road.cc People's Choice: Your favourite winter cycling jackets revealed

What's your favourite winter jacket? In our last People's Choice survey we asked what people rely on to fight off the cold and wet. The results are in, so without further ado, the envelope please.

3rd equal: Sportful Fiandre NoRain jacket — 5%

Providing incredible protection against the wind, cold and rain, and with a new visibility boosting black and yellow colour option, Sportful's Fiandre Jacket is right up there with the best.

Sportful NoRain's clothing range, which use a proprietary fabric with a water repellent technology, features two jackets. The Fiandre Norain Jacket here is intended for the most motivationally-sapping weather conditions, and is more feature packed and insulating than the Fiandre Light. Its designed to withstand the cold winds and harsh rain that whip across the Belgian region through the winter months. The weather can get really bad in Belgium. It gets cold. It gets wet. Sounds a bit like the UK doesn't it?

Read our review of the Sportful Fiandre NoRain jacket

3rd equal: Rapha rain Jacket — 5%

If you just want to ward off the rain and leave insulation to a couple of other layers, Rapha's Rain Jacket works a treat. It's made from slightly stretchy nylon with a textured inner coating that doesn’t easily stick to your skin if you wear it over a short-sleeved jersey.

When you don’t want it on, it’ll roll up small enough to slot into a jersey pocket without any trouble. That makes it suitable for sporty types on fast road rides – or anyone else who just wants to travel light.

Read our review of the Rapha rain Jacket

3rd equal: Castelli Motorolo 3 — 5%

This impressive windproof jacket from Castelli is a top option for use through the autumn and winter.

The main material used here is a soft shell fabric from Gore’s Windstopper range (Windstopper comes in several different flavours – it’s not one specific fabric). The main panels are Windstopper, it’s just the black sections on the underside of the arms and across most of the back that are a fleecy and more breathable Roubaix.

Windstopper really does live up to its name by keeping the cold air out and the warm air in, and that makes a humongous difference on a 30 or 40mph descent in December. This version comes with a fairly deep-pile backing for extra insulation, it’s stretchy enough for the close fit not to hamper your movement or cause discomfort, and the outer is nice ’n’ soft – more like a jersey than a waterproof.

Read our review of the original Castelli Mortirolo
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3rd equal: Castelli Alpha jacket — 5%

Castelli's latest winter jacket has an ingenious design that separates the windproof outer layer from the insulating inner so you can open it up to get a bit cooler without exposing your base layer to the icy blast of winter.

Reader ashleyr suggested it in our poll and added: "Thought the Gabba was good but this is a class above, almost a shame to wear it in foul weather!"

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1st equal: Rapha Pro Team Jacket — 27%

A true classic, Rapha's Pro Team jacket boasts superb fit, fabric, features & looks that make it a stunning jacket for brisk riding. Yes it's expensive, but it's a serious investment for winter training if you're determined to not let the wind and rain stop you.

Rapha use Polartec's Power Shield Pro softshell material for the front-facing panels in the chest, arms and shoulders. It's 99% windproof, and that 1% is the critical detail that gives this jacket its performance when you're going hard. It keeps most of the wind out, but lets just a little through and this gives the jacket superb heat management.

Read our review of the Rapha Pro Team Jacket

1st equal: Castelli Gabba/Gabba 2 — 27%

Castelli's Gabba water-resistant jersey/jacket was such a hit among pro riders that those not sponsored by Castelli bought their own and blacked out the logos. Unsurprising, then, that it's one of the two most popular winter jackets among UK riders too.

The Gabba is made from Gore X-lite plus, a lightweight windproof fabric with water-repellent properties. It's designed by and for pros, so the fit is tight and racy. It has a storm-flap at the rear to protect the rider from wheel spray. The biggest difference, and improvement, on teh Gabba 2 is the introduction of a wind flap for the full-length zip, keeping more wind and rain out than the previous version.

Read our review of the Castelli Gabba 2
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