in the end,
exchanged a few emails and ended up getting some extra discount,

was severely tempted by Some beautiful jackets recommended on here, especially from castelli and sportful, some great deals to be had on various sites at present offloading their cold weather gear,

just hadn't the confidence to buy given the Italian sizing and my chest size,

Still waiting for delivery of jacket,
Thanks everyone on here for advice given,
Much appreciated.....

ford2600

torydiver wrote: »

Just to update,
opted for PBK jacket and jersey in the end,
exchanged a few emails and ended up getting some extra discount,

was severely tempted by Some beautiful jackets recommended on here, especially from castelli and sportful, some great deals to be had on various sites at present offloading their cold weather gear,

just hadn't the confidence to buy given the Italian sizing and my chest size,

Still waiting for delivery of jacket,
Thanks everyone on here for advice given,
Much appreciated.....

Best of Luck just picked up a Castelli Alpha on sale for €205

Seweryn

ford2600 wrote: »

Best of Luck just picked up a Castelli Alpha on sale for €205

Nice one. Is it the jacket or jersey? I would like to listen to a review on this.

ford2600

Seweryn wrote: »

Nice one. Is it the jacket or jersey? I would like to listen to a review on this.

Jacket, sportpursuit and sigmasport had it at that price.

I'm lucky with weather in that I don't feel cold; had shorts and mitts Monday night on mtb for example, but have found lack of breathability in my current jersey/jackets a problem when I stop on longer winter rides. So much so that bar it's really long I prefer not to stop or to stop for a very short length of time(which if in a group isn't the most popular suggestion!).

Online reviews for Alpha seem good, but I'll review once I get to test it

jamesd

alpha is brilliant , a friend of mine has one and loves it.