Shimano Compact Wind Vest

With its black shiny finish and simplistic looks, the Shimano Compact Wind Vest could be mistaken for a glorified bin bag but it is much, much better than that. Keeping you warm where you need it and cool where you don't, it does everything you'd want of a good gilet.

Heading out for a ride into a chilly northerly, you soon notice how effective the Vest is. I could feel the wind on my arms, hands and legs, even though they were all covered, but the front of my torso was warm; no, make that toasty. There was a really noticeable difference between the areas covered by that polyester windproof panel and those not.

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The windproofing covers your front and reaches right up and over your shoulders. The mid-section of the rear uses a much lighter mesh construction, which means the Wind Vest is very breathable. Even working hard on a climb with a long-sleeve jersey underneath, I never got overwhelmed in perspiration.

The arm holes fit snugly too, and not in an uncomfortable way like I found with the recently tested Condor Professional. This stops any of the breeze whipping in around your armpits.

The Shimano has an all-round better cut than the Condor too – close enough throughout to reduce any flappy material, but in no way restrictive to your movements. You also get a decent length dropped tail to keep you covered when stretched out over the bike.

At the rear there's a zipped pocket big enough to hold a phone and some energy gels or other ride essentials, which is handy as you don't have access to your main jersey pockets really unless you stop.

Weight is key with a gilet like this, and at 95g the Shimano is heavier than the exceptionally light 78g Condor – not that you'd be able to tell in the real world. Stuff it in your jersey pocket and you aren't going to notice it at all, plus it folds down to a very small package size.

The full-length zip has a large material tab on it, which makes for easy adjustment even with gloves on, plus it helps if you want to put on or remove the gilet while riding.

A claim of '360 degree highly visible reflectivity' might make you think the Vest could be exactly what you are after for a bit of night riding, but don't get too excited. At best it's a few token reflective patches; the one on the rear pocket isn't too bad, plus you've got one on each side that might get picked up at a junction, but they aren't exactly screaming. Also, the Shimano logo is the only thing that is reflective around the front, and that'll be pretty invisible once you are riding.

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Looking at pricing, the Shimano is more expensive than both the Condor and dhb Aeron Lightweight Windslam, the latter scoring very highly in our review.

The Shimano has a much better fit for me than the Condor, so I would happily splash the extra tenner on this, but the dhb would just take the top spot thanks to details such as being able to access your jersey pockets through openings in the side.

However, the overall quality and finish of the Shimano is top notch, and if you did pay the little extra you wouldn't be disappointed.

Verdict

Impressive windproofing from such a lightweight gilet at a competitive price