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review
2022 Proviz REFLECT360 Plus Men's Cycling Jacket.jpg£124.99
VERDICT:
Brilliant nighttime visibility for winter commuting in wet weather, but breathability issues mean it will struggle to keep you dry on longer rides
Great visibility at night
Feels very comfortable
Useful array of pockets
Lack of breathability
Bulk and weight
Daytime visibility
Weight:
567g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
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The Proviz Reflect360 Plus Men's Cycling Jacket boasts unrivalled visibility on night rides. It comes with smart design features and technical performance that make it the perfect jacket for commuting in winter months, but it doesn't deliver the breathability you might want on longer rides.
If your evening commute has lost its magic, the Reflect360 Plus is guaranteed to bring a bit of wizardry to your next night ride. Using material that is laced with millions of glass beads, it becomes a dazzling cloak of hyper-visibility when car lights hit the material.
On my first night ride wearing it, I was joined at a set of traffic lights by an astonished rider. 'That's amazing,' he said. 'You light up from way back.'
It seems logical that better visibility is going to be good for safety, but it's hard to quantify the advantage of full-body reflectivity over smaller reflective panels. There are plenty of academic studies that do highlight the importance of reflective detailing on ankles and knees that give other road users a clear sense of human movement, but with this jacket drivers are left in no doubt as to your intentions when a glowing, reflective arm shoots out to let them know you are turning right or moving around obstacles. Think of it as cycling with subtitles for those easily distracted behind the wheel. I see this as a major plus.
Performance on the bike
Visibility is the brand's key selling point, but this is much more than a one-trick pony. Smart design features offer comfort and performance that has made this my go-to jacket when the weather is grim and light in short supply.
Its waterproof rating of 10,000mm means it will withstand a good downpour. On my 18km commute it consistently got me home safe and dry despite some pretty torrential conditions.
More than an hour of constant rain, however, and the material does start to struggle, so don't expect this to keep you perfectly dry on big rides in really wet weather.
The Reflect360 Plus comes with an inner mesh liner that helps to keep sweat away from your body and offers an extra layer of windproofing on blustery days. It is made from sustainable Repreve fabric, and Proviz says that each jacket keeps up to nine plastic bottles out of landfill.
The mesh liner adds to the weight and bulk of this jacket, which at 567g is almost three times heavier than my usual waterproof.
I was testing a size large, which was far from race-fit, but that meant it was roomy enough to add a few extra layers when the temperature dropped. If aerodynamics are an important factor, though, you might want to opt for a size down.
Smart design
Designed in the UK, it is reassuringly well engineered. The fleece collar adds a layer of comfort and warmth, the scooped rear panel will keep spray from the back of your trousers, and it comes with a voluminous rear pocket that will hold a mini-pump, inner tube and bonk rations.
It also features two external chest pockets with zips that are easy to operate when you have gloves on. The zips tuck neatly away into their own parking slot, which stops them from flailing around as you ride.
Its internal pocket wasn't quite deep enough to stash my phone (an iPhone SE) and secure the Velcro fastening over the top. And if you're carrying electronics anywhere in this coat you would be well advised to store them in a separate waterproof holder.
The design element that I loved the most are the sleeves' elasticated cuffs with Velcro fasteners. This allows you to secure them tightly over winter gloves or pull them up to your elbow to cool off on longer rides.
Using these in conjunction with the long underarm air vents and front zip helps to deal with a certain amount of condensation that inevitably builds up.
Beyond the commute
There is a limit to what that venting can cope with, though, and despite updates to the fabric, the biggest drawback is still its ability to deal with sweat.
Its breathability rating is 10,000+gm/24hr, which is fine for shorter or more sedate rides. On longer days, though, especially ones that involve strenuous climbs, this rating isn't enough to deal with the condensation that will eventually soak through baselayers.
I took this jacket on an icy, 200km ride on one of the coldest days of winter. I started at 6am delighted with the additional warmth it offered, but by the 170km mark I realised I was soaked and starting to shiver as I set off on the final leg home.
I've used a lighter, single-layer Gore-Tex jacket in similar conditions and it has kept me drier and, for that reason, warmer all the way through the day.
The Proviz isn't easy to store on a longer ride, either. Rolled up, it filled most of my saddle bag. It is definitely too big to slip into a rear jersey pocket.
But with that bulk comes durability, as I discovered when dropping tentatively down the side of a hill on a wintry ride. I went down on a patch of ice and my arm was the first thing to hit the deck. I've had similar falls in the past and the impact has torn through the fabric of lighter jackets.
The Proviz, however, emerged entirely unscathed – which is more than I can say for my bruised backside.
Daytime visibility
While this is now my first choice for commuting when the nights draw in, it is likely to be consigned to the wardrobe when the clocks go forward in summer. I've always been a little sceptical of Proviz jackets because, in the day, they fade to a nondescript grey that seems to offer little in the way of enhanced visibility – which seems odd if that is your USP.
If I was looking to invest in something that offered better year-round functionality, I'd be more inclined to go for the colourful Reflect360 CRS Men's Cycling Jacket, for £149.99 (currently £112.49). And if I wanted the mix of night visibility and enhanced breathability, I'd probably check out the Classic Storm Men's Hooded Cycling Jacket for £99.99 (currently half price).
The Proviz Nightrider 2.0, which Matt tested in 2018, came out top in our best hi vis cycling jackets for 2022 and has a retail price of £89.99, so is a better option in terms of value for money.
There are cheaper competitors outside the Proviz stable to consider, too, such as the Altura Nightvision range that come with similar waterproof and breathability ratings. The Altura Nightvision Storm Waterproof Jacket, for example, is cheaper (now £100, up from £79.99 when George tested it in 2020) and less bulky. It has good reflective detailing down each arm and tested very well.
That said, the Reflect360 Plus is machine washable, feels well built, and I reckon would give you years of excellent service. If you do a lot of urban commuting in the dark and want to ride your bike no matter what the weather, it's a good investment. This is the first jacket I reach for on any cold evening ride, and a very good choice for commutes in winter months.
Verdict
Brilliant nighttime visibility for winter commuting in wet weather, but breathability issues mean it will struggle to keep you dry on longer rides
road.cc test report
Make and model: Proviz Reflect360 Plus Men's Cycling Jacket
Size tested: Large
Tell us what the jacket is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
An excellent jacket for commuting through the winter months.
Proviz says: 'The Proviz REFLECT360 Plus Cycling Jacket is the more 'technical' version of the highly successful original REFLECT360 Cycling Jacket launched in 2014. This version has been designed using a highly technical film to ensure higher rates of breathability (10,000gm/24hr) and waterproofing (10,000 mm) while not losing any of the incredible reflective capability of our unique, upgraded reflective material.
'The REFLECT360 Plus Cycling Jacket incorporates a much more tailored fit and uses a unique lighter weight material to help ensure cyclists, who like to push things a little bit harder, stay cool. The 'through-flow' extra ventilation is still achieved using the same effective shoulder/back vents that allow air to escape without letting in any rain water. Simply open up the front zip vents to achieve maximum ventilation. During winter, these can be kept closed and double up as watertight pockets. The jacket also incorporates an inside chest pocket and large lower back pocket to store any extra layers or a map. A newly incorporated raglan sleeve design also helps to give a superior range of motion and room around the shoulders and upper back.'
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the jacket?
From Proviz:
About the fabric: The material has millions of tiny reflective beads embedded in the material so when a vehicle's headlights hit the jacket, the beads reflective the light back to the light source meaning the driver should be able to identify the cyclist further in advance than normal and manoeuvre appropriately. The fabric used for the REFLECT360 Plus range is designed by Proviz and is highly technical. A brand new film fabric is used to achieve the increased breathability and waterproofing required which is then sealed to our special reflective material. During daylight it is a modest grey colour. At night, when the fabric picks up an external light source, eg vehicle headlights, it gives 'astonishing reflectivity' (quote: Cycling Active Magazine). The material is CE EN 20471 certified.
100% reflective material (CE EN 20471 certified)
Breathability: 10,000+gm/24hr
Waterproofing: 10,000mm
Seam-sealed (for sewing line waterproofing)
Fleece-lined collar
Inside chest and back pockets
Low profiled rear spray guard
Inside mesh using Repreve for added comfort
Built in air vents: front/sides/back
Adjustable waistband and cuffs
Waterproof storm zips with garage
Machine washable
Rate the jacket for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the jacket for performance:
7/10
Rate the jacket for durability:
8/10
Rate the jacket for waterproofing based on the manufacturer's rating:
7/10
The performance is in line with the ratings that are given.
Rate the jacket for breathability based on the manufacturer's rating:
7/10
The performance is in line with the ratings that are given.
Rate the jacket for fit:
7/10
Rate the jacket for sizing:
6/10
Jacket comes up rather large, so it is worth trying on for size.
Rate the jacket for weight:
6/10
This is quite bulky, which limits its use on longer rides.
Rate the jacket for comfort:
8/10
Rate the jacket for value:
5/10
How easy is the jacket to care for? How did it respond to being washed?
It's machine washable, and really durable.
Tell us how the jacket performed overall when used for its designed purpose
This is an excellent jacket for short rides through the cooler months of the year when the light is fading.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the jacket
In the middle of winter on dark nights this jacket offers the perfect mix of comfort and reassuring sense of visibility.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the jacket
Breathability is its major issue on longer rides – but on shorter commutes at night I couldn't fault it.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market including ones recently tested on road.cc?
It's a little expensive compared with some – the Altura Nightvision Storm Waterproof Jacket, for example, at £100, and others in the Proviz stable – though the colourful Reflect360 CRS is £149.99.
Did you enjoy using the jacket? Yes: this has become my go-to commuting and short night ride jacket.
Would you consider buying the jacket? Yes: its great night visibility and apparent durability make this a potentially excellent investment.
Would you recommend the jacket to a friend? It's well worth a look for any cycling commuter who wants a coat for winter months.
Use this box to explain your overall score
It is a great jacket for shorter rides, but its breathability and bulk will be an issue if you're looking for something you can wear on sportives and longer rides, which would make it more of an all-rounder.
About the tester
Age: 0
I usually ride: Specialised Langster (fixed commuter) My best bike is: Condor Fratello (new – Audax rides)
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, club rides, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, Audax
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24 comments
Just get a mesh hi Viz gilet to go over whatever jacket/ top you're wearing for the weather. A few broad stripes and you're good.
Reflective legs and shoes are much more visible at night though. A jacket doesn't move in a way that says cyclist.
I first saw this jacket on someone in a cafe as I walked in. The light was coming in behind me lighting him up and he looked like Casper the Friendly Ghost. It was really hard to make out what he was.
Pro viz jacket in this clip although I don't think anything was shining on it.
Pretty sure there is a bright flashing front light though !
https://twitter.com/laurencyclist/status/1610927157840318465
Visibility of these jackets is amazing but, as mentioned, it's boil in a bag stuff and uncomfortable even for relatively short commutes.
I think that's probably very much down to the individual and how hot you ride: personally I do 25 km each way in my Nightrider jacket and have no problems with overheating, and I wear it throughout autumn, winter and early spring, basically any time I'll be riding in the dark or it's too cold for just a long sleeve jersey. Sure, I probably wouldn't want to be doing a 40 km time trial in the south of France in it, but I've worn it throughout a 100 mile (reasonably leisurely) ride in pretty mild weather without ever feeling overcooked.
I gave up with mine as the breathability is terrible.
My wife still uses her although she has a purple one which is more fashionable (well, relatively). I think the purple one is a bit better in daylight than battleship grey.
Remember, wear hi-viz save a driver's life !
Remember kids, always wear a head protection helmet! Knee protection helmets are just silly.
Is the secretary of state for transport (currently Mark Harper, but may be different by the time of reading) likely to read the opinions section of the Echo?
Well Dick Dick, how's about banning the sale of darkly coloured motor vehicles, and Matt grey, what are they thinking. Respraying the nation's fleet may be prohibitively expensive, but bright reflective tape is relatively cheap.
And motoring helmets.
I came across someone wearing one of these fully reflective jackets when driving on a dark dual-carriageway through some roadworks.
The jacket was very bright, but didn't register at all as 'cyclist'. I thought it was some sort of reflective sign or misaligned light to do with the road works, just a big shiny blob that was so dazzling with LED car headlights, that I could barely make out any sort of shape or movement. Only when I got close did I notice the flashing red rear light and some of the reflectives on their shoes. It made me think it was perhaps too much in some situations.
I expect in town and on street-lit roads, it wouldn't be quite so dazzling with all the other ambient lighting and would work better. Also, had I not been driving through roadworks, which had reflective bollards and signs dotted all over, I would not have dismissed it so quickly as road furniture (but still would have struggled to see what it actually was).
I agree with Rendel's suggestion that the Nightrider, with the reflective stuff top and bottom, would be more versatile. I think its visibilty would be better in the daytime, but also at night if you are riding dark country roads.
But it made you slow down right?.....right?
Not initially, as it just looked like a badly angled roadworks light, so I didn't slow down. It happened on a slight left hand bend with a load of traffic cones, so difficult to tell it was an object in the carriageway until I got a bit closer.
I still made a safe pass at an appropriate speed, but I would have been aware it was a cyclist sooner had they not been wearing the jacket, as I would have been able to see their flashing rear light. I will also add it made the overtake more troublesome than it needed to be due to the excessive glare, which to be fair was partly due to the increased brightness LED headlights now seem to throw out. It would probably not be such an issue in a car with halogen headlights.
Found a video review that has a cyclist in the distance wearing one of these (I think!). The rider close to the car is of course visible as a cyclist, but there is quite a bit of glare from the jacket (even with what look to be halogen headlights). The rider in the distance just looks like a shiny blob. Doesn't shout cyclist to me like amber pedal reflectors or flashing red lights do. It certainly gets your attention, but more of a 'what the heck is that!' than a 'ah, bike ahead'.
https://youtu.be/bDn-yKbl7fU?t=795
This review comes with incredible timing. I was thinking about getting one of these.
Noting the point made about daytime visibility, for someone like myself who tends to use the same jacket in the day and dusk/night, would I be better off with a one of these jackets, a fluorescent jacket, or one with a mixture (such as the Altura Night vision Typhoon)?
I would appreciate any comments and advice
Mrs H has the women's version of this one, brilliant - unsurpassable - at night but in the day so nondescript we recently bought an Oxford fluorescent gilet to go over the top for daytime visibility. I'd recommend the Proviz Nightrider instead, which I have; plenty of the reflective stuff top and bottom but fluorescent in the middle for the day. On sale at the moment too!
https://www.provizsports.com/en-gb/nightrider-mens-cycling-jacket-2-0.html
That's amazing. Thank you! Was the fit about right for you? I'm 5'11, 90ish kgs, and usually go large.
I'm the same height and swing between 78 and 85kg, I went for large and I find it a pretty good fit - slightly loose but that suits me as room for a good thick top underneath in winter and some space to let the air circulate in summer. Arm and back length spot on.
I suspect the "nondescript" daytime visibility is in part due to how it works - reflecting light back towards its source. During the day that must mean that unless the sun is behind the observer any direct sunlight falling on the jacket does not contribute to its visibility. The only light the observer will see coming off the jacket will be that fraction of the ambient light coming from behind themselves. Effectively this means the jacket appears as if it were permanently in shadow.
That makes sense! I really was quite surprised back in about August when I looked back to check Herself was still with me and found it really difficult to pick her out in traffic from only about 30m away, ordered the fluorescent gilet to go over the top that day. Works well as a combo I must say, she's got the daytime visibility but her arms and collar still light up with that amazing Proviz gleam at night, and at the moment she appreciates the extra warmth too.
Would you suggest the Nightrider over the 360 for commuting?
I've got a 360 and feel somewhat invisible in the daytime.
Definitely: as I said above somewhere, Mrs H has the 360 and although it's fantastic at night we've actually bought her a fluorescent gilet to wear over the top in daylight because it's very hard to pick out in those conditions. The Nightrider has more than enough of the (excellent) reflective material for you to be extremely visible at night.
I've got an altura night vision now in red, so fine in the day.
The 360 does have large zips under the arms but doesn't do much for me.
I have the CRS version of this Jacket - which is in Flouro Green.
Its basically fine for me for commuting and mtb where you arent putting out a constant 70-80% effort for breathability you just whack down the zips and let it flap open. For recreational road use its far too flappy and baggy regardless of the breathability imo, you're better off with a Mistral/Gabba/Orkaan for 80% rainy days and a Shakedry for 100% rainy days.
I do think the CRS colour versions lose quite a bit of the visual impact at night compared to the grey version - they dont light up as distinctly - I'd like to see a grey/colour combo.
For waterproofing I think mine has fully wetted out once in the time I've had it - that was in utterly torrential rain though.
Also it may just have been mine but I found the material quite fragile. Poked a brake lever from my folder through it gettng off a train. tbf it may have been a fluke - no other holes in the 4 odd years I've owned it and the material may have changed anyway.
Attached is a photo of my 5yr+ Reflect rucksack vs the 4yr+ CRS jacket, taken under my desk with the curtains drawn, and a torch for illumination - call it dusk-ish
I got a green CRS jacket from their KickStarter campaign back in 2016, but haven't made use of it as the cut/fit doesn't work for me. The arms are too short or the body/chest is too baggy which struck me as odd for a cycling jacket - they're usually close fitting with long arms.
I've also got the same Reflect rucksack which has seen a lot of use. It's not totally waterproof, but good enough for commuting and now unfortunately the zip is starting to break which is not surprising for a 6/7 year old piece of kit. I also got their gloves at the same time, but the rubberised wrist cuffs irritated my skin, so they got binned. I've just bought their Classic Flexi-Viz Cycling/Running Belt with the intention of attaching that to a waterproof, roll-top rucksack that I've already got.
My zipstarted to fail on that Reflect rucksack - but it was stuffed full with laptop and change of clothes and sometimes sarnies for almost 3-4 years. It just about still works if you dont overstuff it.
As I say Pro-Viz jackets arent hard core cycling jackets - they are pretty good commuting jackets. I've had no problems with the arms - but my jacket is a large when Im usually a medium.
I too binned my Proviz winter gloves - they were decent for warmth and fantastic for visibility but leaked like a sieve if the rain looked at them funny.
Honestly IMO - ProViz are a 1-trick pony who've made a lot of iffy product decisions over the years in the hope of expanding their market without much evidence of understand said market - they certainly dont cover Road.cc's core audience particularly well. They are a classic case of not doing the couple of things you are good at, and do them brilliantly.
Their rucksacks are probably their best product by a country mile tbh, followed by the jackets but only if you are a winter commuter and can afford something different for recreational road riding.