Sportful Fiandre NoRain W Jacket

The Sportful Fiandre NoRain Women's Jacket is a performance-fit, thick fleece winter jacket offering great protection from wind with some water resistance from showers. It's a great option for cold late-autumn days through to spring.

• Pros: Warm, with good weather protection
• Cons: Hem isn't very elastic and no gripper

The jacket is designed for winter, with thick fleecing that's super-warm, very good windproofing properties from the Gore Windstopper 4 Way Mid and 4 Way Warm fabrics, and NoRain thermal inserts providing the water repellency. It feels like a jersey with the properties of a jacket, and is a very useful option against the elements.

Testing my usual size medium, the jacket fits as I would expect, though the sleeves are pretty snug; they're comfortable, but I couldn't get a long-sleeve baselayer on as well. It's a thick fleece jacket, though, and I found a short-sleeved baselayer more than enough.

Fit on the body is great apart from the bottom hem, which isn't particularly elastic and doesn't hug that tightly to stop draughts, though nothing too drastic.

For spray protection Sportful has given the jacket a drop-down tail that can be folded up. I don't really get the point of a fold-down tail – I just wore it down all the time.

On a 10°C day I was toasty – not unpleasantly so, but I knew I had been working, building up a bit of a sweat. With a short-sleeve baselayer underneath, the combination of the breathability of the jacket and the baselayer working together kept me comfortable and protected from the elements.

The jacket is rated by Sportful as having a temperature range of 0-15°C. The low temperatures are no problem, but over 10 and it is getting a bit warm, unless you really feel the cold.

On a cold winter day, with rain possible, the Fiandre NoRain comes into its own. The Gore Windstopper fabrics are excellent. On my green test jacket it is the green sections that are Gore Windstopper, the NoRain fabric the black sections on the back and forearms.

The NoRain fabric is very good, but there is a limit to how long it will keep you dry. A ride with intermittent showers is perfectly doable, but persistent rain will eventually get through. On a short ride in damp, misty rain the NoRain sections coped well, but the other sections got damp. The fabric is quite quick to dry, which helps, as does the waterproof zipper.

Although it's listed as having three rear pockets, the jacket actually has just two big ones, which is okay, though I do prefer three.

There is some reflective detail on the cuffs and hem, with the large sliver zipper matching the reflective trim. Other details include a decent collar and zip guard.

> Buyer's Guide: 14 of the best winter cycling jackets

At £180, the Fiandre NoRain is up towards the top of the price range. Is it worth it? Well, its performance on cold days is very good, and it'll keep you riding through winter – as long as it's not too wet. A very similar but cheaper one to consider is the dhb Aeron Full Protection Softshell I also tested recently; at £110 it saves a chunk of cash and still offers great wind protection.

Verdict

Well-made jacket ideal for cold winter rides, with great protective qualities