10 sporty winter jackets in cold chamber and practical test
We have tailored the criteria for our test to the typical requirements of a winter cyclist: The most adverse conditions in which winter-hardy cyclists still go out on the piste are likely to be temperatures around freezing point, combined with the risk of getting wet in a drizzle or sleet shower.
For the first time, we determined the insulating effect of the jackets using thermal images in a cold chamber at -12°C. For the wind chill effect, we switched on a fan that generated a constant wind speed of 5 km/h, resulting in a perceived temperature of -15°C. We divided the individual thermographic images into shoulder, chest, arm and kidney areas and compared them qualitatively.
The winter jackets in the test:
Craft Performance Bike Stretch Jacket, http://www.craft-sports.de
Endura Equipe Exo Softshell Jacket, http://www.endura.co.uk
Gore Bikewear Xenon SO, http://www.gorebikewear.de
Mavic Eqipie, http://www.mavic.com
Northwave Power, http://www.northwave.de
Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Softshell 3x1 Shell, http://www.paul-lange.de
Scott AS Limited Plus, http://www.scott-sports.de
Specialised SL 11 Winter Partial Jacket, http://www.specialized.com
Vaude Prio Softshell Jacket, http://www.vaude.com
X-Bionic Sphere Wind Winter Jacket, http://www.x-bionic.de
