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Physically speaking, women are at a clear disadvantage in winter. This is not a chauvinistic slogan, but scientifically proven. On average, men have 25 per cent more muscle mass than women. And the energy that we supply to our muscles is only partly used to tense them. Much of it is released in the form of heat. Consequently, more muscles also produce more body heat. What's more, women's skin is around 15 per cent thinner than that of men. This means that the female body is also less well insulated and loses body heat more quickly. So what is left for female bikers who want to ride the trails in winter? Lift weights in the gym to build up more muscle? Or put on warmer clothes so that you don't freeze as much?
The latter does not seem to be an option for many manufacturers: If you look at the women's winter suits in this test, you might think that the manufacturers assume that female bikers are as pumped up as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. The models, some of which are waistband trousers and others bib shorts, look so thin-skinned that some male testers shiver just looking at them.
In addition to the physical advantage, the manufacturers also provide men with warmer trousers. Windproof, warmly lined and water-repellent softshell throughout additionally protects the already muscular male legs from the adversities of winter.
The situation looks a little better when it comes to jackets. There is more equality here, and female bikers can find just as warm jackets as men.
You can find these MTB softshell suits for men in the test:
- CRAFT Hale Subzero Jacket and ADV Softshell Pants
- DECATHLON Racer Xtrem jacket and MTB ST 500 cycling shorts
- DYNAMICS professional softshell jacket and Alpine Hybrid II zip-off cycling shorts
- ENDURA Windchill Jacket II and MT500 spray trousers
- GONSO Valaff jacket and Odeon trousers
- PEARL IZUMI Quest Amfib Jacket and Summit Amfib Pant
- ROSE Bike Jacket Wind Fibre and WIND Softshell II trousers
You can find these softshell jackets and trousers for women in the test:
- BONTRAGER Velocis W's Winter Jacket* and Circuit Thermal W's unpadded Tight
- GOREWEAR C3 women's windstopper thermal jacket and C3 ladies thermal bib shorts +
- RH+ Hydra Lab Soft Shell W Jacket and Reflex W Bibtight
- SANTINI Coral Raggio Winter Jacket Lady and Bibtights Woman Alba
- SHIMANO W's Kaede Wind Jacket and W's Winter Tights
- SPORTFUL Tempo W Jacket and Neo W Bibtight
- VAUDE W's Resca Softshell Jacket III and W's Advanced Warm Tights
You can conveniently download the complete comparison test of the 14 winter suits for men and women from BIKE 2/2021 as a PDF below the article. The objective comparison including the test reports costs €1.99.
Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in BIKE. We don't charge for them, but the opposite is the case: we do charge for them - tens of thousands of euros every year.
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Stefan Frey
Editor
