Stolen Goat Men’s Mango Alpine Epic Jacket

Stolen Goat has rolled some novel design ideas into the Alpine Epic to create a jacket that works extremely well for riding in cruddy weather. It has the sort of quality that makes it a contender for one of the best winter cycling jackets you can buy.

> Buy now: Stolen Goat Alpine Epic Jacket for £190 from Stolen Goat

The Stolen Goat Alpine Epic Jacket has been my faithful companion as the weather has turned autumnal over the last few weeks, keeping me warm, comfortable and mostly dry through wet rides and dry but cold outings alike; I expect to be using it right through to spring.

Before we get into the meat of this review, a disclosure. Stolen Goat rates this as a jacket for -5°C to 8°C. Most of my riding has been in temperatures at the top of that range and warmer, because of the very mild October we've had. I could take another three months over reviewing it, but by then Stolen Goat will probably have sold out of everything but size XS.

So, I'm sticking my neck out and recommending the Alpine Epic jacket, because if it's kept me comfortable the way I've been using it, it should do the job for you too.

The ride

Riding in temperatures around 6 to 10°C, I was comfortable in the Alpine Epic with just a thin baselayer underneath. Stolen Goat's implication that this is a jacket for hard training rides is spot on. You want to be generating plenty of your own heat for the Alpine Epic to work with; this isn't a jacket for pootling along in.

That said, there's something remarkably clever about the waffled/dimpled fabric Stolen Goat has used here. Wearing it, you know that it's cold and wet outside, but that cold and wet doesn't get through and seep into your bones. You're isolated from it even if you're not completely insulated.

I sweat a lot. Buckets*. And in the winter I tend to feel the cold as a result. At the end of a two-hour ride in the Alpine Epic, its lining and my baselayer were pretty damp. But I was still comfortable because the Alpine Epic's fabric blocks the wind extremely effectively, and insulates even when it's damp.

I was impressed with the Alpine Epic's water-resistance too. Light rain beads and runs off. Persistent rain eventually gets through, because the seams aren't taped, but it just doesn't matter. It's warm even when damp. If you are looking for an even more weatherproof jacket, check out our best waterproof cycling jackets buyer's guide.

All of this is why I'm confident the Alpine Epic will still work very, very well even when it gets colder. Add a thicker baselayer or a winter-weight long-sleeved jersey and you'll be just toasty. In fact, when I tried that during Mildtober, I boiled.

Construction and details

Stolen Goat doesn't have a load of obviously-made-up names for the various polyester fabrics that make up the Alpine Epic, but to describe them they're basically a waffle-backed fabric on the front and sleeves and a more conventional brushed-back material on the back.

To keep the sleeves in place and the rain out, the cuffs are made from thin, stretchy neoprene.

And it's the same story for the waistband, where a couple of lines of grippy silicone do a really good job of keeping it in place.

The main zip is waterproof and keeps the wind out too. It has twin pulls so you can open it from the bottom for ventilation. There are zip guards top and bottom to protect your clothes and your neck. They work.

There are just two rear pockets, but they're generously sized. One has a zip to protect your valuables and a couple of internal sub-pockets to keep things organised, the other is open and big enough for a compact rain jacket in case the weather gets extra-crappy.

Fit

This is a go-faster fit – what Stolen Goat calls Epic fit, compared to the roomier Bodyline fit. In my XXXL sample, Stolen Goat has done a cracking job of catering for the fuller figure. It has it quirks, but I really can't fault it.

Cycling jackets tend to be long in the rear so that they cover as much as possible of your lower back and even your bum. The Alpine Epic is short by comparison with other softshell jackets in my collection: I have a Decathlon jacket that's 6cm longer and a Galibier that's 10cm longer.

Stolen Goat's product development guy Mark Neck tells me that the short back comes from the Alpine Epic being a 'race fit' jacket.

He says: 'The shorter length is in line with that thinking for a closer fit and not using more fabric than is required, which can be just excess weight. This is for those who still want to ride fast in the winter but do not want all the bulk that a winter softshell often has.

'I would agree it is shorter than any I have worn but actually like this as the pockets sit a bit higher on the body.'

I'm surprised to say that I think he's right. The Alpine Epic comes down far enough to cover my kidneys, but doesn't extend all the way down my bum, unlike most jackets. Initially this feels odd, but out on the road it just doesn't matter. And unlike many long jackets, it doesn't ride up and need pulling down a lot.

I might feel differently if I were relying on a jacket to keep my bum dry from back wheel spray, but I'm firmly in the camp that believes if you ride in winter without mudguards, you're an idiot.

Overall, the fit is snug and completely non-flappy. It's more like wearing a beefed-up jersey than a winter jacket until you notice how comfortable you are. My only complaint is that I'd like a slightly snugger neck. The collar's fleece lining is very comfortable, but I ended up wearing a neck warmer to fill a slight gap.

Rivals

The category that takes in Really Good Winter Softshells is a pretty large one. Sportful, Castelli and Alé have similar jackets at similar prices.

The Alpine Epic is the same price as the Santini Vega Absolute that Stu rated highly when he reviewed it. It's £8 less than the Gobik Thermal Armour Vanta that Ben really liked and a lot cheaper than the Assos Dyora RS that Suvi loved or the Sportful Fiandre Pro that David was just as fond of.

On the other hand, there are lots of winter softshell jackets out there that are almost as good, but cost a lot less, like Decathlon's Van Rysel Racer Extreme Winter Jacket for £90 or the well-regarded Galibier Mistral for just £74.

Who should buy the Stolen Goat Alpine Epic Jacket

If you want a jacket that'll keep you riding – and riding fast – through the cold and wet of a British winter, this is a great choice. No, it's not cheap, but it's in the ballpark for a very-high-quality softshell jacket and if it keeps you riding for several winters it'll more than justify itself.

*I was quite heavily into caving many years ago. If one of the group wanted to take photos in a particularly pretty but small cavern, they'd make me wait outside the entrance or at the bottom of the climb leading in, because otherwise I'd fill the chamber with clouds of steam, which tends to scupper flash photography.

Verdict

Excellent winter softshell for big efforts in crummy weather

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.