Lusso NiteLife Gilet

The gilet can be the forgotten hero of the cycling wardrobe, but it's often the perfect way of keeping your core toasty, fending off the worst of the weather during colder months. The Lusso Nitelife Gilet (or 'Gillet') does an especially good job on these colder and, crucially, darker months, living up to its name with large reflective panels stitched into the front and rear.

On the front, both breasts are reflective, and the rear has an inverted cross shape tying the pockets to the stripe running centrally down the back. The reflective material is windproof and thermal at the front and it's woven rather than printed, so no chance of the light-reflecting elements getting worn or washed off over time.

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The elasticated waistband has a dotted reflective print on it, but this has worn off in a couple of places over the last few months of use, whereas the woven reflective panels appear as fresh as when the gilet arrived.

The fabric dries quite quickly, which you can feel on and off the bike as it has a tendency to keep warm and dry rather than going cold and clammy when you're stood around for the inevitable club ride mechanical.

Fit is in line with other Lusso clothing I've tested, such as the Nitelife Thermal Bib Tights and the Aero50 bib shorts: it's fairly generous but well cut, so it follows your body contours well without bagging or billowing. The front is quite high, which means the gilet stays in place once you're on the bike – there's no rucking at the zip.

The zip itself has a firm toggle that's easy to grab while you're on the bike, so you can open or close the front of the gilet to tune your core temperature.

The collar comes up high and there's a fabric tab so it doesn't rub against the tender under-chin area (or doesn't hurt if it does rub).

The only downside is one typical to so many designs: there's no hook loop. It's one thing that I wish every outer garment would feature as it makes keeping kit tidy so much easier.

At the rear you get three pockets: two on the kidneys and a small zipped pocket on the outer right hand side, which is only really good for keys or small items. A central pocket would be useful, but you're probably going to be wearing this over other pocketed garments, so it probably won't be missed.

In terms of size and usefulness, the pockets are spot on, with plenty of room for a tube, tool, levers and on-ride sustenance. They're quite deep, and the elasticated tops keep everything in while also giving easy access, even when you're wearing thick winter gloves – as long as you know what you're looking for!

> Check out our guide to the best cycling gilets here

I found that I've worn this gilet a lot more than I had expected. The thermal properties mean it's been very useful as an over-garment on cold winter rides for keeping my core temperature up, and it's also been good on milder days as an outer garment to a baselayer/jersey.

I've worn it over most things on dark commutes, which feature a mixture of A and B roads, with the reflective panels providing more opportunity to be seen by other road users. It also folds up pretty easily to stash in a rear pocket if you do find it's become too warm to keep it on.

Verdict

A well-thought-out garment, with a great cut and some very useful features