|
Endura Air Defence
Jacket RRP £75
Endura
website
Why
am I reviewing this jacket? The answer is quite simply that it's
the most impressive piece of cycling specific clothing I have ever
come across (and I've got wardrobes full stuff to compare it
with).
Most
cycling jerseys and jackets are based on a rather outdated cycling
design, 3 large floppy pockets on the rear and nothing on the front.
So if you ride on the road (without a Camelback) most riders need
somewhere for a pump, a few bars and spares for punctures and house
keys which need to be secure (as you'll be locked out if they
bounce out the jersey pocket). So why the three floppy
pockets?
Well
Endura have seen the light and you get one long thin 'pump'
pocket on the back and a larger zipped secure pocket for everything
else! You also get a nice 'phone' pocket on the front for
valuables, a concealed pocket inside the jacket and a tap to hang an
LED ligt on the back of the jacket. All this is topped off with
reflective piping on the rear and sleeves, to offer a small amount
of visibility at night.
But
a few well thought out pockets are not worth a review ' what is
worth writing about is WindTex,
a very impressive material ' basically if you've ever bought a
Gore WindStopper jacket you'll know its key features:
- Windproof
(good)
- Not
very warm (OK)
- Heavy
(not so good)
- Doesn't
stretch much (not
so good)
- Quite
cold when wet (not
so good)
|
Well
WindTex
is as windproof as Gore Windstopper but amazingly also manages to
be:
- lighter
& thinner
- very
warm
- waterproof
- stretchy
- as
warm when wet as when dry (not that it gets wet on the inside)
- very
breathable
So,
you can go for a close-cut fit, knowing that it will stretch with
you quite comfortably. Their cut is generous but with nice long
sleeves to make sure you wrists are covered no matter how stretched
you are on the bike. Their sizing is a bit odd, I'm 40' chest,
but fit a 'small' jacket ' so either their set for Americans
(where 40' would be anorexic, or there's something awry here).
The Air Defence
jacket is basically a Winter jacket, but as it has a full length zip
you can ventilate quite well and unless its really cold, a short
sleeve wicking T-shirt is all you need underneath.
As
for weatherproof-ness, on a recent November MTBB
Forum ride at Nant-y-Arian in torrential rain, I just wore the
Air-Defence jacket over a Lifa T-shirt and had slightly damp elbows
after a 3 hour ride. The seams aren't sealed, so it will leak a
bit along the seams if it's really wet ' but unless I was going
on a really long ride or a multi-day trip, I wouldn't bother with
a waterproof anymore. As for breath ability its very impressive, the
only spot which is a bit damp is the small of your back which is
under the pockets i.e. two layers of WindTex material ' everywhere
else stays dry even climbing Redemption at Glentress with the jacket
zipped up.
Conclusion
If
you're looking for a good Winter jacket and considering Gore
WindStopper jackets, take a look at the Air Defence jacket as it
does the same job, only better!
Need more information
on this
review?
e-mail the editor:
|
