Best winter jacket ?

shedhead

Hi all,

What's the best winter jacket for our great English winter ? waterproof & warm.

Cheers

softlad

any particular budget..or is money no object..?

akkers

Asso Fugu - not waterproof, but serves every other purposes, and the built in balaclava is very handy.

camerone

how warm is assos airblock?, thiinking of making a purchase.

Slow Downcp

Assos 851 - warm enough for most days of UK winters with a single base layer.

Mothyman

my first ever winter jacket was purchased 4weeks ago - Altura Evo Night Vision....I'm very happy with it at a reasonable budget - not had any freezing days yet but nice and warm, not too sweaty, shows up nicely, plenty waterprrof pockets - kept me fully dry when cycling in rain

Monty Dog

If you wan something warm and highly water resistant, look at the Endura Stealth. The likes of the Assos 851 are great for fast-paced riding in the dry, but offer little weather protection if it's raining heavily or you need to stop IME.

camerone

Slow Downcp wrote:

Assos 851 - warm enough for most days of UK winters with a single base layer.

cheers, seriously tempted - have just bought 3/4 knicks and if its as good as those it'll be great. its just the 180 sheets making me hesitate...

APIII

I think the best winter jacket isn't one that's waterproof. Just buy a cheap waterproof you can stick in your back pocket for when it does rain.
I would say Assos or Rapha. Both are very good, but they each take a different approach. Assos is effectively a thicker winter jersey, figure hugging, stretchy, windproof, but a bit of a one trick pony. Rapha is more of a traditional jacket, so it's more roomy and better for layering, and it offers a bit more in terms of water resistance. That said, you can get 90% of the performance of either from a 50 quid Altura softshell.

APIII

akkers wrote:

Asso Fugu - not waterproof, but serves every other purposes, and the built in balaclava is very handy.

For what, robbing the Post Office?

Mccaria

I have the assos 851 and really like it - although it is a very snug fit. Wear it with one base layer underneath. If it is too cold for the 851 then I don't go out.

giant_man

Mccaria wrote:

I have the assos 851 and really like it - although it is a very snug fit. Wear it with one base later underneath.

+ 1 - lovely and warm, in wet weather take a light shell with you in back pocket.

Anonymous

For really cold then the Gore Tool is da bom. Assos 851 if not quite that cold.

Both serve me very well with one base layer underneath...

camerone

NapoleonD wrote:

For really cold then the Gore Tool is da bom. Assos 851 if not quite that cold.

Both serve me very well with one base layer underneath...

confused now - Wiggle have the Tool as lightweight protection and 851 as heavyweight :?

Anonymous

camerone wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

For really cold then the Gore Tool is da bom. Assos 851 if not quite that cold.

Both serve me very well with one base layer underneath...

confused now - Wiggle have the Tool as lightweight protection and 851 as heavyweight :?

The Tool (now Tool II) is defo warmer than the 851!

It is fully windproof and fleece lined.

The 851 is thinly lined with windproof patches in certain areas...

jermas

Etxe-ondo jackets are superb IME. Only used the windstopper variety (ie not totally waterproof) but they still have v good water resistance. Oh and they look pretty cool too.

Tempestas

Pair the 851 with a L/S windproof base layer and its enough for most days, if any colder you will slide on your 4rse due to ice anyway...

I use a Craft WS base layer with my 851 and it works well, you can vent the jacket and still avoid a wind chill on your chest. The dhb Finchdean L/S jersey looks very similar to the Assos jacket though, anyone tried one?

Monty Dog

I agree about the Gore Tool being significantly warmers than an Assos 851 - for a start it's Windstopper all over, whereas the 851 is front and sleeves only. It's got big pockets and pit zips too if you're really cooking. If you shop around you can pick up the older model for £90 and laugh smugly at the sheep in the Assos kit..FWIW I've got Assos kit too, but feel that they're trying to take on Rapha on the pricing stakes - a lot of their kit has doubled in price in the last 5 years.

camerone

MIght have saved myself some cash here. its for use on MTB too so the Gore may be less of an expensive crash waiting to happen. need to check out endura stealth too. or the dhb finchdean. decisions

gabriel959

I haven’t got the Gore Tool but my wife bought me the Gore Oxygen SO and it is an amazing piece of kit. The fit is great if you are tall, the fabric feels a million dollars and not that far from the Assos jackets I tried and they are not that expensive either.

The Tool looks like a great jacket if you are planning to do MTB and Road as its cut is slightly more relaxed than my roadie Oxygen SO

daniel_b

For those who have the Tool jacket - what size do you wear?

Small, according to the evans site, is REALLY small, Medium is 91-94cm, and 94CM is 37".

Does your experience tally with those measurements?

Dan

othello

gabriel959 wrote:

I haven’t got the Gore Tool but my wife bought me the Gore Oxygen SO and it is an amazing piece of kit. The fit is great if you are tall, the fabric feels a million dollars and not that far from the Assos jackets I tried and they are not that expensive either.

The Tool looks like a great jacket if you are planning to do MTB and Road as its cut is slightly more relaxed than my roadie Oxygen SO

+1 for the Gore Oxygen SO

Mine arrived last week (Wiggle have been out of stock in an XL) and it is a seriously good bit of kit. Quite slim fitting, but no flapping around too.

I can imagine that plus a l/s baselayer will do me for most of the winter

a_n_t

endura stealth. totally water and windproof and stupidly warm.

jaykayem

I've had a De Marchi Winsdstopper since 1997 and I refuse to abandon it while it's in one piece. Picked up an Etxe Ondo a couple of years ago, and they are definitely not designed with the UK winter in mind.

Anyone sampled the Mavic Club Winter Jacket?
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/mavic-cl ... 45103.html

Anonymous

Daniel B wrote:

For those who have the Tool jacket - what size do you wear?

Small, according to the evans site, is REALLY small, Medium is 91-94cm, and 94CM is 37".

Does your experience tally with those measurements?

Dan

I'm 6'2, 90kg and I wear a large...

APIII

jaykayem wrote:

I've had a De Marchi Winsdstopper since 1997 and I refuse to abandon it while it's in one piece. Picked up an Etxe Ondo a couple of years ago, and they are definitely not designed with the UK winter in mind.

Anyone sampled the Mavic Club Winter Jacket?
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/mavic-cl ... 45103.html

I had a look at one in m LBS. It's pretty heavy duty, I imagine it would be one warm jacket.

Monty Dog

My Tool jacket is a small - I'm 37-38", which is quite a bit bigger than some Italian brands where it would be a medium.

calvjones

Madison tempest; 3 layer taped seam softshell for £72 at Chain Reaction. top marks at road.cc and bikerader and so far its been great. A bit less racy than Assos etc though

Scrumple

daniel_b

Thanks Napoleon and Monty, sounds like it would fit then........

I am tempted :?

Dan

gabriel959

jaykayem wrote:

Picked up an Etxe Ondo a couple of years ago, and they are definitely not designed with the UK winter in mind.

Winter in the basque country is probably as bad as most parts of the UK - from wikipedia:

The Basque mountains form the water divide and mark also the distinct climatic areas of the Basque Country: The northern valleys, in Biscay and Gipuzkoa and also the valley of Ayala in Álava, are part of the Green Spain, where oceanic climate is predominant, with its wet weather all year round and moderate temperatures. Precipitation average is about 1200 mm.

most likely the jacket you tried wasn't very good