Spiuk Thermal Thetwe 3 Elite Winter Jacket

Spiuk Thermal Thetwe 3 Elite Winter Jacket £79.00

All the way from sunny Spain comes a winter riding jacket that really keeps out the chill, thanks to a soft-touch fabric that incorporates the waterproof, windbreaking, Teflon®-based Thetwe-M2W microporous membrane. So effective is it in anything other than truly wintry conditions that a short-sleeve undervest is more than enough to keep the wearer toasty. In the tester's experience, this meant that moisture quickly built up on the fabric's fleecy inner lining, leaving a slightly damp sensation. Worn in weather cold enough to need a long-speeved undervest, this should not be the case for most riders.

There's a moisture vent at the rear of the neck that may or may not do much. The single rear pocket certainly offers decent storage space, albeit less than would three separate pockets, and the zipped and flap-covered closure makes retrieving stuff a bit awkward.

Making up for this is a mobile/iPod pocket on the front, just to the right of a zip that does up the opposite way to the usual, which is to say the tongue is held in the left hand, leaving the slider to be pulled by the right. It feels very odd, and while having no effect on the performance of the garment once done up counts here as a minus point.

On the plus side are the excellent fit, decent length sleeves with a snug Roubaix cuff, a high collar and plenty of reflective stripes and pipes. Sizes small to xxlarge, colours red and blue.