Castelli Espresso Due Jacket

I know what youre thinking, and youre right: £230 is a big old wedge of cash to spend on a bike jacket. But then the Castelli Espresso Due is a really high-quality piece of clothing with some excellent cold-weather features behind its cool looks.

The Espresso is made from Gore Windstopper X-Fast fabric. You probably know about Windstopper, and even if you don't, the clue is in the name. This fabric blocks out cold air completely so you can build up your warmth inside. This version has the added advantage of being very stretchy too.

Windstopper is highly water-resistant too. Rain beads up on the surface and rolls off. Unlike a waterproof, the Espressos seams arent sealed so theyll leak eventually, but I've used this jacket when it has rained on and off or a few minutes at a time and it hasnt let anything in, and it doesnt soak up the damp on those misty-morning rides.

The inner face is a deep fleece and it adds plenty of insulation. Castelli give this jacket a temperature range of 0-10C and Ill go with them on that... depending on what you wear underneath, obviously. I've had just a base layer under it on milder days, a base layer and jersey for colder ones and it performs equally well either way. If you do start to overheat, the fabric lets a lot of moist air escape and you get two long, zipped vents on the sides as well as the full-length front zip to adjust the climate inside.

There are vents around the back of the shoulders too and at the wrists. The wrist ones are zipped, providing a snug fit on your forearms without making it difficult to get the jacket on and off, but when you open them up during a ride they provide a surprising amount of cooling; they're really effective. Like the front zip, these are good quality ones from YKK and they lock in place wherever you set them.

As an illustration of the performance you get here, I went out on a group ride in this and immediately realised that I'd misjudged the weather; it was warmer than it looked out the kitchen window and I started to overheat. I couldn't go home and change so I just opened all the vents. I stayed comfortable for the whole ride, despite some big hills and some big efforts.

The Espresso comes in what you might call a performance cut close to the body without any excess to flap about in the breeze. Itll suit racing whippets well and even if youre not particularly skinny, that probably wont be a problem because of the amount of stretch you get in the fabric both lengthways and, especially, widthways. Thats one of the best things about this jacket: it fits snug without feeling limiting. I've heard people say that Castelli's sizing is small but I took a medium here I usually take a medium, sometimes a large and it fitted fine.

A few neat little details set the Espresso apart from the crowd. Around the back of the shoulders, for example, the arms are attached to the inner mesh liner rather than to the outer body. That gives them a certain amount of float, providing you with extra ease of movement when you reach forward to the handlebar. The arms are anatomically cut too so theres not much creasing around the elbow when youre in a bent-armed riding position.

You also get a soft, water-resistant Thermoflex extension on top of the collar. You can fold it inside if you like, then bring it out for a little extra coverage in really cold weather. Its a useful feature. And as well as the customary three pockets in the lower back, you get another in the chest thatll take a phone or an MP3 player an iPod Classic fits in there a treat and a port allows you to run the cable up the outside if you like.

Verdict

Superb windproof and water-resistant jacket for the cold weather; a premium product at a premium-product price