– advertorial –
If you are cycling in the winter – why wouldn’t you – you know the delicate balance between staying warm enough and sweating too much. A little bit of sweat is not a problem, but being completely soaked, you cool down quickly the moment you stop pedalling. So it’s important to choose the right kit. The jacket, as outer layer, being an important piece of the puzzle.
When shopping for a winter cycling jacket you soon find out there is a lot to choose from. Different fits, different styles, different prices and different materials, water-repellent, waterproof, windproof, insulated and so on.
I tried out the
Climb & Conquer Winter Cycling Jacket by our sponsor
stolen goat. With a price tag of 139 GPB – roughly 165 Euros – I would say it belongs to the mid priced winter cycling jackets. What do you get in return? Let’s have a closer look at it.
Cut
Stolen goat offers clothing in what they call Race Fit and Performance Fit. The C&C jacket belongs to the latter. Performance Fit means tight, but not body hugging tight, the emphasis more on comfort. It is still very much a fast looking cycling jacket though.
Behind its modest look the jacket is pretty technical. It is made from Tempest Protect, a fabric from
Bioracer. If you don’t know this brand, you have definitely seen their professional cycling wear on television during the biggest of races. The C&C jacket is both windproof and waterproof. Stolen goat states that the jacket is designed for temperatures well below 8 degrees. Let’s find out.
Soft lining
Inside the jacket is a white lining which is super soft and comfortable. The jacket feels warm right away, even off the bike. During my first long ride the outside temperature was around freezing point. I already wore the jacket before and my guess was that only a long sleeve base layer underneath would be enough. It was. I wasn’t cold at all the entire ride.
Like a traffic sign
On the back there are your standard three pockets. But there is more! One hidden compartment on the right hand side closed with a zip for valuables like your phone. And a really nice safety feature for winter riding: the pockets are made from Pixel 100 fabric. Hardly noticeble at daylight this fabricis is highly reflective at night. You are like a moving road sign to traffic coming from the rear.
Airtight sleeves
The cuffs! My former winter jacket only had elastic band at the end of the sleeves, but now real cuffs. And long ones too! They match my winter gloves and overlap nicely.
Zip up
For the protection of your precious beard, or comfort in general, the C&C jacket has a zip garage, a piece of fabric on top of the zip. That zip is a YKK by the way. I am not a zip expert, but I have photographed professional workwear and they all swear by this brand too.
Next to this red version the jacket is available in a blue, green and orange option for men. For women stolen goat offer a similar red/black jacket and a very stylish ‘claret’ dark red/blue option.
Photography by Stephan van Raay, cycling photo by Jeroen Dijkstra
5 Responses
Neil Rhodes
Is this also waterproof like the “Orkan” version jerseys?
Stephan van Raay
Hi Neil, yes it is. They are both made of waterproof Tempest fabric, but the fabric of the Climb & Conquer jacket is even more windproof.
Michael Pinker
This is a superb value as well as an excellent jacket. I have one of the original C & C’s in a somewhat different color scheme, now going on two years old, and I can say that in below freezing, very windy conditions it is nonpareil. I stay comfortable and dry, no matter what the weather here in the northeastern United States, which can be very cold indeed, while I can layer whatever I please beneath to match prevailing conditions. You cannot go wrong with Stolen Goat products.
Jon Roach
I have one of these and with a single base layer it is fine down to -5C – I’ve not ridden in colder temps because of the risk of ice. Above 10C it gets too warm – but that’s to be expected. Recommended.
Steven Fleming
The color combination is just perfect for this jacket. It will be great to have it on a long trip, I simply loved it!