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Gilets
Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet
Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet

Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet

8
by Stu Kerton
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Apr 6, 2015

2
£41.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Hardwearing lightweight stashable gilet for early season use; bland colour though
Weight: 
135g
Contact: 
www.hotlines-uk.com
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For commuting, cyclo-crossing or if you're just after a hardwearing packable windproof, the Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet is worth a look. Performing well for its price it's hard to knock though it could be a bit brighter for road use.

Being both water and wind resistant it makes an ideal companion for those days when a cold shower can whip up out of nowhere. The lightweight rip-stop fabric folds down small to fit a jersey pocket and with a generous fit and decent sized armholes it's easy to get on or off on the fly.

The rip-stop fabric is woven into a grid for additional strength and resistance to tearing so is ideal for lightweight applications like this gilet. Weighing just 135g you barely feel it on or in a pocket. With addition of coatings the material offers a good barrier against cold winds while still being pretty breathable. It isn't massively warm in itself working more to take the windchill off while your underlayers deal with the insulation.

The DWR (Durable Water Repellent) coating will stand up to a constant drizzle or short cloudburst before getting overwhelmed. You don't get cold once wet but it does take a while to dry.

You get a nice high neck which is fleeced lined and is comes into its own on a freezing cold headwind slog. The full length zip stops short of the chin so comfort is never compromised.

For a bit of storage you get a front chest pocket and a rear one also that are big enough to hold a phone or a couple of energy bars.

The fit is close without being skin tight race style. It doesn't flap around in the wind basically and the rear and side panels have a bit of stretch to them to offer a good range of movement.

The blue accents do their best to lift the dull chrome colour but they are fighting a losing battle. I'm not fully in the hi-viz camp but I do think it pays to be noticed and you don't stand out at all on overcast days in this.

Overall the Club Ride Gilet is great in terms of fit, performance and packability plus the amount of durability the fabric gives means it'll last a long time. The price looks pretty competitive too.

Verdict

Hardwearing lightweight stashable gilet for early season use; bland colour though

road.cc test report

Make and model: Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet

Size tested: Medium

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Club Ride's kit is designed for use in all types of cycling rather than just being discipline specific and this comes across in the Cross Gilet. It can be used on the club run, off road, racing or even a spin to the shops with jeans it isn't going to look out of place.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Wind2O™ Lightweight, breathable, lightweight, wind-resistant, rip-stop fabric

DWR-coated, water-resistant

Zippered chest pocket

Rear zippered storage pocket

RideLight™ reflective accents

Stretch side & back panels

Sport fit

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

I liked the gilet in terms of performance, it stood up well to wind and rain.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The hardwearing material.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The colour.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

The Cross Gilet is a good all rounder and performs well in every aspect with a decent price to boot. I think a better colour choice could be an option though while still allowing it look good on civvy street.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: Kinesis T2  My best bike is: Kinesis Aithien

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

 

Club Ride Cross Vest Gilet
Club ride
Stu Kerton

Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.

With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.

He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.

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2 comments

Avatar
velodinho | 9 years ago
0 likes

£41 for a bin bag? No thanks. Whoever designed that needs a stern talking to.

Avatar
crikey | 9 years ago
0 likes

All a bit bin-bag in terms of looks I'm afraid, and I'm never quite sure what those chest pockets are for on gilets; it's an outer layer that goes over your kit, so if you take it off you'd have to rearrange the pocket contents too.

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