US brand Tifosi makes a massive range of sun, sports, and safety glasses that cover everything from golf to pickleball. There are a ton of options to choose from its cycling range, and the Sledge tested here is one of the brand's best sunglasses for MTB.

Design and specifications

The full framed Sledge glasses I was testing came with three lenses (Clear, AC Red, and Smoke) covering a range of light conditions from night riding to full sun. Though other Sledge models come with different lens options. The lenses have cutaways in the upper edge to aid ventilation and are pretty straightforward to pop in and out of the frame. The frames are made using Grilamid TR-90 – a polycarbonate known for stress and weathering resistance – with a rubberised section running from mid-way down the arms to the tips.

The frames measure 144mm wide by 59mm deep, while the arms measure 120 from the edge of the frame to the tip. The frames and a single lens weigh in at 38g.

Performance

I've ridden wearing the Sledge glasses in all kinds of light conditions, all weathers, temperatures ranging from freezing to baking, and on a number of different bike types. The three lenses supplied basically have you covered for every light condition, but I mostly used the clear lens (for night rides and dark winter days) and the AC Red for pretty much everything else. The red lens did an excellent job of removing harsh light without darkening my vision and was ideal for mixed conditions where I was riding in and out of wooded sections – where the darker Smoke lens proved to be too much.

The glasses stayed in place well without causing any tightness on the sides of my head from the arms like some models can. The Sledge specs also played nicely with all the MTB helmets I tried, even the ones with a deeper fit that have had compatibility issues with some other models I've tested.

The only negative for me is that they were prone to misting up more than most from sweat when slowing and stopping This was probably down to the full frames sitting very close to my cheekbones and eye sockets which left little room for ventilation from below. However, the close fit also meant that trail debris getting behind the lens was an extremely rare event – even in properly filthy winter conditions where mud and roost were flying everywhere.

Verdict

In terms of value, the Sledge sunglasses are very hard to beat. They look good, are tough and comfortable, and work well in every light condition. The propensity to fog up when working hard at slower speeds – particularly in the cold – isn't ideal, but it could be sorted by pulling the glasses away from my face a little. Overall, the fogging isn't a deal breaker for me though and I'd still highly recommend the glasses given everything else they offer and their maximum-bangs-per-buck price tag.

I'd previously never been a fan of photochromic lensed sunglasses for mountain biking. While they're quick to darken, every lens I'd tried was too slow to clear once I'd entered a dimly-lit area such as the woods. The Rudy Project Cutline glasses with their ImpactX 2Laser Red lens changed all that though and are definitely one of the best mountain bike sunglasses I've ever tested.

Design and specifications

Rudy Project's Cutline sunglasses come in a wide range of frame and lens options. I've been testing the Matte Black frames with the ImpactX 2Black lens ImpactX along with a 2Laser Red lens – available separately.

The semi-flexible lenses are said to be unbreakable "for life", though the warranty is for two years. ImpactX lenses are made using "patented polyurethane optical polymers" which Rudy Project says results in a lens that's lighter than polycarbonate and plastic alternatives. The lenses are also treated with a number of different anti-reflective and hydrophobic layers and coatings, they're also vented with four slots in the upper part of each lens.

The frames are a mixture of stiff (arms and hinges) and flexible (everywhere else) rubberised plastic. The nose piece can be adjusted to suit, and the total weight for the glasses is an average 36g. If you want to lighten the load on your face or change your look, you can convert the full-frames to half-frame or barely any frame, as the top and two bottom sections can be removed individually. You can also customise your glasses by buying a frame kit of a different colour and swapping out the interchangeable parts.

There's plenty of flex in the glasses and the arms point slightly inwards to softly grip the sides of your head, while the tips of the arms turn slightly outward.

Performance

I've been testing the Cutline glasses for many months in a wide range of riding and light conditions and have been seriously impressed. The glasses feel secure yet light and comfortable, and have worked well with every helmet I've tried them with. Lens quality is top notch and the glasses are big enough so as not to impair your vision in any way.

The supplied 2Black lens works well in open riding conditions. However, like every photochromic model I've tried, it's too slow to return to clear when entering darker sections of trail – which forces you to drop your pace for the four minutes or so that the lens takes to react to the dimmer light.

Switching to the additional 2Laser Red lens (sold separately but also available with different frames) made a huge difference though. Red lenses work well in shady woodland conditions, so the time it takes for the lens to lose its tint has never been an issue even when plunging from full sun to forest darkness.

I've been really impressed with how tough the ImpactX lens is too. The Cutlines have been regularly splattered with winter filth, stuffed into packs and pockets while already dirty and without their soft case, but remain scratch and mark-free after many months of riding.

Almost as impressive is how resistant they are to fogging. I've had zero issues with them at lower temperatures, but have had occasional mild fogging when working hard on slow climbs during hot days. The lens clears as soon as more air moves past them though and I've yet to ride in a pair of glasses that never fog up at some point.

Verdict

Rudy Project's Cutline glasses with an ImpactX 2Laser Red photochromic lens are an excellent option for almost all light conditions. In fact, the only time I've taken them off to see more clearly has been in wooded trails when riding after dark – as there is still a minuscule tint in the lens even at its clearest.

Scratch resistance on these glasses is second to none. The Cutlines have been properly mistreated but there's not a mark on the lens.

One very minor point is that you can't actually buy the Matte Black Cutline with the 2Laser Red lens I've tested here unless you shell out for an additional lens. However, it is available with the red/back Carbonium frame option and both models come with the same $269.99 / £219.99 / €254.90 price tag.

We’re definitely spoiled for choice when it comes to 100%’s eyewear. There are 14 different lines within the Sport Performance range – that’s even before you start to consider the spread of goggles or more fashion-orientated specs. Then, as well as the Speedcraft SLs we’ve been testing, there’s also the standard Speedcraft range, Speedcraft XS models for smaller faces and the Speedcraft Air which includes tech that allows wearers to control their level of nasal dilation. Oh, and they all come in a ton of different frame and lens combinations.

With loads of other brands around, it's not just 100% that give you an overwhelming number of options when it comes to choosing new eyewear, but handily we've done some of the hard work for you with our guide to the best mountain bike sunglasses. We recommend having a look at that once you've read through our 100% Speedcraft SL review.

Design

There’s not much to choose between the original Speedcraft glasses and the SL versions tested here. However, the SL models are designed with a shorter lens and a more compact nose bridge to better suit smaller faces such as mine.

The package comes in a robust hardcase that zips open and closed. Inside are stowage slots for the Speedcraft frames with their red mirrored lens (HiPER Red Multilayer Mirror Lens+ to be more precise) and the included clear lens, plus a softcase and spare rubber nose grip.

The shape of the flat-edged (which presumably give aero micro-gains for our roadie chums) Speedcraft frame is continuously curved and has a slightly rubberized finish with soft black arm tips for additional comfort and grip. The finish of the half-framed lens is mirrored but not completely opaque and gives off cool looking red-orange reflections.

Performance

The Speedcraft SLs feel very light on your face and, despite feeling super-secure, there’s no noticeable tension behind the ears from the soft rubber-tipped arms. With their half-frames and large lens, you get a fantastic and almost completely uninterrupted field of vision – even the nose piece is almost invisible.

The clarity of the mirrored orange/red lens tested (loads of other tints are available) is excellent and gives a completely consistent view across your full range of vision. A hydrophobic and oleophobic finish means that water or oily fingerprints shouldn’t stick to the lens. In practice, this means that larger water drops rapidly run off, leaving only a trail of tiny droplets that are invisible to the wearer. Finger marks do occur on the lens, but they are relatively easy to wipe away.

The mirrored lens tint is relatively light and does a great job of removing glare and improving contrast rather than giving a darker field of vision. Colours are more muted than on comparable Oakley mirrored lenses, though they are still a touch on the heavy side for riding in heavily wooded trails or low light conditions.

I’ve worn the Speedcrafts in temperatures around zero to just into double figures and, like any glasses, they can occasionally mist up when you’re working hard. Due to the open design of the bottom of the lens and the amount of air between lens and face, they clear up in moments though.

Despite the slightly fragile appearance of the half-frames, the Speedcraft SLs have proved themselves to be surprisingly robust. Despite several crashes in them on woody trails, the lens itself is still scratch-free after months of riding. Perhaps white frames are not the wisest choice for off-road use though, as my test pair now have a slightly brown hue in places due to various mud splats and handling them with dirty riding gloves. Fortunately, the Speedcraft frames come in several other colours, though we’d definitely recommend black.

Verdict

The 100% Speedcraft SL is a premium piece of eyewear and one of the best riding glasses I’ve ever tested. The overall package is a comprehensive one and helps make these top-end glasses a worthy investment.

The lens is not ideal for low-light conditions, but then again, they are sunglasses and also come with a clear lens. Our only real concern relates more to the mucky nature of off-road riding rather than the Speedcrafts themselves. If you choose white or lightly coloured frames, they will inevitably become dirt-stained over time.

Sunglasses have been getting bigger and bigger and while this trend has been around for a while, no eyewear is able to come close to POC’s enormous Devours. The unmatched real estate of the Devours is designed primarily for off-road riding, giving the same coverage as a set of goggles, but with more trail, XC, and gravel-friendly freedom that comes with sunglasses.

There is more to the Devour glasses than just their massive lenses and POC has added plenty of neat design features to tailor them for off-road riding, however, the size will always be the defining feature of the Devours.

So when it comes to the best mountain bike sunglasses, is bigger actually better? We have been riding the POC Devour glasses to find out.

Design and performance

The Devours at first appear to be a frameless design, however on closer inspection, there is actually a full-frame structure behind the huge Carl Zeiss lens. This separation of lens and frame is what has allowed POC to offer massive coverage without affecting the ergonomics of the glasses.

The frames themselves feature adjustable arms to tune the fit as well as a two-position nose bridge. There are little grippers on the ends of the hooked arms to add a little more grip when wearing or stored in a helmet.

There is the option of regular lenses, Clarity Trail, or Clarity Road, which give complete protection from harmful UVA and UVB rays and are treated with an anti-scratch and Ri-Pel hydrophobic and oleophobic treatment to combat dirt, water, and sweat.

Although the glasses' size makes them visually striking, the branding is pretty subtle. There are POC logos molded on the arms with a little more POC aesthetic text printed on the frame and tucked behind the lens. POC offers a number of frame colour options as well as a wide selection of lens styles to suit your riding conditions.

The Devours were originally released alongside POC’s Kortal helmet, pairing perfectly with a helmet designed to work with goggles. I used the Devours with a number of other POC helmets, including the trail-focused Axion and road/gravel Ventral and Omne, and found they worked well with those too. I didn’t have any issues with helmets from other brands either such as the Oakley DRT5 and Smith Forefront 2.

Real estate isn’t cheap with the Devours priced at $250 / £230 making them expensive even in the premium cycling eyewear realm. POC includes a second clear lens to soften the blow which is handy for mountain bikers and those who ride in dim conditions. It would be nice to see a hard case included at this price point, especially as you will want to keep your lenses in good condition as new ones cost $100 / £80.

Performance 

With such a huge lens, it's no surprise that the Devours feel considerably bigger than any other pair of sunglasses I have worn. The field of view is second to none though and you really have to strain your eyeballs into the peripherals to see the frames.

I thought the lens size might cause issues with non-POC helmets but there have been no problems so far with any of the helmets I have tried. The size means there is loads of coverage and the extended edges add a good amount of side protection too.

The fit is very comfortable and they stayed in place well when rattling down the trail. Although the lenses are wide, the narrow frame shape sits close to the face and avoids any interference with deep-fitting helmets.

Swapping the lenses is an extremely simple process, with six hooks holding the lens in place it's just a matter of popping the lens out the top two and removing the lens. Refitting the lens is equally as straightforward – line up the lens in the bottom four fixtures before pressing it into the frame. There is plenty of flex in the frame which means the process doesn't require force or manhandling either.

The combination of the front vents and set-back frames quickly takes care of any potential fogging – especially if your helmet has channeling across the brow. It’s a bit too effective though and, as someone who suffers badly from watery eyes when riding, I found the Devours to be too breezy when riding at speed. To the point that I needed to clean the tears from the lenses between some trails.

The tears weren’t the only things I was having to clean off the lenses. Despite the claimed oleophobic treatment, the lenses were prone to fingerprints. The clear lenses were particularly bad for stubborn fingerprints that were tricky to clean off.

Verdict

If you're looking for the biggest sunglasses, whether it's for style or protection from eye-poking, the Devours are going to be at the top of the list. Unless you want to wear goggles, no other eyewear offers close to the coverage and field of view as the Devours making them one of the best options out on the trail. The comfortable fit means they will also cross over to gravel and road duties too.

The design is top-notch when it comes to the shape and structure of the frames and lenses. Adjustability assures a good face fit, they work well with a range of helmets and the lenses are simple to swap. There's a good range of tints and colours to tailor the sunglasses to your regular riding conditions, although there isn’t a photochromatic option.

Ventilation was always going to be a key consideration for POC when combating heat and misting with such a large set of glasses, unfortunately, they overachieve making fast descents quite literally eye-watering.

The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was one big learning curve for Paul Seixas, but if he had one lesson to share in the aftermath of his bandaged exit it was this: "Always wear your gloves".

The 19-year-old French super-talent crashed at speed on a descent on the penultimate day of racing, and while he bounced back up to plug an enormous gap before limiting his losses on the summit finish, he was out of the race very soon into the final stage.

Seixas said he could barely grip the handlebars and while all four limbs were covered in bandages by Saturday night, it was his hands, he revealed, that took the brunt of the fall.

"I slid like a toboggan, on my front," Seixas said. "I grated myself on the road – I was sliding for 20 or 30 metres I think. On a dry road that does you no good.

"When you slide on your hands at 70km/h, your hands pay a heavy price."

It's not that Seixas was not wearing gloves; he was wearing a pair of black fingerless mitts. But he felt the damage would have been much worse otherwise.

"What saved me today was maybe the gloves, because the gloves were torn up.

"I was wearing gloves but even so my hands were battered. Without gloves I wouldn’t have been able to get going again, I don’t think.

"Always wear your gloves when you ride," he repeated in separate interviews.

The pros and cons of wearing gloves

Road cycling gloves have been in decline for some time, with many high profile pros eschewing them except on key occasions like Paris-Roubaix, though even Mathieu van der Poel goes without them for the cobbles.

They indeed will, thanks to real, or in recent times synthetic, leather or suede palms, help with abrasion in the event of a fall. But generally speaking cycling gloves are not designed with this in mind.

Outside of a crash, their primary function is to provide additional comfort to the hands on the bars, adding padding to the hypothenar (the inside of the heel of the palm, as you look down at your own hands), under which the ulnar nerve passes. Impingement of this nerve can cause numbness or tingling in the little, ring, and index fingers.

Why are pros ditching them in increasing numbers, then?

Well, bars are more ergonomic than they used to be and so with a decent bike fit, they rarely need extra padding.

Weight and aerodynamics may be a factor, too, though a pair of the best cycling gloves hardly tip the scales by much.

From personal experience it's likely cooling and comfort at play; the back of the hands and the inside of the wrists feature blood vessels very close to the surface of the skin, and covering these up can give you an unpleasant, clammy feeling.

Exposing the skin to the air – especially a body part that's very much in the wind – can aid in keeping body temperatures down, and this is likely the risk-reward dilemma at play.

Who wears gloves?

It seems that Isaac del Toro has been racing in a new unreleased Sidi cycling shoe for several months.

The shoes in question are a lace-up road model that we don’t recognise; Del Toro has been racing in them since at least last year.

Whilst Sidi offers several lace-up options, it doesn’t officially sell a lace-up pro-level road shoe.

Del Toro and Sidi announced a partnership in March last year, and it seems likely that both parties have been collaborating on a new product.

Once we started going back over various race images, it seems Del Toro has ridden in various shoes with three different lacing systems over the past several months, and even raced and won at Tirreno Adriatico with odd shoes on.

Italian brand Sidi is a famous name in the cycling world, with a great many riders using the brand's products over the years. Brand founder Dino Signori passed away aged 90 in March this year.

Not all pro cyclists have exclusive cycling shoe deals; generally it seems to be something reserved for the sport's bigger stars.

One such example of a pro shoe deal is Remco Evenepoel’s S-Works Torch Remco model, which arrived around this time last year ahead of the Tour de France and was said to have come at Evenepoel's specific request for a lightweight climbing shoe.

The Tour de France isn't far away, and as the pinnacle of the cycling year, it's always a prime time for brands to release new equipment. We recently spotted several new bikes at the renamed Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes this year, which Del Toro himself is competing in.

Cyclingnews has reached out to Sidi for more information on the shoes.

What shoes is Del Toro wearing?

Del Toro raced in Nimbl shoes until he switched to Sidi last year, and for the most part we have seen him racing in the brand's Shot 3 shoes, which feature a two-dial closure system and a carbon sole or ‘chassis’, in the brand's words, which extends up around the heel, making them quite easy to spot.

In a lot of races Del Toro has ridden this year, he has regularly used a lace-up Sidi model that appears to have a very similar sole to the Shot 3; could this be a lace-up version of the same model?

Lace-up shoes are generally considered to offer an aerodynamic advantage over a shoe with closure dials, which sit more prominently on the face of the shoe. The likes of Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard all race in lace-up shoes from DMT, Specialized and Nimbl. Riders also use dedicated dial covers over the middle of their shoes now to smooth airflow.

As far back as late 2025, Del Toro could be seen using a lace-up model with five eyelets on either side of the shoe's quite tall tongue, as well as a black lace toggle or holder.

Whilst the shoes carried Sidi logos, the system looked a little more prototype than a full production version, with a black toggle at the top of the foot being used to cinch the thin-looking lace down. It's a similar-looking system to the Rapha Pro Team Lace-up shoe.

Later versions of the shoes that have been used this year have seven eyelets and a white toggle. Suggesting different variants of the shoe have been tried and tested.

After doing some digging, we also noticed Del Toro lined up for Stage 6 of Tirreno Adriatico with odd shoes on.

The Mexican star wore a Shot 3 on his left foot, and one of the unknown shoes on his right, actually crossing the line to claim victory that day wearing the odd shoes. Perhaps he was carrying out something of a head-to-head comparison between the two models.

Jasper Philipsen also won Nokere Koerse in March wearing odd shoes; his shoe change came mid-race, however, after crash damage forced him to change into an unreleased Shimano model.

Del Toro is racing at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (previously the Dauphiné) this month and is riding in what seems to be a third and far more polished version of the shoes.

The eyelet layout appears to have changed again, with fewer being used, and what looks like a front lace and/or toggle cover flap or patch is in place at the front of the shoe.

This looks far neater than some of the previous shoes, particularly the pair with a black toggle from back last year. This pair look closer to a finished article, and we will keep an eye out for them at the Tour de France next month.

The shoes now look a lot cleaner, and whilst we don't have any information or a launch date yet, you can't say they haven't been tested in competition.

The Oakley Velo Mach road helmet has been on the market for over a year now and has created waves in that time. Developed with the Tudor Pro Cycling WorldTour team, this is Oakley’s most aerodynamic road helmet.

Oakley says it was ‘designed for real-world riding positions and sprint stage dominance’ and its minimal venting and ‘flow conditioners’ – small fins on the helmet shell to reduce drag and increase airflow attachment – hint that it could be a competitive model at first glance, and it slots in alongside the best road helmets.

It’s a nice-looking lid too, which is always important if you're spending your own cash on kit. The Velo Mach even came out on top in our last CN Labs helmet aero test, beating the until now undisputed top dog when it comes to 'normal' fast road helmets, the Specialized Evade III (the old one, at least).

This is another very competitive road option if you are looking for a quick road helmet. Oakley offers it in two versions, a non-MIPS and a MIPS-equipped version. I’ve been riding in the non-MIPS version pretty much all year, using it for all of my riding, training, and for a road race. The non-MIPS version carries a RRP of £255 / $310 / €300.

We have the data from our own wind tunnel test, and months of real-world testing to pair with it now. If you care about how competitive your helmet is and are on the lookout for a new one, this review should help with your decision-making.

Design and aesthetics

The Velo Mach is a part of Oakley’s ‘helmet eyewear system’; the helmet was designed to pair with the brand's Velo Kato sunglasses. A concept that makes sense, given this is an Oakley helmet.

The brand will probably say you will be fastest when wearing the helmet with a pair of Velo Kato sunglasses, but not everyone is going to wear it with them. I haven’t, and you certainly don’t have to.

Oakley sponsors the Tudor Pro Cycling squad, and the Velo Mach was designed with extensive input from the team, with the overall goal of developing the fastest helmet possible. The brand doesn't however offer up any specific aero claims regarding the helmet.

Oakley cites over 1000 wind tunnel runs as well as CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) in the development of the helmet. Some team riders were scanned, and wind tunnel test mannequins were then produced from these scans for more accurate testing. Incidentally, Tudor Pro Cycling has an office at the SilverStone Sports Engineering hub, the venue where we carry out our own wind tunnel testing.

The result of the collaboration is a sleek helmet which uses three front vents, one large main one, and two side vents, which also double as sunglasses storage. Externally, three vents in the middle rear of the helmet are where internal airflow exits.

Two small rubber fins protrude from either side of the helmet in the back quarter. These 'flow conditioners' reduce drag and increase airflow attachment, helping the air passing over the helmet's outer shell to stick to it for longer. It’s a feature that doesn’t feature on many helmets, and I wonder if we will see more of it in the future.

The physical shape of the Velo Mach does remind me of the Evade III in places, with its narrow profile, shallow edges, and slightly squared off rear. It certainly strikes me as being physically a little narrower than some helmets I've worn, like my go-to Scott Cadence Plus.

Details-wise, the helmet comes with a soft bag, which is always handy, and the branding is subtle enough, with two Oakley ‘O’s on either side of the helmet and an ‘Oakley’ wordmark on the rear of the helmet.

Black, white and Red colours are available, and like the Van Rysel FCR, the helmet is available in MIPS and non-MIPS versions. The MIPS version costs slightly more, and it seems slightly odd to sell two versions of the helmet. Surely, MIPS is better for everyone on paper?

I questioned this, and Oakley responded on the choice to offer two versions, explaining;

"The Velo Mach is offered both with and without MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) to give riders the freedom to choose the helmet that best fits their riding style and personal priorities. By offering both versions, we want to ensure that every cyclist can make an informed, conscious choice based on what they feel is most relevant to their riding experience, while maintaining consistent standards in design, fit, comfort, and construction across the entire Velo Mach range.”

You can get into the weeds on the effectiveness of rotational impact reduction in helmets and head injuries. No rider wants to have to test their helmets' safety capabilities in the real world; it seems Oakley is just happy to give people the choice.

As of yet, the helmet hasn't been tested by Virginia Tech, which carries out independent helmet safety testing. A Virginia Tech score is a useful gauge when shopping for helmets, and whilst it's certainly not a deal breaker, it's a useful metric when comparing and reviewing things.

Performance

I’ve had an issue-free test period with the Velo Mach. I chose to size down from my normal medium size in helmets and went with a small for my test sample. I was somewhat between sizes and only have a small head, but the small has fitted me fine.

The helmet has been perfectly comfortable for me, though of course, everyone's head is different. Having no hair, I tend to be sensitive to uncomfortable helmet interiors, but there haven’t been any. I haven’t noticed the helmet in use for a single second. I can’t say fairer than that. Its padding and overall fit are very comfortable. There are no hidden surprises here.

I’ve kept riding into the warmer weather with the helmet to test its performance in muggier, hotter temperatures here in the UK, and it receives a big tick there. That large front vent does the trick, and the helmet does well in warmer temperatures, as does the 'TurboDry' pad fabric. I haven't used it in anything over thirty degrees Celsius, but it’s certainly a stronger performer than the Fizik Kudo Aero I tested when the temperatures rise.

The sleek retention system dial and adjustable helmet straps all do the job; the Oakley adjuster dial has a nice grippy rubber coating and offers plenty of fine adjustment, although the helmet cradle isn't height adjustable. It’s all been fit and forget for me, and I was happy riding in the helmet from the off.

Glasses storage has been solid for me on a range of glasses. I personally prefer to stick my glasses behind my head if I take them off, so storage is never a key concern for me, but the angle and spacing of the two side vents seem to hold the arms of the glasses very well.

Speed-wise, the Velo Mach came out top of the 'normal' road helmets in our last CN Labs helmet aero test. By 'normal' road helmets, I mean dedicated road lids without integrated visors, or models that were road-going time-trial helmets.

The full results are behind our paywall. We pay top dollar for wind tunnel time, so do think about subscribing if you want to get stuck into the full data set, and you will get access to all of our other tests too. To sum up, though, the Velo Mach was marginally fastest at 40 and 50 km/h in our testing, beating its closest rivals, the Trek Ballista, Canyon Stinger and Evade 3 by less than a watt overall.

It's good to know I've been wearing one of the fastest road helmets around, and I felt confident I was lining up in a competitive helmet for the road race I rode last month. The difference between helmets can be a decent handful of watts, and if you want to put yourself at least in the ballpark of the quickest lids out there, the Velo Mach will get you there.

I haven't crashed in the helmet, and the fact that it is a non-MIPS version hasn't bothered me, though I think I would spend a few extra dollars and get the MIPS one if I were buying (and go for a white one, as is my taste).

Value

The Velo Mach has an RRP of £255 / $310 / €300 for the non-MIPS version I have tested; if you want the MIPS-equipped version, it will set you back £280 / $340 / €330.

That price makes the $20 cheaper (in the MIPS version) than one of its closest aero competitors and generally fast road helmet benchmark model, the Specialized S-Works Evade 3, which I think it’s fair to say is a top choice for racers buying their own helmets who want a fast model.

We are into top-tier pricing here, and a number of helmets, such as the Kask Elemento and Giro Aries Spherical, all occupy this price bracket. The helmet's padding, retention system and dial, for example, are all fairly unexciting. They all work exactly as they should, and the padding is comfortable, but there's no real luxury or super high-end feel in the Velo Mach construction for the price.

I think the draw overall is the aero performance and fit and forget user experience over any luxury details or bonus features. If you want a fast helmet and like the design, you will need to decide if the cost is worth it for you.

Verdict

The Velo Mach is a good road helmet. It's lightweight and comfortable, the styling and overall design is good, it's been developed by Oakley and a WorldTour team and in our testing it came out on top against nearly fifty other helmets.

There's not much to dislike really, and it hasn't given me a second of discomfort or any other issues in months of regular use. If you are shopping for a new performance road helmet the Velo Mach should at the very least be one of the models you consider.

The Specialized Evade 3, like those that came before it, is a very popular helmet among amateur riders and racers. It’s a common sight in amateur scenes around the world. I would bet my house on seeing at least one at my local club ride or race, and it's the first helmet you'll see in our guides to both the best road bike helmets and the best aero helmets.

The Evade 4 then has a lot to live up to, especially at $350 — $50 more than its predecessor.

Despite most aero helmet manufacturers persistently seeking aerodynamic improvements, Specialized has, for the second time in a row, updated the Evade with no claims of being ‘faster’ in this sense.

I say that, but the brand’s wind tunnel operator tells me it is actually a smidge more aerodynamic, but the improvement is less than half a watt, so not something they’ll be shouting about.

Instead, the main goal of the Evade 4 for Specialized was to retain the same aero performance while increasing ventilation and adding comfort. To this end, it claims a 2.4% improvement in cooling performance.

Design and aesthetics

The S-Works Evade 4 bears more of a resemblance to the original Evade. The opening ‘MouthPort’ at the base of the brow has been brought back, the curvature of the vents as they follow the helmet from the front to the rear is more pronounced, with the return of the diagonal vent on either flank.

The exhaust vent from the Evade 3 at the rear remains, though, and this has been widened quite significantly to create a much more squared-off, more open rear, which I'm told is inspired by the TT5.

As a result, the helmet is actually now shorter in front-to-back length than before.

It’s a millimetre wider too, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but this means the internal shape is wider, and will ease the pressure complaints that some wearers experienced on either side of their head.

At face value, it’s impressive that the brand has made it shorter, wider and more ventilated without ruining its aero performance (assuming you believe its claims, of course).

To be completely honest, I prefer the look of the older helmet, but A, who really cares what I think? I’m not exactly the authority when it comes to fashion. And B, I don’t have to look at it when I’m wearing it. I also expect I’m just being averse to change, and when it becomes ubiquitous in the WorldTour, I’ll probably change my tune.

Inside, the retention has switched to a new, lighter-weight cable that is easier to tighten, similar to the one found on Trek's Ballista and Velocis.

It continues to use MIPS Air Node, but in a slightly new ‘Air Node Pro’ version that is claimed to better manage sweat. In reality, these are simply bigger than before, no doubt helping to absorb a little bit more of the moisture.

Performance

The first thing I noticed when putting the Evade 4 on is that it fits the shape of my head better. This is entirely personal, of course, and the Evade 3 was by no means uncomfortable, but there was a small pressure point at my crown — same on the Prevail — which has now gone.

I’m also pleased it has switched to Boa for its retention dial and straps, using the new FS2 system. I like the Boa system on the Ballista and Velocis, and that rings true here too. I feel you can cinch up the helmet a few clicks tighter, comfortably, with the pressure spread more evenly around my head rather than feeling like I’m just squeezing my head from the back.

Again, none of this was particularly bad in the Evade 3, but these are small, iterative improvements between two flagship helmets. You won’t find wholesale change here.

Specialized says the reintroduction of the ‘mouth’ at the bottom of the brow was for cooling purposes, especially for riders with lots of hair, which could stifle the performance of the other vents. Interestingly, I’m told it was also a request from the brand’s upper management, who wanted to bring back the visual DNA of the previous Evades. Albeit only if it could be done “for performance reasons.”

The cooling performance has been pretty good, so clearly they made it work. I really rated this in the Evade 3, and despite a small amount of overheating on a long, slow gravel climb in a humid Girona — which I think is beyond the limit of any helmet — I remained comfortable and unbothered throughout.

Speaking of climbing, it has gained a little weight over the previous helmet. Claimed weights sit at 290g for CE (Europe) and 330g for CPSC (USA), both in size medium. That’s around 20g heavier than before, which isn’t going to trouble anyone in the grand scheme of things.

From a safety standpoint, there hasn’t been any independent testing as yet, so it’s unclear exactly where it will sit in comparison to competitors. It will have passed the relevant standard in each territory, but that is generally a low bar pass-fail result. Once independent testers at the likes of Virginia Tech have published their results, we will be sure to add them here.

The other definition of performance in an aero helmet has to be its aero drag, and while I’ve no reason to doubt Specialized’s statement that it’s on par with the older helmet, I haven’t yet verified it in our own wind tunnel tests.

The Evade 3 was among the most aerodynamic helmets we’ve tested, though, so if Specialized is right in saying this is similar, then it’ll be no slouch.

It’ll be a couple of months before we’re back in the wind tunnel, though, so for the time being, let’s just go with the completely arbitrary and utterly useless statement of “it felt fast.”

Value

I’m regularly tempted to just write ‘laugh out loud’ in this section and move on, because evaluating the value of a helmet that retails at $350 seems a little ridiculous, and it’s about as personal as the way it looks or the way it fits.

But since the POC Procen Air and Kask Elemento are $400, it’s not the most expensive helmet around. And given the popularity of the Evade 3, it’s fair to say enough people think a helmet in this ballpark is worth their hard-earned cash, and the Evade 4 is a marginally better helmet at a marginally higher price. So… same same from a pure value perspective, but having covered the launches of both of the aforementioned, I do feel $300 is a threshold that many cyclists don’t want to go beyond when buying a helmet.

Of course, you can get helmets for half the price that offer similar crash protection, or better ventilation, or similar aerodynamic performance. Where the Evade comes good, though, is its balance of all three. It’s why the Evade 3 was crowned the best overall in each of our road, gravel and aero helmets buying guides. Based on my time with the helmet and this review, I doubt it’ll be long before this takes its place there, too.

Verdict

Do I think the Evade 4 is the best road bike helmet on the market? Maybe. It’s not cheap, and I prefer how the older one looks, but there’s no denying it’s a contender.

There’s little doubt it’s aerodynamic, the ventilation is great, the comfort is top-notch, the few extra grams gained aren’t problematic, and the overall performance is excellent.

It’s a lot of cash to spend on a helmet, but if you want the best product, that’s usually how it works.

I’ve been testing the Rudy Project Kelion cycling sunglasses with an ImpactX photochromic lens. They’re up there with some of the best cycling glasses I’ve used, but they’re not without their flaws. The glasses are described by the brand as being “the pinnacle of innovation and excellence in the world of sports eyewear”, and sit at the top of Rudy Project’s eyewear range.

There’s no two ways about it; with a price tag of £269 / €269 / $299, these are an expensive pair of sunglasses. However, the versatility offered by the photochromic lens - which on this Matte Green Sage pair is in the 2 Laser Black tint - means that these will happily keep your vision sharp in everything from pretty much total darkness right through to all but the brightest of sunlight.

I’ve been riding with the Kelion’s over the last month or so in Bristol in the South West of the UK through late Winter into early Spring, so have worn the glasses in a broad variety of light and weather conditions. I’ve used the glasses primarily on the road, with one particularly boggy gravel ride thrown in for good measure.

Design and Aesthetics

The Kelion’s have a pretty modern aesthetic, with a large lens that offers a lot of coverage. Used by the likes of WorldTeam Bahrain Victorious and ProTeam Flanders Baloise, these fit right in inside the peloton. Of all of the sunglasses in Rudy Project’s range, I’d say these are the most modern, with alternatives like the Propulse or Turbolence having a much more retro look about them.

Rudy Project states that the Kelion’s ideal size range is ‘medium to large’ and the fit is ‘optimised for larger faces’. Fortunately, I’m a paid up member of the moon headed community, so I found the size to work well with my melon. If you had a smaller face, I can imagine these would be pretty cumbersome.

I tested the matte green sage colourway, but the photochromic options are also available in gloss black and gloss white. The standard version that uses the mirrored RPOptics multilaser mirrored lens has a broader variety of colours available, including a very Euro fluoro pink colourway, which I really like. The finish on the frames is great, and when the lenses darken to the ‘Laser Black’ tint, they look really sleek.

Whilst I appreciate how they look in my hand, I didn’t love the way they looked on my face. They’re quite tall, and don’t wrap around quite as wide as some other brands. Now, I am a lifelong Oakley user (from the original RadarLocks through to Jawbreakers, Sutros, Encoders, and more) so I’m very used to how they look on my face, and I also have a huge head so - whilst I didn’t adore how these looked on me - your experience may differ.

The photochromic lens Rudy Project uses is one of the best on the market. Rudy Project itself describes it as being “Unbreakable” – a claim I can’t vouch for. It also says it has “Exceptional Optical Clarity” and is “Lightweight and Durable” – not claims which I can say are true. The field of vision is massive, and the lens is crisp and clear from all angles. There are two small ventilation slits along the bottom of the lens and one just above the nose piece, which aid in breathability and help prevent the lenses steaming up during hard efforts.

The frame itself is made from Rilsan, which Rudy Project describes as “an exceptional eco-sustainable material known for its strength and flexibility”. I did some research, and it turns out Rilsan is a bio-based polyamide derived from castor bean oil, and is 100% renewable. A lot of modern sunglasses are manufactured from pretty standard nylon -- even Oakley’s proprietary “O-Matter” frames boil down to basic nylon - which is not a renewable material, so it’s good to see a more eco-conscious material being used by the Italian brand.

A small thing, but the glasses come in a hard case with foam padding and a soft bag. A lot of brands have started to do away with the hard case by way of shrinkflation, so it’s great to see Rudy Project still providing one that means the glasses can be stored and transported safely. For the price, I’d expect nothing less.

Performance

The design of these shades is very well thought out. For me, one of the standout features is the fully adjustable nose pad and arms. They’re made of a bendy, rubberised material that allows for basically infinite adjustment to really dial in the fit and ensure the frames won’t slip off your face. A nice side effect of the slightly rubberised arms is how they cling to your helmet vents when stowed there, which I really liked.

Straight out the box (the lovely solid box), the glasses were intuitive to adjust and fit to my face. The bendy arms and nose piece offer enough resistance that it’s easy to dial in the fit, but aren’t slack enough to bend out of place when you put them on. After a few rides in these glasses, going back to another pair without any adjustability felt quite jarring, and I wish adjustment like this was more commonplace on premium eyewear.

One slight niggle I had with my frames was a slightly loose hinge on one side. The left had a crisp snap to it, whereas the right was a bit floppier and wouldn’t stay snapped open. Of course, when wearing the glasses, this is a non-issue, but at this price point I’d expect perfection. Fortunately, the hinges are adjustable with a small flathead screwdriver, so I was able to tighten this up and remedy the fault. However, as it’s a very small, delicate screw, that isn’t something everyone would be comfortable doing, and you shouldn’t need to on a brand new pair of premium glasses straight out the box. I’ll give Rudy Project the benefit of the doubt on this one, but I’d be interested to see if this is a recurring issue over time that comes back.

Another key feature of the frames is the Quick Change Technology. A small button just next to the hinge on each side that, when depressed, releases the lower half of the frame to make switching lenses a breeze. I’ve always hated having to bend frames to snap out the lenses on other models of sunglasses, like an Oakley Sutro for example, it always feels dangerously close to snapping something. This feature makes that problem a thing of the past and, whilst you probably won’t need to swap the photochromic lens all that often, it’s a nice touch.

I am, among other things, a sweaty man. A common issue I have with sunglasses when I’m training is that they very quickly get covered in sweat or steamed up, and I end up taking them off and storing them in my helmet. Whilst this is a bit gross, and means I have to clean my glasses a lot, it does make it easy to test the ventilation on glasses. The thin vents on these lenses actually proved pretty effective, and I didn’t find them steaming up at any point, even on slower climbs when pushing hard (circumstances that can induce steam on a lot of less well ventilated sunnies).

The photochromic lens is the hallmark feature of these shades, and I’m pleased to report that it performed exceptionally. I remember a few years ago, someone from Rudy Project explained to me that its photochromic technology is actually baked into the lenses during construction, rather than a coating applied afterwards, meaning it lasts forever and doesn’t “wear off”. I found the adjustment to happen very quickly, and I was never left squinting in the light or taking them off when it got cloudy or dark underneath tree cover. My one criticism is that on one particularly bright and sunny day (yes, we do get those in Bristol sometimes), I found about the limit of the lens and would have opted for something mirrored or darker to really deal with the brightness. In Rudy Project’s defense, there was standing water on the road (because, despite the odd sunny day, it is always raining), which added to the glare, so I think it’s fair to say a pretty exceptional circumstance.

Size and aesthetic wise, I would compare these to something like an Oakley Sutro, which happens to be my sunglasses of choice when I’m not testing. Whilst I’ve not used Oakley’s photochromic lens, they measure up very similarly to the Rudy Projects, so I think make a fair comparison. I’d say the Rudy Project’s have slightly better ventilation (unless you opt for one of the Oakley lenses with ten pretty large holes drilled along the top), and offer heaps more adjustability. However, the RRP of the Oakley Sutro Lite with a photochromic lens is £188, almost £100 cheaper than the Rudy Projects, so I would expect the additional features offered by the Rudy Projects.

Value

Now, there’s no getting away from it, these are some of the most expensive sunglasses on the market (excluding anything with Meta AI slop integrated into it). £269 is a lot of money to drop on some cycling specific shades.

However, I actually think they’re not terrible from a value perspective. They are expensive, but they have heaps of features like the adjustable arms and nose piece that you just don’t see on other brands very often.

The photochromic lens is one of the highest quality on the market, and makes the sunglasses versatile enough to count as two pairs of sunglasses in one. If you consider buying two pairs of Oakleys with a standard and a lowlight lens, the price becomes a bit easier to swallow.

I still think they’re price is at the absolute far end of what you should pay for something like this, but Rudy Project says you can use they’re ideal for road cycling, triathlon, running, AND beach volleyball, so you can spread the cost out between all four of your hobbies.

Verdict

Overall, I think these are a really great pair of sunglasses. They are packed with features that make them easy to use and versatile, and represent the real top end of the eyewear market. They’re not flawless, and if you have a smaller face you may be better off with something a bit less huge, but for a lot of people I think these would be a great purchase that covers a lot of bases.

Geraint Thomas once made headlines for forgetting to remove his gilet before the Tour de France stage one time trial in Copenhagen in 2022, in what became affectionately known as ‘gilet gate’ but at Tuesday’s Giro d’Italia time trial, Lorenzo Milesi may just have topped it with a 'hold my beer' moment.

The Italian rolled down the start ramp wearing an ice vest – used to pre-cool the body's core temperature in a bid to find a few extra watts – over his time trial skinsuit.

But rather than an attempt to take 'pre-cooling' marginal gains a step further, he later told reporters in an interview put out on Cycling Pro Net, that he simply forgot to take it off before he rolled down the start ramp.

"When I started, I realised I couldn't take it off anymore," the Movistar man said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I noticed it right at the start, but by then it was too late. From that moment, I just had to ride my pace and see how it went."

Movistar's kit sponsor, Gobik, will no doubt have spent countless hours honing the aerodynamic performance of its time-trial skinsuit, so it's safe to assume the ice vest would have added some drag to the Italian's setup.

Milesi confirmed as much too, adding, "It would have gone better without the cooling vest, so that’s a lesson to take with me."

Despite this, he clocked a respectable time of 48:33, landing 9th place, 20 seconds ahead of GC favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

That was still 2:40 behind his compatriot Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos), though, who blew away the field, winning by 1:54 ahead of his own teammate Thymen Arensman.

Milesi's performance raises an interesting question that, no doubt, teams have already pondered: Did the continued cooling effects of wearing the vest offer a benefit that negated some – or all – of the aero penalty?

If in the next few years we start seeing time-trial skinsuits with integrated cooling vests, we'll know the answer.

Amusingly, this isn't the first fashion faux pas we've seen from the Spanish team this Giro. Enric Mas was spotted wearing a kit from the Movistar women's team, his kit emblazoned with the 'UCI WWT' logo of the Women's WorldTour.

He brushed it off as just a simple mistake, telling Spanish newspaper AS, "Maybe they made a mistake when distributing the clothing, but it doesn’t matter. I didn’t notice, I just wore the clothes. Everything was my size, and the shorts too; the only difference was the logo."

Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.

Historically, the Giro d'Italia doesn't often serve up a great wealth of new tech goodies, but in a year with a renewed focus on time trial tech thanks to a team time trial and an individual one at the Tour de France, it seems teams are using every opportunity to hone their setups in advance of the biggest race of the year.

While Tadej Pogačar is absent at the Giro, instead honing his form at altitude in the Sierra Nevada while rival Jonas Vingegaard attempts to mop up the full suite of Grand Tour victories for his palmarès, his teammates from UAE Team Emirates were exhibiting an all-new time trial helmet on todays stage 10 individual time trial.

This is likely the final piece of the equipment puzzle for the year, to go alongside the new, lightweight Colnago TT bike that was spotted under the Slovenian at the Tour of Romandie earlier in the year.

While the style of the new MET TT helmet isn't groundbreaking, hitting as it does all the modern tropes of being very large, especially in width, to shape the airflow around the rider's shoulders, it brings the team much more up to date.

It's not unfair to say the existing MET helmet, the Drone, was somewhat dated in it's simple tadpole shape, and was likely costing the defending champion watts that he clearly could afford to lose, but would likely rather not have to.

Perhaps the standout feature of the new helmet is the coloured lip at the base of the visor (or should that be a lens, as it is bordered for it's entire circumference). We've seen this before in a more extreme guise on the Kask visors of the Ineos Grenadiers before they were swiftly banned by the UCI.

It's vaguely reminiscent of the helmet worn by Miguel Indurain in his Banesto days, just a lot larger.

Unrelated to the helmet, it was also curious to see the UAE riders all using the older time trial bike, too.

Either this means the new model is just for Pogačar for now (either by design or due to supply issues), or as we suspect it's a bike that has a more balanced approach to aerodynamics and low weight, and as such will be deployed on more hilly courses.

In any case, we may be entering a new era of teams having multiple time trial machines if this sparks an arms race from other teams.

Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.

The Giro d' Italia is currently showcasing all the latest cycling trends and drool-worthy tech as the men's peloton races around Italy. All those top-end bikes can be alluring, and every cyclist knows the "N+1" rule: the correct number of bikes to own is always one more than you currently have.

However, the latest choices of the best road bikes, including our choice as the best overall road bike – the Factor OSTRO VAM, will make a serious dent in your wallet, and breaking the bank on another dream bike could, arguably, be seen as pushing it (by a non-cycling wife, husband or partner, anyway).

Lego may just have the answer to keeping the peace in your household, and it has just released its first-ever road bike build. The Lego Icons Road Bike (11380) is a meticulously detailed 1,015-piece set, and not only does it have the look of the best aero road bikes, but it is also a fully functioning road bike Lego build experience, packed with technical, real-life details that we as cyclists obsess over.

Pre-order the Lego Road Bike set for just $129.99 at Amazon.

The set is available for pre-order now at Amazon and also directly from Lego. I’ve written numerous Lego deals posts for our sister site over at Space, and like all new Lego releases, the Lego Icons Road Bike set is going to be a very popular set, amongst Lego collectors and cycling enthusiasts.

So if you want this one for yourself or even as a gift for the cyclist in your life, I’d suggest you get your pre-order in fast. Orders are scheduled to ship on June 1, and with Father's Day in the US and UK on Sunday, 21 June, it’s a perfectly timed gift.

The set is very impressive in stature and measures over 14 in. (36 cm) high, 23.5 in. (60 cm) long and 7.5 in. (19 cm) wide. The final build also comes with a stand that is also very reminiscent of some of the best smart trainers, which means it'll make for a brilliant display piece in your pain cave.

Details that had me reaching for my credit card include the front-wheel steering and a fully working drivetrain. The drivetrain features a functional chain made of individual Lego 'links' that rotate when you turn the cranks, and even more impressive, it features a fully working freewheel, allowing the rear wheel to spin independently for that satisfying real-world coasting effect.

Lego hasn’t said which road bike the set is based on, but our cycling tech experts reckon it leans heavily on some early Factor bikes with the familiar 'chunky' bayonet head tube design.

A notable detail is the wheels, with more than a nod to some of the best road bike wheels like the Scope Artech 6.A, the fastest aero wheelset we tested in our recent wind tunnel wheel tests.

I particularly love the addition of a bidon and the rear light, which immediately reminded me of our favourite rear-light of all time, the Magicshine SEEMEE300; sadly, as good as the Lego designers are, there's no brake light function or exceptional 300 lumens of brightness built-in here.

Below you'll find the best Lego Icons Road Bike set prices, relevant to your location and currency.

In 2025, Fizik moved into a new category by launching a range of four premium cycle helmets. Of these, the Kudo and Kudo Aero were designed for road, gravel and XC MTB use.

It has now added the mid-priced Kyros, aimed at the same cycling categories. While its Kudo and Kudo Aero carried a premium £270 / $320 price, the Kyros knocks a whole £100 / $120 off this, making it a much more accessible road bike helmet option for a broader range of cyclists.

We’ve been riding with the Kyros both on the road and on gravel to see how it shapes up.

Design and aesthetics

The Kyros shares the overall shape of the Kudo, although Fizik has made changes to the details. Although the vent positioning is the same across the two helmets, the vents are a little smaller in the Kyros and the ribs a little wider. The transverse member across the crown of the helmet is structurally part of the EPS shell rather than a separate component, as in the Kudo, and is a little deeper than that in the Kudo. The brow vents in the Kyros are a little narrower too.

The Kyros’ shell has exposed EPS foam at its bottom, unlike the Kudo where the outer shell extends over the foam. Over time, the polystyrene can become marked and gouged where exposed, something that’s avoided with the Kudo’s wrap-around shell.

While the Kudo has the MIPS Air system, which incorporates a sliding layer underneath the helmet’s padding, the Kyros has a MIPS Evolve Core liner. This is akin to the original MIPS system, with a separate plastic liner within the helmet shell to which the helmet’s padding is attached.

Fizik has yet to send the Kyros to the Virginia Tech helmet lab, but the Kudo’s four-star rating put it mid-pack among helmets that have been tested.

The Kyros’ retainer system is similar to that of the Kudo, with height adjustment of the rear cradle and a large adjuster dial. It shares Fizik’s crown adjustment system, where red studs in the front sides of the retainer can be moved between three anchor points in the front portion of the helmet shell to alter the helmet’s internal shape and where it sits on the brow and temples.

At the rear, the two large vents also mirror the Kudo, with a central reflector which can be replaced with a light unit. But whereas the Kudo and Kudo Air are sold with the red LED light, it’s an additional cost item for the Kyros.

The Kyros’s strap design is similar to the Kudo, although it omits the reflective thread present in the Kudo. The chin straps are separate pieces attached to the plastic Y-splitters, so the height of the splitters below the ears cannot be adjusted. There’s a standard click-in buckle to the chin strap.

The Kyros has a 335g claimed weight in size L, and my helmet was spot-on. That’s almost the same as the Kudo’s weight with the light fitted.

Performance

The Kyros helmet felt comfortable on my head with minimal adjustment. While some helmets have a tendency to feel perched on my head, the Kyros sat deeper at the sides, and the rear retainer placed itself snugly under my occipital prominence.

Together, these gave a planted feel, even before I fastened the chin strap and, if I shook my head, the helmet moved with it, rather than rocking. The straps felt secure when fastened and sat close to my head, particularly the rear one. There was zero tendency to flap while riding.

I was initially sceptical that the crown adjustment system would make a significant change to the fit of the helmet. But moving the red studs between the default forward position and the furthest rearward position did change the pressure distribution, putting greater pressure on my brow. The furthest forward position was more comfortable for my head shape.

The strap splitters sat just below my ears without rubbing on them or being uncomfortable, although some riders may find that the lack of adjustability for the splitters leads to a less comfortable fit.

Airflow through the Kyros felt good, and the helmet was comfortable-to-cool in UK springtime temperatures, even on windless, low-speed gravel climbs.

I didn’t have the opportunity to wear the helmet in hotter weather. It’s possible that it would run hotter than some other helmets in the heat, although the wide double strip of transverse brow padding should help prevent sweat from dripping into the eyes.

The two side front vents are reasonably sunglasses-friendly, and the sidearms of my sunnies docked pretty easily, although I still prefer to hook the glasses in the back of my collar when not needed, Contador style.

In stronger crosswinds, there was quite a lot of noise from the helmet, which seemed to come from the wind passing over the edges of the plastic MIPS liner. This wasn’t too intrusive, though, and when riding into the wind rather than across it, it disappeared.

Value

While many cycling helmets, including Fizik’s own Kudo and Kudo Aero, pitch towards the £300 mark, the £100 lower price of the Kyros is significantly more affordable.

Although Fizik has downgraded some specs, the overall design of the Kyros retains the shape and many of the features of the Kudo. Unlike the Kudo, Fizik doesn’t make any aero claims for the Kyros, but given the similar overall shape and vent distribution, its aerodynamics could be broadly in line with the pricier helmet.

The Kyros’ £169.99 / $199.99 / €190 list price puts it in competition with helmets such as the Kask Valegro, Poc Omne Air and Specialized Propero 4, also mid-tier helmets from their respective brands that trickle down tech from their premium offerings.

Verdict

Fizik has made some smart modifications to the Kyros to lower the price relative to the Kudo, while keeping the key elements of that helmet’s design. The overall shape is similar and I reckon you’d be hard-pressed to notice any reduced airflow, while the key elements of adjustability are retained.

MIPS Core may not be as neatly integrated as MIPS Air but it doesn’t impinge on the helmet’s internals and there’s the same fit system as the Kudo, offering broad adjustability. This leads to a comfortable helmet that sat deep on my head, offering a reassuringly planted fit.

The Kyros feels like a good option for riders who are looking for Fizik’s style without the premium pricing of the Kudo.

Scorecard

Assos have revealed the EF Education-EasyPost changeout colours for the 2026 Giro d'Italia, with the team opting for a green look, seemingly inspired by a Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme, with an alien-face and upside-down cow on the jersey.

The kit, made by Swiss brand Assos, comes with a "Ride In Peace" message that plays on the 'We come in peace' message often cited by aliens in science fiction movies and books. Assos also released a promotional video that played on the extraterrestrial theme, with a cow taken by aliens and replaced by the green jersey.

"We made contact. A signal. A message: We ride in peace. Do you? Join us," EF Pro Cycling said when revealing the Giro kit.

Under UCI rules, team jerseys cannot be the same colour as Grand Tour leaders' jerseys, with the rule forcing NetCompany-Ineos to opt for a lighter green than their corporate colours to avoid a clash with the dark green palate used for the points jersey at the Tour de France.

EF Education have worn some highly creative and individual kits in recent years at the Giro d'Italia, including a collaboration with clothing brand Palace that included a cartoon duck.

EF Education switched from Rapha to Assos race clothing this year and the Swiss brand has gone for the green extraterrestrial theme.

"Pink has been abducted. Returned to Earth as something new. Limited-edition graphics inspired by a world beyond," Assos said on its website, as limited quantities of the jersey, shorts and a long-sleeve casual jersey went on sale.

"Too often in this sport, performance and identity are treated separately. We don’t see it that way. With EF Pro Cycling, this is again about pushing both at the same time: engineering at the highest level, and a visual language that refuses to blend in," Assos CEO Edwin Navez said.

"If we’re going to change kits, it should actually say something," said EF team manager Jonathan Vaughters.

"Assos gives our riders the performance, comfort, and technical quality they need to race at their best, and that allows us to have some fun with the design. With this kit, we’re visually manifesting. Hide your cows. We’re coming to this Giro with serious race ambitions."

EF Education-EasyPost are expected to chase stage victories at the Giro after GC contender Richard Carapaz was ruled out due to recent saddle sore surgery. Carapaz finished third overall in 2025 after a stand-off with Isaac del Toro allowed Simon Yates to take the race lead on the final mountain stage.

The 2026 Giro d'Italia starts in Bulgaria on Friday May 8, with EF Education-EasyPost expected to show off their new colours at the official team presentation on Wednesday.

Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.

Soudal-QuickStep have unveiled a new look for the upcoming Giro d'Italia, with the Belgian team switching out their blue kit for a 'vintage cream' jersey in tribute to kitmaker Castelli.

The Italian brand has been making QuickStep's kits since the 2022 season, but has been around far longer, having been founded 150 years ago in 1876.

In tribute to the milestone, Castelli and Soudal-QuickStep have collaborated on a special design for this year's Giro featuring a host of logos from the Venetian brand's history.

The new kit is cream coloured and features all the usual Soudal-QuickStep sponsors in the same places, including the large logos of the two title sponsors on a dark blue background on the chest.

The bottom half of the jersey, both front and rear, features numerous Castelli logos, while the chest area features a '150' badge incorporating Castelli's current logo.

"For the Giro d'Italia, we wanted to provide Soudal Quick-Step with some bespoke kit that genuinely reflects 150 years of Castelli, not just as a celebration, but as a continuation of what our brand stands for today," said Castelli global brand manager Steve Smith.

"The vintage cream tone was chosen to give a retro feel, and because it provided the right canvas. It softens the overall look and allows the different scorpion colours and wordmark variations to sit together cohesively. Our goal with this design wasn't to look back, but to proudly show how our history still informs what we do today."

Soudal-QuickStep haven't yet announced their lineup for the Giro d'Italia, which runs from May 8-31. However, the team will be without Mikel Landa in Italy after the Spanish climber suffered a pelvic fracture in a crash at Itzulia Basque Country.

The team's provisional lineup includes Classics man Jasper Stuyven and sprinter Paul Magnier, as well as Ayco Bastiaens, Dries Van Gestel, and the Italian trio of Filippo Zana, Andrea Noviero Raccagni, and Gianluca Garofoli.

"One hundred and fifty years is an extraordinary milestone, and what makes Castelli's story so compelling is that their history has always been defined by pushing forward, not standing still," said Soudal-QuickStep CEO Jurgen Foré.

"That is something we recognise in ourselves. We are proud to wear this kit at the Giro d'Italia as it is a beautiful tribute to everything they have built. We believe the best way we can honour it is by racing hard. We will be chasing stage victories and targeting GC ambitions, and we hope there will be many opportunities to show these beautiful garments on the podium at the Giro d'Italia."

Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.

In the USA, Mother's Day is traditionally celebrated annually on the second Sunday in May, and this year it falls on May 10.

If the most important lady in your life is a cyclist, then shopping for a Mother's Day gift should be straightforward enough, with cycling essentials deals usually always available across all the online cycling retailers like Amazon.

However, if mum's mothering skills have been particularly on point this year, and you feel like pushing the boat out, lavishing her with some gear from the best cycling brands on the market will most definitely put a smile on her face, come Mother's Day.

Speaking from my own experience, Velocio manufactures some of the best cycling products I've ever used, and for Mother's Day, the Velocio Women's Final Sale with discounts of up to 50% is well worth checking out.

Below you'll find a selection of products to suit all budgets, including smaller items and products that our team of female testers have rated highly, such as the Velocio Ultralight Bib Shorts, which reviewer Mildred Locke scored with a flawless 5-star rating.

Another outstanding buy is the Velocio Women's Ultralight Rain Jacket, which has 50% off, taking it down to just $175. This also scored an impressive 4.5-star rating in testing, and it comes in most sizes and two colour options.

It's worth noting that as these items are final sale pieces, they are only available in limited quantities, and there are no refunds on these items. However, Velocio will accept returned items for store credit.

Velocio also offers free shipping on orders over $100, so if you fancy treating yourself as well as mum, the Velocio Men's Final Sale is the place to grab a bargain.

Velocio Women's Apparel Deals

Our expert female reviewers have tried and tested the majority of the highlighted Velocio deals, and if any catch your eye as a potential Mother's Day gift, and you require further information, then a quick search on Cyclingnews will provide just that.

If Mother's Day isn't actually on your radar, and you're after some cycling deals for yourself, then our buying guides have all the best advice from the best cycling shoes to the best waterproof cycling jackets, bike computers, and cycling watches, and much, much more.

Unfortunately, these Velocio deals are only available in the US, but below, our handy price checker will show the best prices on Velocio products located in your territory, and in your relevant currency.

The Rapha Archive Sale ends this weekend, April 12. So it’s your last chance to find discounts and save big on some of the best Rapha clothing at bargain prices. It's also Paris-Roubaix weekend, which for me has always signalled the start of summer riding, dusting down the road bike from hibernation and stocking up on cycling essentials.

Shop the final weekend of the Rapha Archive Sale

If you're gearing up on some fresh bike wear, then the UK cycling brand has huge reductions across its site, including the best waterproof cycling jackets, best bib tights, and cycling shoes, from both the Men's and Women's range. These are some of the biggest Rapha deals I've seen for a while, and with up to 50%, they are well worth taking advantage of while you can.

I've had a good root around and below, and I've selected clothing that I've personally ridden from the Rapha Archive Sale, including road cycling clothing and gravel riding kit.

However, everything from cycling jerseys to insulated Gore-Tex jackets and lifestyle off-bike clothing is discounted. I've also highlighted some of the Explore Range of bikepacking bags, which are also up to 50% off, and have an additional bonus of a further 10% off when you buy two items from the Explore bike baggage range.

So if you have some summer bikepacking adventures lined up, it's a great chance to grab some of the best bikepacking kit with big savings.

Don't hang around, though, as the sale is scheduled to end on April 12th, and then these discounts may no longer be available. Some items are also showing as limited sizing, and like all sales, it's only while stock lasts.

Rapha Archive Sale Men's Deals

Rapha Archive Sale Women's Deals

Rapha Archive Sale Accessories Deals

If any of the highlighted Rapha deals catch your eye, then our expert testers have reviewed and rated the majority of them, and if you require a deep dive on any of these, then a quick search on Cyclingnews will provide just that.

The highlighted deals are from the UK Rapha Archive Sale, which ends on April 12, so the clock is ticking to grab a deal. In the US, the Rapha Archive Sale has already ended, but below you'll find the best prices on Rapha apparel from other retailers, relevant to your currency and location.

The Giro Eclipse has been the aero helmet of choice for Giro sponsored teams since its unveiling in March 2021 and release in early 2022. Four years on, and already gracing the heads of Tour de France Femmes and Vuelta España winners throughout 2025, the Giro Eclipse Pro is here.

It promises the usual watts saved, lighter weight, same comfort and safety as any new helmet release comes with. However, a key development point has been to make a helmet that performs across multiple head positions.

The old Giro Eclipse was a solid performer in our aero testing roundup, and the new one maintains a similar look, but with a sleeker and smoother design, complimented by a new ‘wing’. In practice, the ventilation claims certainly appear to live up to expectations, while the weight is impressively low. Without wind tunnel verification, I can’t comment on the aero performance, but in every tangible aspect this helmet is a step above the previous version and many competitors, so should put it among the best aero helmets on the market.

Design and Aesthetics

Giro invited me to a talk on the development of this helmet, so I can tell you exactly what the company’s aim was. Key focus points were, of course, aerodynamics but also ventilation. Low weight was another component, but more of a secondary one.

In the design process, Giro had two prospective models. One with the smaller profile and rounded off design similar to the old Eclipse, and one with a longer tail similar to the likes of the Trek Ballista, Oakley Velo Mach, and other longer profiled helmets. Throughout the design process, it was found that the longer version was fairly similar in performance to the rounded off design, but it struggled in different head positions. That is a key element of this helmet; it has been designed to be fast with the rider looking ahead or with their head down, where longer helmets become more draggy. Thus the far more rounded designed Eclipse Pro was settled upon, looking similar to older generation aero helmets rather than the new breed of extended aerofoil designs of recent years.

The helmet was designed using both wind tunnel testing, and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) so as to settle on this design and shape. An interesting feature of the helmet is the little ‘wing’ at the rear of the helmet, a happy stumble apparently that had the effect of increasing the length of the virtual aerofoil (how the air flows off the back of the helmet to give it the effect of a teardrop style helmet) and reducing turbulence off the back of the helmet in testing, without the downsides of impaired aero performance with the head down.

Giro claims that the new helmet is 17% less draggy than the old Eclipse in isolation, while as a system (rider and head included) the Eclipse Pro was 1.1% faster with a 5w saving at 0˚ yaw (angle of the wind to the rider) at 50kph, a now common WorldTour race speed.

Of course ventilation was another key goal, and the Eclipse Pro ended up being the primary helmet of choice for all professional sponsored teams even in the height of summer on mountain stages. This helmet actually has more vents than the old Eclipse but fewer total openings in terms of area. It is also not as open and airy as the Aries helmet. However, the vent placement and channelling is very clever. The vent just above the forehead is a dual purpose one.

While looking forwards, it aims to help draw hot air from the front of the head out and over the helmet, while with the head down internal splitters direct airflow around the forehead as well as the sides to improve airflow for aero purposes as well. DryCore padding is also used to prevent sweat from dripping down into your eyes. This incorporates a silicone bead inside the padding to direct sweat to the outside of your face, rather than down into your eyes.

Safety is another priority for helmet design, and Giro has stuck with the Spherical MIPS design which puts the helmet in two halves that can move over each other to improve protection against rotational impacts. This worked well in previous helmets to achieve high Virginia Tech safety scores. It impressively has also resulted in a very low weight for a full aero helmet of just over the advertised 280g at 288g actual.

For comfort and retention, the standard Giro Roc Loc Air fit system with a single dial for adjustments and then strap length and splitter height adjustments. At release there will be 8 colour options, and sizes from Small to Large.

Performance

Starting things off with the design from a practical point, I like that Giro has taken the decision to use the polycarbonate shell all the way around the helmet so that no foam can be dented when placing the helmet on surfaces. It’s a good longevity design addition.

Fit is another solid area for this helmet. The Roc Loc Air fit system allows for micro adjustments with the rear dial, while the cradle is height adjustable. For the webbing there are adjusters to raise or lower them, while the chin-strap has a neat tab for keeping excess strap from flailing. But this is where my first gripe comes, and that is the front strap section of the webbing. It can move around on the side of my head and can, in rare cases, rub against my ear, which is a mild annoyance more than anything.

Obviously, this is an aero helmet, so aero performance is really where it aims to excel. I can’t really comment on that without proper testing, but the previous Eclipse was 7w slower than the Oakley Velo Mach test winner (247w v 240w). Giro claims the new Eclipse Pro is 5w faster at 50kph than the previous Eclipse. But that means that the saving at 40kph might be lower, which would make it potentially slower relative to the Oakley, on our test model anyway. But, if it is less sensitive to position changes, then it may be faster over the duration of a ride. We can’t say without testing, while different helmets work differently at different speeds.

What I will say is that there weren’t any occasions where I put my head down and could feel the tell-tail billowing feel that I have experienced from longer tailed helmets such as the Abus GameChanger 2.0 and Trek Ballista.

The Giro Eclipse Pro also feels fairly lightweight. Interestingly it’s about 10g heavier than the old Eclipse, but it is not noticeable on the head. It compares favourably with many other high-end aero helmets within the same sort of market.

My favourite aspect of this helmet though has been the ventilation and head cooling in several different forms. First off, the ventilation itself is impressively good, with a similar number of vents as the old Eclipse, but a far more closed off design to the helmet. Helmets like the POC Procen Air are impressively vented, but only at higher speeds. The large openings on the front of the helmet in high pressure areas allow airflow in, while a venturi effect channels this at high speed through the helmet leading to great ventilation, but it is best when travelling at higher speeds. Slow down, and this performance drops off massively.

This is where, frankly, the Eclipse Pro has been an oddity and exceptional. At the front there are only really the two side brow vents that face the front and the oncoming air. These allow a solid amount of air through while the rear exhausts let it out. Where things get clever is the top vent. This is marginally visible front on, but mostly when the head points down. It appears to have the effect of taking air that hits your forehead, channelling it up through this vent, and over the helmet onto the rear ‘wing’. This wing then helps accelerate airflow off the back of the helmet and enhance that venturi effect to accelerate airflow through the helmet. But the clever part is when you tilt your head down and this front exhaust becomes an inlet which helps channel air through the helmet and out of the back. It enhances cooling, but this is also part of how Giro has supposedly made this helmet fast in multiple head positions.

The other temperature regulation element I love is not a new one, but the DryCore padding that started with the Giro Aries. This uses a silicone bead within the pad and prevents sweat from dripping down onto your face. I hate that sensation, and it plays a big part in making me feel warmer than I really am and causing discomfort. The DryCore padding does away with this, so the helmet feels like it better regulates my temperature than even highly vented helmets.

One other gripe I do have with this helmet is the glasses storage. It’s not the best at keeping them in place, depending on the model. POC Propel glasses struggled to stay in, Oakley Velo Kato are a bit too wide, but the AlbaOptics Jumbo fit quite well. However, following on from the previous point about sweat, the fact it doesn’t drip into my eyes means I don’t need to remove my glasses when riding anymore. The need to store glasses becomes somewhat superfluous, while storing them in vents also ruins aero performance, so again, glasses storage is even more superfluous on an aero helmet.

Value

Coming in at £294.99/$349.99, this is quite the jump up in price from the previous non-Pro Eclipse, which was a relatively good value aero helmet. This new Giro Eclipse Pro is now firmly above the likes of the Specialized S-Works Evade 3 (£250/$299.99), Oakley Velo Mach (£255/$340), Met Manta (£229.99/$349.95) and incredibly good value Van Rysel FCR (£99.99/$100). It does undercut some offerings such as the POC Procen Air (£370/$400), Kask Nirvana (£320/$400) and Ekoi Aero R (£315/$335).

There are a few considerations though. The Giro is lighter than many of these offerings, while the ventilation at a broader range of speeds, not just high airflow, is better and not by a small margin. The only helmet I haven’t tested out of those mentioned is the Van Rysel, but the rest are all significantly warmer at speeds under 35kph. Safety is another consideration, as Giro and the Spherical MIPS tech has often proven very high scoring when it comes to independent safety tests.

Adjustability and comfort are also impressive. Only glasses storage is a let-down, but quite frankly putting glasses in your vents ruins the benefits of an aero helmet and often compromises ventilation. The DryCore padding prevents sweat dripping down and limits the need to remove glasses in the first place.

I can’t comment on aero performance, but this helmet has almost become the go-to option for sponsored teams, even on hot mountain stages where the more vented Aries model would often be preferred. That choice is not being made for anything other than performance both in aero and cooling balance.

I’d argue to an extent that the POC Procen Air might still be my favourite aero race helmet, and the inclusion of visors softens the financial blow. Ear covers and visor can be removed for UCI events too, but for most riding, the Giro Eclipse does offer a reasonable total value all things considered.

Only one helmet truly beats it for me in overall value/performance for money, which is the Scott Cadence Plus. The rear light, MIPS, fitting, and performance are all superb and the cost is £229.99. The padding is not as good for sweat management, but that’s it.

Verdict

When it comes to overall performance, the Giro Eclipse Pro has well and truly won me over. I can’t comment on the actual aero performance, but the modest improvement claims give me hope in their credibility, rather than outlandish double figure watt savings. Meanwhile the weight is objectively light (no need to quibble that) while the comfort is impressive overall.

The DryCore padding is my favourite thing Giro has ever invented, while the ventilation on such a closed-off helmet is exceptional. Even up mountains in the Spanish sun, the Eclipse Pro has never felt stuffy which is an achievement for any helmet let alone an aero one. It isn’t cheap, but you certainly get what you pay for, and it has become my favourite helmet for almost every use.

Fizik has launched the Lyra, a new mid-range road cycling shoe, which it says is "designed for modern riding positions."

The Italian brand says it combines performance and lasting comfort, thanks to a wider, rounder toe box, and a natural, supportive fit that’s geared for everyday training and endurance rides.

It claims a weight of 259g per shoe, albeit in an unspecified size. And that’s without a footbed, which adds another 20g.

According to Alex Locatelli, brand manager at Fizik: “Lyra brings key elements from our top-tier models into a versatile, everyday performance shoe designed for long rides, fast training, and racing alike.”

More rounded toe sections are a feature of many newer designs among the best cycling shoes, with examples such as the Specialized Ares 2 and Torch Remco and Fizik’s own flagship Vega Carbon shoe, launched last year with a £389.99 / $469.99 / €390.00 price tag.

The Fizik Lyra brings that wider fit and the looks of the Vega Carbon to a lower price point of £229.99 / $249.99 / €249.00.

Fizik says that the wider fit, straighter front-to-back axis and a lower drop from the heel to the toe improve comfort for more modern ride positions, as it claims they allow the foot to stretch and promote a more natural feel under load. The Lyra is the latest example of this updated shoe last that Fizik has introduced with its newer shoes.

Locatelli says that Fizik has used extensive research on foot shapes from around the world, including Northern Europe, Asia and the US to inform its updated last. It's also aimed to address the perception that its shoes are narrow.

He continues that placing the cleat further rearward means that more pressure is put on the midfoot and less on the forefoot, and so this is naturally more inclined to splay when riding. Likewise, there's less drop needed, as the foot position is naturally flatter when pressure is exerted via the midfoot.

Repositioned cleat anchors

The shoe sits on a fibre composite sole that Fizik rates 8 on its stiffness index, so not quite as stiff as its Vega Carbon which is rated 10 for stiffness. Again, Fizik has updated its design to allow cleats to be positioned further rearwards on the sole. It claims this improves foot stability and pedalling efficiency.

Unlike the flagship Vega Carbon, the Lyra's cleat anchor points are fixed in the sole rather than a floating anchor plate, so fore and aft positioning is constrained by the adjustability of the cleat itself.

The shoe’s upper is made of engineered mesh that Fizik says improves ventilation and offers a clean look, mirroring Fizik’s top spec shoes. Ventilated zones sit between more reinforced areas around the Boa closures, and there are perforations in the floating tongue.

Fizik will sell the Lyra in sizes from 36 to 48, with half sizes available from 37 to 47. There’s a choice of four colours: black, black/white, white/lavender and mint green.

Many riders will find the trend to wider lasts leads to increased foot comfort, regardless of whether it’s needed for changed ride positions, even if brands often include a wide fit option for some of their shoe lines.

Cycling shoes have historically not been the most comfortable of footwear, with narrow lasts tending to squeeze the midfoot and lead to foot discomfort. A little more wiggle room for the toes is something they’ll welcome.

With the best cycling glasses marketplace dominated by well established brands like Oakley and Smith Optics, SunGod is a relative newcomer having arrived on the scene in 2013, but it has quickly gained traction by offering premium-feeling sunglasses and ski goggles at a more accessible price. You’ll find them perched on the noses of pro athletes including the youngest person to run the length of the UK, and Team Ineos Grenadiers.

Fitting into neither pro athlete category, I’ve been testing the Airas on regular rides on roads, tracks and trails throughout winter around Bristol and South Wales. Conditions have ranged from dense fog to bright, low winter sun – the kind of riding where sunglasses often bounce between your helmet and on your face with rapidly changing conditions, making it quick to get a clear sense of the comfort, coverage and lens performance of the Airas. Ultimately, I was blown away by the performance of the Airas in all weather, making wearing sunglasses a joy not a hassle.

Design and Aesthetics

After a particularly close-call with a thorn and corneal abrasions from riding gritty trails, I tend to ride with glasses year-round. When I’ve rocked up to group mountain bike rides with my clear lenses, I’ve been told I look a bit like I’m on my way to the lab to run tests. So I was excited to try the SunGod Airas with their 8KO Iris photochromic lenses, which promised to adapt to fast changing light, eliminating the need for multiple pairs.

At 27g, these are relatively lightweight (though you can shave five or six grams with something like the Oakley EVZero Blades, if you’re really picky. With several nose padding options, they sat comfortably on my face with no pinching or slipping. The coverage is substantial, and I found no wind or sunlight getting in around the nosepiece or from the top of the glasses, which I sometimes find with other pairs like my Smith Optics Ruckus sunglasses.

Aesthetically these are a slick-looking pair of glasses with extensive customisation options when it comes to lens type, colour and accessories. As standard with each pair, you’ll find four different sizes of nosepieces, and a full-frame add-on which is simple enough to attach and provides extra stability. Riders with smaller faces like myself might find they look a little ski-goggle like, but the coverage is of course beneficial. The lenses of the Airas are interchangeable, but they already do the work of going from clear to tinted for you. That being said, if you already own the non-photochromic pair, you could update to the 8KO Iris photochromic lenses.

SunGod’s screwless pop-lock hinges mean the arms pop off rather than snapping under pressure, and the lenses are scratch-resistant with triple-layer protection.

If you do find yourself accidentally squashing or scratching a pair, SunGod commits to repairing or replacing their glasses free of charge thanks to its Lifetime Guarantee, which includes accidental damage from drops, falls or sitting on them (‘intentional misuse’ and scratches on the lens are not covered). It’s also worth pointing out here that, as well as its ethos of keeping gear in play rather than throwing it away, SunGod pay close attention to sustainability with 100% recycled plastic frames and packaging. It is also a B Corp, a member of 1% For the Planet, and it claims that every product is carbon neutral.

Performance

There are products you tolerate, and there are products you forget you’re even using. The SunGod Airas firmly fall into the latter category for so many reasons.

The stand out feature here is the 8KO Iris photochromic lenses, which, frankly, blew my mind. Wearing the Airas for a three-hour winter mountain bike ride in low sunshine, I kept them on for the entire duration. No hassle, no constant taking them off to stuff them into my helmet when it became too shady to see. I genuinely forgot they were on my face – until they were covered in mud.

When the guaranteed glasses-off moment came as I approached a 500m tunnel on my local bike path, I didn’t even consider removing them. The lenses adjusted quickly, meaning I could ride straight through without a moment of blindness.

Riding in changeable conditions, I’m used to the on-off dance with my sunglasses in and out of my helmet. I often find the arms digging into my scalp while lodged in the air vents, with the rubber arms often tugging painfully at my hair when I remove them. With the Airas, I could hardly tell they were there, and could remove them without any hair-pulling drama.

That said, I kept them on for most of the ride anyway, rain or shine. On chunkier gravel, they stayed relatively secure in my POC Omne Air helmet, though I did have to nudge them back into place once or twice, but they were never at risk of launching themselves onto the trail. I did find that when removing them from my helmet on a damp misty ride, the warmth of my face would momentarily cause the lenses to fog, though they would clear on their own fairly quickly or with a brief wipe using the carry pouch.

Compared to my long-standing Smith Ruckus sunglasses, the coverage of the Airas was excellent, creating a barrier for wind, sun and grit, which ended up on the glasses with no drama. No longer needing to carry two pairs, I could ditch my clear goggles in favour of these slick riding glasses, avoiding the ‘mad scientist’ look.

I was initially worried that the ‘pop-lock’ hingeless arms would result in them popping off inconveniently, but they felt robust and I was able to stuff them in the pocket of my cargo bib shorts without worry. The scratch resistant lenses also held up well being shoved into a pocket next to various wrappers and a pump, with sticky finger-marks easily wiped off with the microfiber carry pouch.

Value

At £200 for the Airas with 8KO Iris photochromic lenses, these might not be the cheapest sunglasses around, but the price is comparable to other photochromic options such as Rudy Project Kelion (£208/$299), or Oakley EVZero Blades (£198/$257). At the opposite end of the spectrum, you can pick up a pair of Galibier Grand Tour photochromic sunglasses for £66/$82, so take your pick.

Verdict

Undoubtedly, the Airas are a high performing pair of riding glasses that are built to last. Designed for all season riding with optimal light-changing action, this is a pair of glasses you put on in the morning and forget about until you’re taking your helmet off at the end of the day.

These didn’t just perform well, they simplified riding in changeable (aka UK weather) conditions. Less adjusting, less on-off hassle, and less frustration. If I could change anything, it would be improving fog resistance when putting them back on in damp conditions. But ultimately, these have replaced multiple pairs of riding in one go, which I didn’t think was possible.

If you can stomach the cost, you’ll be investing in an excellent pair of year-round glasses that excel in both light and dark conditions. You’ll be supporting an environmentally conscious brand, and – as long as you don’t lose them – they should see you through a lifetime of riding thanks to SunGod’s stellar guarantee.

I’ve really struggled pulling together a decent update to my guide to the best waterproof cycling jackets. As you’ve probably gathered by now, waterproof cycling jackets have gone on a journey in recent years thanks to heavy regulation clamping down on the use of PFAS, also known as forever chemicals. The production of waterproof membranes and durable water repellent coatings (DWR) has become safer and better for the planet, but the flipside is that they have become less effective at keeping you dry, and pointing this second fact out has led to people suggesting I’m part of the lobbying arm for the international chemicals industry.

Thankfully, finally, I have found a jacket that not only doesn’t perform badly like so many I have tried in the last 12 months, but actually performs well, so much so that it is, in my opinion, the best waterproof cycling jacket on the market at the time of writing. I’ve been riding the Pas Normal Mechanism Shell Jacket for several months now over the winter – not to be confused with the Pas Normal Mechanism Pertex Rain Jacket, a lightweight option my colleague Tom reviewed recently – and it’s very good, easily a match for some genuinely atrocious weather, and there’s one key reason to my mind as to why it’s so good: It’s quite baggy.

Design and aesthetics

If you like understated design, muted colours, and a pleasant Danish vibe, then this jacket will be music to your eyes, as long as you ignore the fact that ‘PAS NORMAL INTERNATIONAL CYCLING CLUB’ is emblazoned across the back in large, friendly lettering. Other than that, which you can’t actually see when you are wearing the thing, it’s actually quite a good-looking jacket.

Pas Normal boasts a waterproof rating of 6/6, and a breathability rating of 4/6 for the jacket, which is utterly meaningless, but hidden in the small print, one can find that it has a 20,000mm hydrostatic head (which is very waterproof), and 20,000g/m2/24h breathability (which is reasonably breathable). It is rated for somewhere in the region of 7ºC down to as low as -10ºC, which does track in my experience.

The membrane itself is the Polartec Power Shield Pro, which uses a whole 3 boy words, hot on the heels of the Gillette Fusion Power Stealth razor that I avoided buying many years ago. It is, according to Polartec, an ‘expedition grade’ membrane that uses expanded polyurethane, rather than expanded PTFE as was the case for the old PFAS options.

A large, waterproof double zip takes care of business down the front, with a storm flap behind for a belt-and-braces setup, and at the rear are two large, side-entry pockets, also secured with waterproof zips.

All seams are taped, and there’s a sturdy elastic drawcord at the hem to cinch it in. Like most Pas Normal upper body garments, the torso is really rather short, which is perhaps one of the main shortcomings. There’s no adjustment in the cuffs, but there is at least some elastic that’s certainly roomy enough for the biggest gloves to squirm underneath.

Finally, unlike many waterproof jackets, there is a pleasing stretch to the fabric, especially in the more breathable panels under the armpits, which comes in handy when layering up for extremely bleak days out.

It isn’t a featherweight like the Maap Atmos or the Pertex option from Pas Normal; this is a jacket not for intermittent showers and emergencies, but for those days when the forecast is for rain. Proper, old-fashioned rain. It tips the scales at 265.5g (9.4oz), but if you’re going out when it’s 4º and raining, then you probably aren’t overly concerned with the marginal gram counting; save that for the summer.

Performance

The key as to why I think this jacket is good is that it is more roomy than most other high-performance waterproof jackets. Jackets like the Maap Atmos (which I do think is also very good) and the Rapha Pro Team Lightweight Gore-Tex Rain Jacket (which I do not, to be honest) are cut close to the body with a ‘race fit’. This was perfectly fine in the Shakedry days when the DWR treatments would hold up for hours on end without missing a beat, but nowadays, having a race fit jacket means that you will at some point end up with a saturated jacket pressed into your skin.

There’s a misconception that when jackets ‘wet out’ (the face fabric gets saturated) then they have ‘stopped working’ and are letting water through. This is almost always not the case, but your body doesn’t actually have receptors for ‘wet’, only pressure and temperature, so when a saturated outer fabric sits on your skin it creates a cold, higher pressure sensation and so it feels wet… and in all honesty there’s no distinction between being wet and feeling wet when you’re out on the road. Giving the fabric more room underneath gives it a better chance to not rest directly on your skin, and means you feel dryer for longer.

This extra room also means you can properly layer up underneath if you’re heading out in the cold for long base miles. Not just a thick base layer and hope for the best, but in a pinch, you could even fit a mini down jacket underneath. Normally, baggy jackets mean more rustling and flapping, and while I’m not going to claim this is as aero as the Castelli Gabba R, the fabric has enough stretch and softness to it that it is remarkably rustle-free, much like the venerable Albion Zoa Rain Shell that I rate so highly for adventure riding.

The DWR will give out with this jacket, as it will with every modern waterproof, but in some prolonged downpours, it stood up pretty admirably, and the membrane held up extremely well over my test period. Likewise, the breathability was sufficient enough to stand up to my weekly hill reps come rain or shine without leaving me unbearably sweaty. You need to get your layering right underneath to get the optimum performance in high-output scenarios, but it is capable of handling them in ways I haven’t experienced since testing the Rapha Pro Team Gore-Tex Rain Jacket, back in the dying days of PFAS DWR treatments.

The downside to this jacket is definitely the length of it. For a summer-weight jacket like the Maap Atmos, I can forgive not having the greatest coverage, but for a jacket with designs on deep winter use, it really would be better if it came down below my shoulder blades. Even if you use mudguards you're still going to have the bottom bit of your jersey peeking out underneath, which wicks water up over the course of a ride. This happens with every setup eventually, as bib tights do exactly the same thing, but having a jacket cover your jersey certainly helps retard the progress of the seepage somewhat. It’s also something I’m willing to put up with because the drawstring does an admirable job of keeping at least the items in my pocket out of harm’s way, and the rest of the performance feels incredibly protective.

Value

Top performance unsurprisingly commands a hefty price tag, and you’re forking out £330 at full whack, or $440 for my American readers. This is a lot of money, but it’s still a lot less than you’d be paying for a top-flight mountaineering jacket, which can run to double this. In the context of other top-end cycling jackets, it’s £35 dearer than the aforementioned Rapha Gore-Tex option and performs substantially better when the chips are down.

Compared to the lower end of the spectrum, the likes of the Rapha Core rain jacket that often comes in under £100 when on sale, it is a lot more expensive, but if you’re riding in the rain (and sleet, snow, and all the fun stuff in between) regularly it really does pay to splash out on a more expensive option. For occasional use, it probably isn’t worth it, but writing this at the tail end of one of the wettest winters on record in the UK I’m saying it’s worth every penny.

Verdict

The Pas Normal Mechanism Shell Jacket is a hardy beast that’s finally started to re-instill my confidence in modern waterproof cycling jackets. It’s expensive, but it’s hugely protective, able to handle substantial layers underneath, doesn’t rustle, breathes well, and doesn’t cling. If you ride in the rain and want to get the best option to keep you dry (and safe, ultimately), then this is probably what you should be buying. It ain’t aero, but it also doesn’t matter when it’s raining sideways, and you can’t see more than six feet in front of your wheel.

While the big-name riders are out and about taking the headlines – Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgensen using double-disc wheel-equipped time trial bikes at Tirreno-Adriatico and Tadej Pogačar using a prototype set of Enve 6.7 wheels at Strade Bianche – sometimes lesser-known riders and races still get to make the news, as is the case of an unnamed EF Education development team rider using what appears to be aerodynamic triathlon shoes for the UCI 1.2 Rhodes GP one-day race on the Greek island of Rhodes.

The shoes were spotted by Marcello Valoncini, via the ever-useful Cyclingspy Instagram account, and while they were hidden beneath what appeared to be a chopped-down set of Velotoze overshoes, the silhouette was distinctive enough for the Instagram commenterati to conclude that they were a set of VeloVetta Monarch triathlon shoes, which normally retail for over £300.

From the ankle forward, the shoes look low-profile and unremarkable, but rearward, there’s a pronounced fin that gives the appearance of a fairing.

The UCI has specific equipment rules on fairings, which state: "Shoes that have been made more aerodynamic by the addition of a non-essential element or by a modification to the toe or heel are prohibited from competition. No part of the shoe should extend above ankle height.”

The closure mechanism is built into the heel of the shoe, which is why it protrudes rearward; the shoe's design, specifically the rearward protrusion, is there to provide an explicit aerodynamic advantage, per the VeloVetta website.

The founder of VeloVetta, Ed O'Malley, reached out to Cyclingnews on Monday to confirm that these shoes are, in fact, UCI legal.

"Prior to UCI Track Worlds, Anders Johnson of the US team submitted them to the commissars, who approved them prior to his races. He won bronze in the individual pursuit in the shoes."

Aero shoes aren’t necessarily a new phenomenon. We’ve seen Stefan Küng adding laces to his Shimano shoes for the 2025 world championship TT race, and TT ace, Remco Evenepoel, has made the switch to laces for aerodynamic reasons in recent months, mirroring Tadej Pogačar, who has been using them for many seasons now.

Perhaps the earliest iteration of the aero shoe was Adam Hansen, former Lotto-Belisol rider and now president of the CPA, manufacturing his own low-profile carbon shoes with a closure dial mounted underneath.

A thread can be traced from these homemade, ultralight objects of desire through to Van Rysel’s latest, very much UCI illegal, ‘wireless’ integrated shoes that caused such a stir at the Velofollies trade show at the start of the year.

At the end of September last year, Rapha relaunched its Shadow clothing range after a few years of it being out of the line. There is now a new Pro Team Shadow collection, comprised of pieces designed for ‘the toughest racing and training conditions’. The range is currently made up of a jacket, long sleeve jersey, and a gilet.

This collection replaces the Pro Team Gore-Tex Infinium jerseys, which came in long and short sleeve varieties, and I have a short sleeved Infinum jersey hanging in the wardrobe to compare against.

I’ve been testing the long sleeve Pro Team Shadow jersey since just after launch, and have ridden with it through late summer, autumn and the depths of winter at home in the UK to see how it stands up against the best cycling jerseys.

This is the thinner, lightweight jersey, not the heavier-weight Shadow jacket. The brand says it is breathable, windproof and water-resistant, with a temperature rating guide of 5-12 °C / 41-53°F, which should suit autumn, winter, and spring riding, depending on what you are doing.

In theory, that description gives you a thin long-sleeve jersey that is a little jacket-like to wear in cool to cold temperatures over a base layer, negating the need for a full-blown winter jacket.

What it isn’t, however, is cheap, with an RRP of $365 / £275 / €320. For this price, top-level performance is required.

I’ve put more time than usual into testing this piece; its performance has disappointed me in a few areas, and I’ve repeatedly wondered about where it performs best.

Design and aesthetics

The Pro Team Shadow Jersey comes in both mens and womens versions, and there's a choice of three colours for the men and two for the women.

Curiously, the Aqua/White reflective (pictured) colour I have been testing seems to have been switched out from the mens options. I have got in touch with Rapha to query this and await the brand's response, but it remains an option for ladies.

The jersey features reflective details on the shoulders and in the form of horizontal chunky Rapha 'dashes' in the middle of the rear pocket; there's also a bold reflective 'Rapha' wordmark on the left arm.

On the inside, where the pockets are, there's a little patch with, if I'm not mistaken, an excerpt from Sean Yates's book 'It's all about the bike', a nice nod to cycling's history and culture from Rapha and something that features on lots of the brand's pieces.

The jersey itself is comprised largely of recycled nylon, and it's a nylon/elastane mix altogether. It's a silvery colour on the inside, and is pretty soft and slightly rustly.

This is a fairly thin, lightweight jersey that Rapha says uses a microporous three-layer membrane to produce a high-stretch, light, breathable and windproof garment, which also has PFAS-free DWR coating.

There are also three pockets in the rear, and a two-way zipper to help you regulate temperature.

The neck, back, shoulder and zipper seams are taped to keep the rain at bay, and the rear is slightly dropped for a little extra protection with a nice gripper on the inside to keep the bottom of the jersey in place.

The cut is quite fitted; there's only really room for one layer underneath, whether that's a base layer or thin jersey. The cuffs sit quite tight around your wrists, and overall, it's fairly figure-hugging.

This isn't a garment that's roomy enough to go on top of lots of winter layers. As a Rapha Pro Team product, it's designed for performance-oriented riding, and the cut reflects this.

I've been testing a size small, for reference i'm 176cm and about 66 kilos right now.

Performance

I’ve given the Shadow Jersey a long test period and have been riding in it since late summer, when I was still in shorts. I've worn it for all sorts of road rides with all kinds of kit combinations, off-road on gravel rides, in the rain, doing intervals, and going hard on my local Saturday morning chaingang.

I haven't been particularly impressed by the Shadow Jersey. I can see where Rapha is coming from with its design, but the end product doesn't quite deliver for me, and I suspect most riders will choose something else when it comes to winter layers and where to spend their money.

This review isn't a Rapha-bashing; the brand has answered my questions and queries generously, and also provided insight into the difficult post-PFAS ban landscape, which must make moving forward with foul-weather kit and rain jackets very difficult, and I'm not deaf to that.

My main issue with this piece is its lack of breathability. I have worn it in a wide range of temperatures and have only worn base layers underneath, and I can honestly say I’ve gotten sweaty in it to varying extents on very nearly every ride I have done.

I’ve worn it with a thin short sleeve base layer in late summer, and with a thermal long sleeve winter base layer, most recently the MAAP Thermal base layer, in close to freezing temperatures and I’ve finished with a damp base layer on almost every ride. On one of my last intense three-hour rides, I finished up with my light grey merino blend base layer being dark grey in appearance and pretty damp and soggy. Breathability is not a strong suit with this jersey, and I have put in the hard yards to test this.

Some may point to the two-way zipper as a way to cool down and combat a lack of breathability, and I'm more than happy to crack a zipper to let some air in. But I don't want to ride around with most of my zipper undone to try and stay comfortable; it doesn't look or feel good to me. If you are having to do this regularly, I'd suggest you're wearing the wrong piece of kit.

Rapha says a ‘lightweight, breathable, microporous membrane’ has been used here, but doesn’t say exactly what membrane is used in this jersey. I think the use of a no-name membrane here at this price is going to be seen as a negative against some brands with similarly priced offerings using options like Polartec Aircore or Gore-Tex Infinium and the like, especially when breathability isn’t a strong point.

On waterproofing, the jersey has kept some rain and showers at bay and does provide protection, but it isn't waterproof, and you will still reach for a rain jacket if the heavens open. In one of my latest rides, the arms also wetted out inside an hour in on off drizzle, and I ended up with soggy base layer arms and in some areas on my chest on a cold day with plenty of wind. I felt clammy and uncomfortable inside an hour. If you are going hard, it won’t be at the forefront of your mind, and you can get away with a lot thanks to the heat you generate, but for easier rides over longer periods, in the rain, you're going to end up uncomfortable if you wear only this, especially in colder conditions.

On waterproofing, Rapha advises tumble drying on a low heat to reactivate DWR and rinsing twice after washing. We also have a good guide on reviving your waterproof that the brand helped with. Waterproof kit or DWR coatings need more maintenance now, and that's something we will need to adapt to post-PFAS ban.

The windproofing from the jersey is quite good, and it has kept me feeling comfortable on colder days with a long-sleeve winter base layer, which is nice if you want to ride in less bulky kit. I feel the jersey is at its best for me on cold days toward the bottom of the recommended temperature range, when I've been riding a little easier. I've not been riding hard enough to start sweating, which leads to breathability problems, and the jersey has kept me feeling warm enough in the wind.

The cut is quite fitted, the tight wrists aren't going over the outside of any winter gloves, for example, and for me, that middle pocket is still a little undersized. If you're on a winter training ride carrying a rain jacket, food, and maybe taking gloves on and off on certain climbs, it gets a little annoying trying to shove anything into that middle pocket on the bike. Rapha mentioned it's addressed this, but I'd still like that middle pocket to get a bit more volume.

Warmth-wise, as mentioned, it isn't bad and keeps the wind at bay. But the thin, slightly rustling nature of the material and general lack of insulation mean there's none of the comforting snugness one of the best winter jackets brings, which is something I always welcome in winter, and we are comfortably into winter jacket money here.

One thing I have enjoyed is the thinner material on the arms; it's been pleasant to wear something lighter and thinner over a winter base layer on some rides, and the reduced bulk and stretchiness are nice. The overall styling is also smart, usually the case with Rapha kit, I think, and a few riding mates have commented on the nice colour in the winter gloom.

It's great to have kit options, but I think focusing on trying to achieve good breathability, water resistance and warmth in one thin, lightweight package has resulted in the jersey not being amazing in any one area. I'd say its ace card is the pretty good windproofing.

I'd say forget the waterproofing or water resistance, it's a hard thing to nail right now and go for top-level breathability with some insulation in the right places, something jerseys like the Assos Equipe RS Spring Fall Jacket with its big mesh back panel do well.

I'd prefer that kind of lightweight jersey and ride to the start of a ride or before intervals, etc., using my rain jacket as a shell if I needed extra warmth and stow that in a pocket when I started generating some heat, that way you are still properly covered in the event of rain and more comfortable when generating heat.

In terms of competitors and options, if I were buying my own kit as an amateur, I’d probably be looking at spending a few more dollars and buying a Castelli Gabba R if I were spending this kind of money to go fast in the rain or foul conditions or to race in. I’d be confident it was the more aero option with better waterproofing and breathability.

For a similar setup, you could always just go for a Gabba-style short-sleeve jersey with DWR arm warmers like the Castelli NanoFlex and benefit from improved breathability. Something like the Sportful Fiandre short-sleeve jersey or even Castelli Perfetto RoS 2 works just as well here for me.

Value

At its RRP of £275 (though you can of course now find it for less), this is an expensive jersey, and I can't say it offers good value.

In this price bracket, I’m looking for standout performance, cut, or styling that really make me want to keep reaching for the product time and time again. I want a clear advantage over other options on the market for my investment, or just something that looks and feels really special, and I don’t think that is the case with the Shadow Jersey.

I feel riders are going to maybe invest in a good, warm winter jacket and a good rain jacket. Then perhaps start filling gaps as needed. I can't see a case where the Shadow Jersey overtakes one of those options as a spending priority.

What may be a more attractive option is the Shadow Gilet, which, with a lack of arms, should improve breathability whilst keeping the cold and spray at bay, and the brand told me some pro riders had been using this piece.

The Shadow jersey does a good job in some areas, but I can’t honestly say it represents good value when comparing its performance against the high price.

Verdict

I'll cut through my months of testing here to summarise things. The poor breathability of the jersey often leads to me getting sweaty, damp and a little uncomfortable. In proper rain your still going to want to reach for a waterproof, and there isn't quite the thermal efficiency or comfort or, in some cases, better breathability that a full winter jacket brings in colder temperatures, though the jersey does do a good job at keeping the wind at bay. In milder temperatures, it is a more viable option, but that breathability point is still the issue for me.

In short, I don't feel it beats a waterproof jacket, winter jacket or one of the other more breathable, lightweight protective options on the market. As such, there aren't too many situations where I would reach for it over a different piece or combo.

I really like that the Shadow range is back. I'm still regularly riding in my years-old Shadow arm warmers from the previous collection. I don't think this jersey is a world beater, but I am interested to see where Rapha takes the range in the future, and I fully appreciate the difficulties the PFAS ban has created for brands regarding waterproofing and water-resistant coatings.

I'm yet to test the Shadow gilet, but am currently logging miles in the Shadow Jacket, which appears to be a strong jacket option. I'll report back on how the rest of the Shadow range measures up.

Northwave is probably the main player when it comes to winter cycling shoes. The Italian brand has specialised in winter footwear for use on the bike for a long time and offers more winter-specific models than any other brand on the market.

This winter, the brand released a new off-road winter shoe in the form of the Celsius XT Arctic GTX. A shoe, in the brand's words, for 'cyclists who never decline an opportunity to ride'.

It's a shoe that has received plenty of Northwave's winter expertise. There's a Gore-Tex membrane for weatherproofing, added Primaloft insulation, and a neoprene ankle gaiter. But what caught my eye initially was the light grey and fluoro colourway (there are two others to choose from) and slightly less bulky silhouette.

A bulky winter boot doesn't leave you feeling particularly nimble on the bike at times, at least that is the case for me, and I look for alternatives that balance protection and style. This shoe achieves that for me.

I usually test a couple of pairs of winter cycling shoes per year for my best winter cycling shoes guide and take my testing job seriously. I've ridden with these shoes in the mud, rain, and even a surprise bout of quite heavy snow over British winter to put them to the test; here's how I got on with them.

Design and aesthetics

'Stormtrooper boots' was one of the first comments I received after posting a picture of the shoes on Instagram during testing, which probably wasn't a design focus for Northwave.

The shoes reminded some of the bright white boots worn by the Empire's footsoldiers in Star Wars out of the box, but they aren't actually bright white, but rather a light grey - far more suited to off-road use. With use and dirt it darkens slightly, in a good way actually.

There are also black toe, instep, and heel box protectors that are made of a heavy duty suede-feeling material. It's the same as the range-topping Flagship GTX shoes I tested last winter, and it feels super tough.

A fluoro stripe runs the length of the shoe, and some reflective silver strips feature on sections where seams are sealed. Overall, it's a refreshing look for a winter boot, and they have cleaned up consistently well after being absolutely covered in mud. Don't worry about this colourway getting quickly ruined.

Winter cycling shoes pack in more technical features than some regular shoes, and there's generally something of a spec list to unpack.

Northwave has used its Jaws Evo sole for this shoe, with two threaded bosses at the front for you to fit studs. The shoes come with two shallow metal studs as stock - one of mine fell out, so check they are done up tight.

The Jaws Evo sole uses a very hard-wearing rubber material, and there's a fairly aggressive lug pattern. It's a firm sole, but there's some added flex at the front of the foot that makes walking very easy; it's the same tech that features on the Hammer Plus shoes that I find so comfortable. I actually walked a couple of miles in the snow one day in these shoes after my hiking boots fell apart, and they were very comfortable. I was impressed.

Northwave has fitted its Arctic 4-layer insole, a fleecy number with some aluminium insulation to reflect your body head back into your toes. Moving up from the shoe base, Northwave has used the Gore-Tex Cirrus XT 4L PFAS-free membrane for protection and insulation, and added insulating Primaloft Gold insulation to boost warmth in the cold.

The ankle of the shoe, sometimes a key culprit when it comes to that bulky feeling is made from neoprene. The shoe is pulled on with two red internal pull straps and a sealed side zipper, which then then closes the ankle gaiter up. There's a flap cover over the top of the zip, but it sits a little proud. I'd like it to sit a bit flusher into the ankle, but it's down to the neoprene material, I think.

Externally, the boot's outer is a combo of neoprene and a super tough material that doesn't have a mark on it after lots of abuse. These are tough shoes that will deal with a lot.

Performance

Performance has been very good overall from these shoes, and they comfortably meet the standard set by other road and off-road Northwave winter footwear.

As usual, when talking about winter shoes, I'll cover the key questions first: Do they keep your feet warm and dry? Yes, they do, but as usual, there's a but.

On waterproofing, these shoes are excellent. I have fully submerged them in puddles and rinsed them with a garden hose, and no water enters the shoe; they will keep your feet dry. There's far more protection than a regular gravel shoe.

The weak point, as usual with winter shoes, is the ankle opening, and if water or spray is going to get in, it will be here. The worst day for me regarding this was on a snowy ride, with a lot of spray and slush on the road sections. I wore a pair of thin waterproof socks, which kept my feet comfortable, but the shoes did get quite wet inside. On days with a lot of spray or water, I'd recommend some thin waterproof socks for off-road use, generally though, protection is excellent.

Warmth has also been very good overall. I've worn the shoes with a range of socks, the coldest with windchill felt like -4°C or 24°F. On this day, my toes felt a little cold, but that was about it, and I can live with that. On the whole, they have kept my feet warm and comfortable.

Fit-wise, these shoes have a new last from Northwave, which is said to have increased internal volume, and I agree that compared to several other Northwave boots I have tried, they are roomier, with a more rounded toe box. This can only be a good thing for winter and in general. Some winter shoes stay in product lines for years, and some brands have models that are quite old school in fit; this shape must be considered progressive for winter shoes.

Comfort elsewhere has been very good, the neck gaitor moves with your ankle and is soft against it, which I like, and the fleecy insoles boost comfort. My feet have been snug in the shoes. They are wider than your average shoes though, and with a regular Shimano SPD I have experienced some annoying crank rub, which is something to watch for depending on your own setup.

The Northwave X-Dial SLW3 dial has done a good job at cinching the shoe down evenly. These dials aren't as finely adjustable or premium-feeling as some BOA options, but they do a good job. I think people are overly critical of them at times; get familiar with them and get on with it. They have never caused me any problems.

Shoe width is decent; there will always be someone who needs a really wide cycling shoe, and feet are so different for all of us, but they are certainly not super narrow like the DMT WKR1. Overall, it's a comfortable shape, and the double set of SPD cleat holes means you can get your cleats quite far back if desired.

Value

RRP for these boots is $296.99 / £242.99 / €269.99. In the context of the Northwave range, which is substantial, it's slap bang in the middle, but nowhere near as much as the brand's Flagship GTX with its Michelin carbon soles.

The quality is there; these shoes are hard-wearing and have stood up to a lot of abuse without blinking. I also think they are in line with or are just a touch more pricey than competitors with similar products, the Lake MX146, for example.

I think the seller for people may be that fact that these shoes offer a slightly less bulky look and feel a bit more nimble whilst offering solid protection.

Verdict

This is another solid winter offering from Northwave, and one that will look after you on all but the very bleakest days.

If you aren't enamoured with chunky, black winter shoes and want something a bit more exciting, these are pretty much a standout on the market right now, and help boost my morale in the depths of winter.

The protection is very good, but I will just repeat the point that the ankle is the weak point, and no shoe brand has cracked this issue yet. Some waterproof socks for the very wettest days will help you out.

The Q36.5 Rain Shell Jacket is at present the flagship waterproof offering from Q36.5, aimed squarely at taking on the best waterproof cycling jackets on the market, and in the era of PFAS-free waterproofs it performs pretty well. There is some water ingress after several hours of rain, but the jacket maintains wind proofing so much so that there is no negative impact on body temperature even if water gets through.

This is paired with very good breathability and an ideal fit across the board. As far as temperature regulation and comfort go, it’s a great jacket. The only issues really are the lack of some more practical features that many jackets at this level do feature, the Rain Shell just feels a bit long in the tooth by comparison, especially at this price.

Design and specifications

The Q36.5 Rain Shell Jacket, referred to by the brand as the R. Shell, is built upon the brand’s UF 75 Shell. This is a proprietary (as many Q36.5 technologies are) 3-layer fabric. The outer layer is a compact, high density woven polyamide, while the second layer is, in the brand’s words, “an avant-garde hydrophobic Polyamide membrane”. This has a breathability rating of RET 4, which refers to the Resistance to Evaporative Heat Transfer (RET), where the lower the number the more breathable the garment is. 0-6 is deemed a very low score, so better and suitable for high activity levels. It is measured by using a heated metal plate and skin model to simulate body heat and sweat, then the test measures the amount of energy the fabric requires to allow moisture to escape. Low energy/heat means great evaporative transfer and better breathability.

This fabric also has a 10,000 mm waterproof rating according to the website, but 15,000 according to the brochure. Most jackets as standard start at 10,000 mm so waterproofing is OK here. So as to further this waterproofing, the R. Shell has been paneled aggressively according to Q36.5. The collar is hermetically sealed, while seams have been carefully moved to less exposed areas of the jacket while been both tapered and sealed. Wrist cuffs are also elasticated so as to fit over gloves and limit the amount of water that can get up them.

A neat feature to allow access to pockets are two flaps at the rear of the jacket on the left and right sides. They have been designed specifically to be easy access while also not allowing water to ingress through them. A single-way zip is present rather than two-way, however it is water repellant and also covered by a waterproof tab.

The rear of the jacket is cut long so as to protect from road spray, while the rear hem features reflective detailing with additional reflective strips down the back. Colour options are more muted with black, olive green, and navy blue, while a broad size range from XXXS to XXL are available.

Performance

Given this is a waterproof I’ll dive right into the main factor, waterproofing. In the post-PFAS era, this has come to mean something a little different, with materials and membranes that are not as effective when it comes to waterproofing as their environmentally harmful older outcast siblings.

However as Will Jones pointed out, a waterproof does not necessarily need to be 100% waterproof to be effective as one. The problem most face nowadays is that persistent rain will ingress through the membrane, and unfortunately, the Q36.5 is not immune to this. After around 2 hours of riding in constant mid-level rain, I could feel a bit of moisture had made its way through to my jersey underneath. But thanks to the immense windproofing of this jacket, I was not any cooler even with the ingress. The fit on the arms is tight, but this didn’t result in any cold temperature transfer as I have had happen before with tighter fitting waterproofs. In light rain, the jacket is superb and the clever seam placement does delay any water ingress. Even with the presence of water on my jersey, I was certainly not soaked by any means, and a degree of that could have been sweat internally.

Breathability is another area that has suffered in recent years post-PFAS. Some jackets get around this with breathable rear panels, while others implement strategic vents and lower protected areas. Q36.5 has opted instead for the vents option at the rear which doubles as access to pockets. In terms of access to pockets, I personally didn’t find it worked very well. Instead though these do work quite well for expelling excess body heat without any compromise to protection. The membrane itself is not super breathable, not like the old Shake-Dry and not as much as the Castelli Ultra jacket, but it’s certainly not bad. A two way-zip would enhance potential breathability massively, and help with pocket access.

Interesting though a benefit of the fit of the neck of the jacket is that, even with the top zip undone a fair amount, there is very little in the way of billowing. The neck is fitted in a way that rather than just going up your neck, it kind of opens up and loosens before coming back towards the neck. This gives a very non-constructive fit as well as a nice air layer, but it also stops the neck acting as the initial parachute for billowing to jacket when the zip is undone.

Overall the fit itself is loose enough to be worn over several layers comfortably, but at the same time is maintains quite a close fit that does not flap around when travelling at speed. The Castelli Ultra for example is far more of a tight race fit but struggles over thicker layers, while the Gorewear Spinshift is looser and more relaxed, so not the best for faster speeds. The Q36.5 sits nicely in what I would call an optimum level for comfort and practicality while being able to ride at speed without feeling you have a parachute around you.

There are a few features I’m not so sure about though, along with the lack of two-way zip which is my ultimate bugbear on jackets.

Firstly, it is only available in quite muted or earthy colours which are not the best for visibility. A reflective strip across the rear hem does aim to help this somewhat, but I prefer brighter colour options, something the Castelli Ultra does very well.

At the rear the hem also does not extend down very far, making protection from rear wheel spray not very good overall. I ride with mudguards in the winter which alleviates this issue, but for those without they will miss a dropped hem significantly. Finally it is not the most packable of jackets. You can scrunch it down and get it into a pocket alright, but it will feature a fair amount of overhang.

Value

Value of waterproofs has become somewhat of a reassessed metric in recent years. The price remains the same as the old fluorine-featuring options, but the performance is not quite what it once was and so needs recalibrating. Frankly, compared to the Shakedry offerings most modern waterproofs are not as good value as the performance to cost is not what it once was.

Looking at the current market of waterproofs, the Q36.5 Rain Shell certainly sits in the higher echelons of the pricing spectrum at £320. In terms of total waterproofing capacity however it does perform again at the upper end of what is to be expected now. This is paired with solidly good breathability and a very suitable fit for layering or with fewer layers underneath. The only gripe being the lack of dropped hem.

It is for example a more effective waterproof than the likes of the Castelli Gabba R jacket which is a similar price but a bit less protected save for a more dropped hem. However, the Gabba R features pockets, and the non-jacket version has a two-way zip. Meanwhile the Castelli Ultra is cheaper, not as waterproof, but has a more visible option for colours and reflective detailing.

My problem with the Q36.5 Rain Shell is that although it’s a good waterproof in that it keeps you a consistent temperature in rain or shine, it just lacks a few feature which would make it more user friendly an practical.

The likes of the Pas Normal Studios Mechanism Rain Shell for example is a touch more expensive at £330, but the waterproofing is similar. The PNS though features zip pockets, breathable panels under the arms and wrists, larger reflective detailing, and a two-way zip. For that reason, it is well worth the additional £10 even if it is not as packable. Fewer of these features can be forgiven in a jacket that is cheaper or more packable, of which the Q36.5 Rain Shell is neither. At present then I think that makes it a good performer, but lacking somewhat in overall value.

It would be remiss of me to exclude though that Q36.5 does source and produce all components of the kit it makes from within a 350km radius of the factory, as well as using a lot of recycled polyester. Some of this does increase the price, for the benefit of being on the face of it a more environmentally conscious and friendly company.

Verdict

I like the Q36.5 Rain Shell Jacket. Every ride I’ve taken it out on in the rain it has performed well and I’ve been left feeling comfortable, the key thing you want when riding in the rain. Persistent rain can get in, but not excessively, while the windproofing keeps you a good temperature.

Breathability is also solid by waterproof standards, and the fit of the sleeves and neck are highlights. However the jacket just feels to be lacking some refinement, with the rear flaps for pocket access being middling in their success, and a limited colour range along with no two-way zip. Q36.5 appears to have addressed some of these aspects in the new AW25 range already, but at present the Rain Shell feels a little half baked.

The Gorewear Spinshift Gore-Tex Jacket is Gorewear’s brand new waterproof cycling jacket sitting in its Spinshift range, aimed to offer great value and high performance. To this end, the brand has succeeded tremendously, producing a jacket that is wonderfully waterproof and windproof, while having impressive levels of breathability.

This comes via the brand new ePE Gore-Tex membrane which uses less material than previously while also being PFAS free, a push to become more environmentally friendly.

The jacket also features great practical features such as a broad colour range, reflective detailing, and rear pocket. However, it misses some useful features found on more premium jackets such as two-way zips, and the fit is slightly odd. But for the performance that is offered, this is one of the best waterproof jackets on the market at the moment and for a great price.

It is therefore quite sad that, since initially writing this review, Gorewear has been wound down by the parent company, W.L. Gore, so it is one to pick up now before it's gone forever if you're keen.

Design and specifications

The Gorewear Spinshift Gore-Tex Jacket uses GoreWear’s latest PFAS free waterproofing Gore-Tex technology. Specifically, the ePE membrane (expanded polyethylene), which consists of a ‘Face Textile’ with DWR coating, ePE membrane for waterproofing and breathability, and the inner lining. This apparently results in a waterproof membrane that is breathable, windproof, while being designed to be long lasting, all while using a lower density membrane for reduced carbon footprint via lower material usages.

Gorewear specifically mentions that this jacket can be used with a rucksack, which can impair some waterproofing by increasing pressure around the fabric when a rucksack is on top. The jacket also features a rear zip pocket for storage of essentials or as a pocket to pack the jacket into itself.

Internally it uses taped seams at critical points so as to reduce the chance of any water ingress where more water pressure is likely to affect it. Gorewear states that the jacket has been ergonomically designed and body mapped to provide a second skin-like freedom of movement and reduced fabric bunching. The brand has also used its 360˚ visibility system where multiple strategically placed reflective strips have been fitted around the garment so as to provide visibility from all angles.

Sizes come in S-XXL while colour options are broad with ten offerings available.

Performance

So as to give the GoreWear Spinshift Gore-Tex jacket its proper dues when it comes to testing, I made sure to use it in frankly torrential rain. Heading out for several hours in heavy rain is a good way to test how a waterproof performs while the weather at the moment has been a mix of colder days and unseasonably warmer ones.

Across all these wet days, the Spinshift has been an exceptional performer when it comes to waterproofing. Even in three hours of persistent rain and rampant flooding, the jacket was still beading water and able to be shook free of them without any water ingress present. In the era of PFAS being no more, this is impressively good performance that harks back to the indomitable Shakedry waterproofing. Bad for the planet, but oh-so-waterproof. In the Spinshift jacket, this is as close to the old environmentally harmful fluoride containing jackets of the late 2010s. It really is impressive in constant and heavy rain, whereas many jackets get saturated by this point, even if the wind chill is kept at bay.

Speaking of wind chill, the Spinshift again manages to keep the elements subdued with the membrane keeping wind and cool air out from your body. The only exception are the underside of the cuffs which are elastic to better fit over hands and gloves. However this is a wise design choice and makes the jacket far easier to remove or put on while on the fly.

Breathability is another point where the jacket does pretty well. It’s not the same level as the Castelli Ultra, but it’s pretty damn good. I run hot as I have mentioned in other waterproof reviews, so some internal moisture is normal for me, but the Spinshift appeared to result in less excess of heat build-up for me. Riding in 14-16˚C with a thermal jersey and mesh sleeveless baselayer, warm enough in themselves for that riding temp, with the Spinshift on top was comfortable throughout rides. For cooler weather, layering up will of course be required, but the Spinshift is a solid performer when it comes to breathability. When paired with waterproofing it’s downright exceptional.

I also appreciate additional features like the rear zip pocket for stashing essentials if the weather is the sort of day when you won’t be removing this jacket. 360˚ reflective detailing is also a nice addition, however I would have much preferred to have been sent a brighter coloured review sample. Some brands only offer muted colours for waterproofs, I like nice and high-vis. The Spinshift does come in a broad range of colours though including several brighter coloured options.

The jacket is not without flaw though. Firstly, the lack of a two-way zip is my never ending gripe with waterproofs. To access items in pockets you tend to need to unzip the whole jacket, or do an awkward roll up from the base. A two-way zip alleviates this issue, and means more tailored breathability. Staying on the zip, the pull tab is very small so with thick gloves is hard to operate, while it can catch around the branding on the upper chest.

Secondly the rear of the jacket does not extend down very far, with even the base of my jersey visible underneath. This is similar to the Q36.5 Rain Shell, and lacks where the likes of the Castelli Gabba R succeed.

Finally, fit is an interesting point. When riding, it feels pretty good in all honesty. There is some excessive fabric at the front, but not so much that there were issues with flapping. More intriguing was a slightly tight fit around the shoulders area. This did pull a bit when riding in more slung forward positions for me personally. Gorewear states this is a ‘slim fit’ but in reality it feels a little bit somewhere in the middle between that and a more relaxed one, but weirdly a bit of both in different places at the same time.

I will say though, so good is the waterproofing and breathability, that come the next rainy ride I need to go on where I’m not reviewing a waterproof, the Spinshift is the jacket that I will be leaning towards.

Value

Gorewear has a reputation for producing good quality kit for relatively lower prices than the competition, and the Spinshift Gore-Tex jacket is no different. In terms of waterproof performance, it is up there with the best I’ve tested that exceed £300, while this sits a penny under £225. At present there are no better value waterproof jackets that I have tested when combining waterproofing and breathability rolled into one.

However, it’s not perfect. The lack of two-way zip and a slightly funny fit does mean that there are jackets that are more practical. It just depends how you weight those practical elements as to whether the increase in price by competitors represents good value or not.

Personally, for riding longer rides in the rain, this jacket does the job brilliantly, and represents great all-round value.

Those that are close to it in price fail when it comes to balancing weather resistance and breathability. Those that have greater practical features come at a hefty price increase, sometimes nearly 50% more.

Perhaps if I was doing longer multi-day events in truly foul weather then I would splurge a bit further. The MAAP Atmos for example has similar coverage, although perhaps not as much weather resistance, but is more packable and features a two-way zip. The PNS Mechanism Shell again has more practical features, but comes at a hefty £330 price.

Verdict

The Gorewear Spinshift Gore-Tex jacket does what Gore has become somewhat synonymous for; producing a great waterproof jacket. It does this while having solid breathability and representing very good value, as Gorewear has been doing for several years now.

It’s not without fault, as there are some practical elements such as two-way zip and limited rear coverage which does detract from an otherwise superb waterproof. However, this has become my go-to waterproof for persistent rainy days, whatever the temperature, even over more premium priced offerings.

The festive season is here, Christmas is just around the corner, and we are getting into the mood here at Cyclingnews.

Pre-season kit design and sponsor changeover news is coming thick and fast, and in a few short weeks, the 2026 race season will kick off. We've covered all the new WorldTour team kits recently, as well as Sam Welsford's move to the Ineos Grenadiers.

Before the racing starts, though, we can look forward to a relaxing and peaceful Christmas. If you are shopping for a cyclist, it can be difficult to know what to buy them, unless they have provided you with a very detailed wishlist!

If they haven't, you're in the right place, because the Cyclingnews tech team - Josh, Graham, Will and Tom - have handpicked three items each that, in our opinions, would make excellent Christmas gifts for our fellow cyclists. We have mixed it up and split our selections between things we would like to receive and items we would buy for another cyclist, making for a varied and interesting range of ideas.

There's a nice mix of items here, from tools, to tyre levers, overshoes to kids' bike seats. We hope you find something useful!

If you want even more choice, take a look at our Christmas gifts for cyclists.

If you're still shopping for some last-minute Christmas gifts for the cyclist in your family, then you can't go wrong with dropping some new cycling apparel into a cyclist's stocking.

As if by magic, UK cycling apparel brand Le Col has launched its Winter Sale, and there are huge discounts of up to 50% to be had across the range on some of the best cycling clothing on the market.

Shop the Le Col Winter Sale in time for Christmas, and save up to 50%.

It includes kit that has been tried and tested by the Cyclingnews experts, seasonal cycling apparel, and of course, as it's Christmas, cycling socks too. There's no novelty festive themed socks here though – the Le Col Cycling Socks Gift Box includes five pairs of the brand's high-performance cycling socks, reduced by £25, and is a perfect festive gift.

I've hunted through the Le Col Winter Sale and highlighted some of the best cycling deals that caught my eye. There are a few items perfect for winter cycling, and a few geared more for summer riding. For commuters, the Le Col Day Pack has an incredible discount of 78%, down from £120 to just £27; a total bargain.

Le Col says the last day for in time for UK Christmas delivery is the 18th of December, so if you're buying for the cyclist in your life, best be quick.

The chosen deals are from the Le Col UK site, but Le Col US is also running discounts, and worth checking out if you're US-based. However, US shipping for a Christmas arrival is unlikely. Below you'll find Le Col deals from other retailers, including Amazon, specific to your region.

If Le Col apparel isn't on your Christmas shopping radar, then I've already spotlighted a host of brilliant cycling tech gifting ideas, including the Garmin Varia RCT715 light and the Garmin Edge 540 cycling computer, both of which come highly recommended by our tech experts.

If you have a Specialized rider to shop for, then the Specialized Winter Sale is loaded with discounts, including its Prime-Series Alpha Jacket at a whopping 60% off.

The Specialized Sale continues to drop some absolute bargains, and just in time for festive gifting. We recently spotlighted the Specialized Packable Down Jacket at its lowest ever price, with a whopping 60% off. Another top-rated jacket that has caught our attention, which has an equally impressive discount, is the Prime-Series Alpha Jacket.

Right now, you can grab one of the best winter jackets – the Prime-Series Alpha for as low as $89.99, which is a fantastic 60% off the usual MSRP of $224.99, and a monster saving of up to $135.

Get the Specialized Prime-Series Alpha Jacket for as little as $89.99 at Specialized.

So if you’re still hunting for a genuinely brilliant Christmas gift for the cyclist in your life, then the Specialized Sale has to be on your radar. Unfortunately, this one is only in the Women's version, but sized from XS-XXL, and in either Gunmetal or Black colour choice.

The Gunmetal has the biggest reduction at 60% off, and the Black version has a reduction of 56%, down to $99.99. We'd advise you to move quickly, as the clock is ticking as far as Christmas delivery goes, and these at this price are unlikely to be around for long.

In his review, our expert tester Graham Cottingham reckoned the Prime-Series Alpha was a brilliant jacket for cold-weather protection. Although at the time Graham marked it down for its full price cost and its lack of rear pockets, it still ticked all the boxes as an impressive lightweight, extremely warm, and breathable jacket.

Specialized has listened, and now the latest version of the Alpha jacket has three back pockets for handy storage of your ride essentials. The price has an incredible up to 60% off, for a jacket that rivals far more expensive rival brands' offerings, when it comes to performance vs cost, making it a total bargain buy.

Warmth and breathability are the key features here, and this jacket is built around Polartec Alpha insulation. Although it's not going to compete with the best waterproof cycling jackets, its semi-road fit means it's a versatile layering option, and the rear pockets allow for easy storage of a rain jacket.

If you're Christmas shopping for other festive cycling deals, then the Specialized Sale has discounts on a huge range of cycling apparel, including the S-Works Recon lace cycling shoes, reduced to just $161.99 from $324.99, and they are one of the best gravel shoes on the market.

The best bike locks don't come cheap, and for me, it’s a rather irritatingly expensive necessity that's purely based on another person's potential desire to steal my bike. I’ve never had the misfortune of a bike being stolen, but a quick look at the Bike Index Bike Theft Report 2025 shows that theft remains a major issue.

As thieves get bolder, targeting e-bikes and high-value bikes, the best you can do if you really have to leave your bike unattended, even for a moment, is invest in a top-rated lock. The best budget bike locks will provide you with some security, but one of the best around is the OnGuard RockSolid U-Lock, and right now at Amazon, it’s reduced to just $215.96, which is 20% off the MSRP of $269.95.

Save $53.99 on the OnGuard RockSolid U-Lock and buy it for just $215.96 at Amazon.

It means you can get this angle grinder-resistant lock at one of its best-ever prices, and it makes it a perfect time to invest in your bike's security. However, with Christmas fast approaching, if you’re still shopping for the cyclist in your life, you might want to consider the OnGuard as a cycling-themed gift.

It might not be the most exciting Christmas present, but I’d be quite happy to receive one of these on Christmas morning, especially if it means my bike has some serious security looking after it.

For UK Christmas shoppers, there's a minimal discount at Amazon, but over at Tredz, you can get the OnGuard RockSolid for just £149.99, and a saving of £50 on the usual RRP of £199.99.

Not all bike locks are made equal, and some locks can stand up to considerably more punishment than others. The OnGuard certainly ticks all the boxes as far as premium bike locks go, and it has an impressive list of security features that you'd expect when paying the usual $269 full price.

OnGuard says the RockSolid is crafted from a proprietary blend of ultra-high-strength materials and reinforced with a multi-layered defence system. They also claim the OnGuard RockSolid is virtually impervious to the cutting force of angle grinders, and its intricate structure is engineered to resist cutting, which they say renders any attempts to breach its fortified exterior futile.

Bold claims, of course, and although we've not tested these claims to substantiate them, OnGuard puts its money behind the claims by offering an anti-theft protection program. It includes up to $5,001 on bicycle coverage (with registration, where available), and that gives added peace of mind and confidence to OnGuard’s lock technology claims.

Below you'll find the best deals on the OnGuard lock range, including the RockSolid, which are specific to your location.

If you're looking to shop slightly more exciting cycling gifts, then our Christmas Gift guide has plenty of suggestions and is worth a look.

If you’re still hunting for a genuinely brilliant Christmas gift for the cyclist in your life, then hurry, because this Specialized Packable Down Jacket is at its lowest ever price and sure to sell out fast.

Right now in the Specialized Sale, you can grab one of the best winter cycling jackets from Specialized for just $106, which is a staggering 60% off the MSRP of $264.99, and a saving of $158.99. It not only makes it a bargain buy, but will make you look like the most generous gifter, and definitely put a smile on the face of your favorite cyclist this Christmas morning.

Get the Specialized Packable Down Jacket for just $106 at Specialized.

The best winter cycling jackets need to keep you warm in the toughest of riding conditions, and a down jacket does the job with ease. This Specialized jacket is a superbly versatile option, perfect as an ideal companion to layer over your best winter cycling gear, but at home as a day-to-day jacket too, whether that's mooching about the local supermarket, walking the dog or doing some winter maintenance outdoors.

I'd advise you to move quickly, as the clock is ticking as far as Christmas delivery goes, and these are also marked as a Final Sale offering at Specialized, so these won't be around for long. There are two colour choices, but it's the Dove Grey Splash option that has the biggest reduction. The Black version still has a hefty reduction of 50%, down to $132.49.

Specialized says its down jacket is built around an insulating blend of ALLIED Feather+ Down for warmth and loft, paired with PrimaLoft Bio synthetic fibres that boost performance in damp or variable conditions. It's hypoallergenic, sustainable, lightweight and warm.

It's not going to compete with the best waterproof cycling jackets as far as keeping you dry, but it's not designed for that, and you won't get any aero gains here either. However, warmth and versatility are its best features and will lock in the warmth on those early-morning rollouts.

Specialized says the fit is loose enough to layer over sweaters, winter jerseys, base layers and other cold-weather kit, yet trim enough to maintain freedom of movement on the bike. It features two zippered pockets and a roomy hood that slides over the best cycling helmets with ease.

If you're Christmas shopping for other Specialized goodies, then the Specialized Sale has discounts on plenty more top-rated cycling kit, including the S-Works Recon lace cycling shoes, reduced to just $161.99 from $324.99, and they are one of the best gravel shoes on the market.

With the recent Specialized and AliExpress counterfeiting news, it’s worth adding that these Specialized deals are on sale on the brand's official website, and are the real deal for Specialiized quality and customer service.

Winter riding is tough, but it's a lot less tough when you've got the right gear. Here at Cyclingnews we aren't made of sugar, as the saying goes, and when the weather turns foul we head out to test to help you choose the stuff that actually works.

In this guide each member of the tech team has picked out three of their favourite bits of winter cycling gear; one big ticket item, something mid-range, and a more basic item that we still love.

We've got comprehensive guides elsewhere for all the winter riding staples, from the best winter cycling jackets to the best winter cycling socks, and the best waterproof cycling jackets to the best bike lights to help you see as you head out into the gloom. As in those guides, the products below are backed up by comprehensive testing in the conditions the gear was designed for, and often a lot worse just to be sure.

With snow forecast here in the UK in the coming days, and a polar vortex bringing extremely cold conditions to North America, it's prime time to make sure your gear is going to look after you when it really matters.

REI offers a huge range of products for many sports, not just cycling. It's well priced and has excellent service, as well as wide US store coverage, with REI membership unlocking further discounts on may products.

This Black Friday, REI has deals on name brand kit from Rapha, Garmin and more, as well as its own brand merchandise, so it's a great time to pick up a replacement for items that have seen better days or that enhance your riding.

Unusually for a big retailer, REI's shops are closed this Black Friday to allow its staff to enjoy Thanksgiving. They'll be open for business again on Saturday though and you can, in any case, order online today.

Quick Black Friday deals

• REI: Cyber Sale starts soon
• Amazon: Black Friday is here
• Rapha: Save 25% sitewide
• Competitive Cyclist: Up to 40% off bikes
• Mike's Bikes: 25% off Kickr Core
• Specialized: $2000 off Tarmac SL8
• Jenson USA: Up to 90% off cycling gear
• Trek: Huge deals on a range of road gear
• Canyon: Up to 50% off in 'stealth' sale

Our other Black Friday hubs

All deals

🚴 Black Friday bike deals: Our overarching hub, with deals on everything from bikes to clothing, tech and more

⚡️ Amazon Black Friday: Deals specifically for cyclists, with Amazon's next-day delivery

Brand-specific Black Friday roundups

🚲 Black Friday Trek bikes: Deals on all of Trek's bikes, clothing, helmets, shoes, accessories and more, found at Trek and beyond

🚲 Black Friday Canyon bikes: Our pick of the top deals on Canyon's bikes, sold direct to consumer from Canyon's website

🚲 Black Friday Specialized: Our pick of the best deals on Specialized's bikes, including Tarmac and Aethos, plus shoes, helmets, kit, tyres and so on, from Specialized's own website and beyond.

👕 Black Friday Castelli: A roundup of our favourite Castelli kit deals, found across the various Black Friday sales.

👕 Black Friday Rapha: With 25% off sitewide, we've rounded up our favourite items from the British brand.

💾 Black Friday Garmin: A live, ever-changing roundup of our favourite deals on Garmin's bike computers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors and more, from Garmin's own site and beyond.

💾 Black Friday Wahoo: A roundup of our favourite deals on Wahoo tech, such as smart trainers and bike computers, from Wahoo's own website and beyond.

Category-specific Black Friday hubs

💻 Black Friday indoor bike trainers: A collection of deals related to cycling indoors, with bike trainers, software, fans, and perhaps even the odd laptop or TV.

👟 Black Friday cycling shoes: A roundup of cycling shoe deals from around the world, with everything from budget options to high-end carbon race shoes.

👕 Black Friday cycling clothing: A handpicked roundup of deals on cycling apparel, with everything from socks to speedsuits.

🚸 Black Friday kids' bikes: Our pick of the best deals on kids bikes from the US and UK, with options for all ages.

Dick's Sporting Goods has up to 50% off a range of cycling products for Black Friday, including bikes for adults and children, clothing, footwear, car racks, helmets and more.

With hundreds of stores across the US, Dick's has grown to cover a wide range of sports, including cycling, since its origins in fishing when it was founded in 1948. This year, it bought Foot Locker, adding around 2,400 stores.

Dick's size allows it to offer a wide range of products and great deals, with Black Friday adding to the range of discounts. Here are our picks.

Quick Black Friday bike deals

• Amazon: Black Friday Week
• Rapha: Save 25% sitewide
• Competitive Cyclist: Up to 40% off bikes
• Mike's Bikes: 25% off Kickr Core
• Specialized: $2000 off Tarmac SL8
• Jenson USA: Up to 90% off cycling gear
• Trek: Huge deals on a range of road gear
• Canyon: Up to 50% off in 'stealth' sale
• Backcountry: Up to 70% off apparel, components
• Aventon: Up to $500 off e-bikes
• REI: Save on Rapha and more
• Capo: 40% off cycling clothing
• Decathlon: Big savings on Van Rysel and B'Twin

In detail: Black Friday Dick's Sporting Goods deals

Our other Black Friday hubs

All deals

🚴 Black Friday bike deals: Our overarching hub, with deals on everything from bikes to clothing, tech and more

⚡️ Amazon Black Friday: Deals specifically for cyclists, with Amazon's next-day delivery

Brand-specific Black Friday roundups

🚲 Black Friday Trek bikes: Deals on all of Trek's bikes, clothing, helmets, shoes, accessories and more, found at Trek and beyond

🚲 Black Friday Canyon bikes: Our pick of the top deals on Canyon's bikes, sold direct to consumer from Canyon's website

🚲 Black Friday Specialized: Our pick of the best deals on Specialized's bikes, including Tarmac and Aethos, plus shoes, helmets, kit, tyres and so on, from Specialized's own website and beyond.

👕 Black Friday Castelli: A roundup of our favourite Castelli kit deals, found across the various Black Friday sales.

👕 Black Friday Rapha: With 25% off sitewide, we've rounded up our favourite items from the British brand.

💾 Black Friday Garmin: A live, ever-changing roundup of our favourite deals on Garmin's bike computers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors and more, from Garmin's own site and beyond.

💾 Black Friday Wahoo: A roundup of our favourite deals on Wahoo tech, such as smart trainers and bike computers, from Wahoo's own website and beyond.

Category-specific Black Friday hubs

💻 Black Friday indoor bike trainers: A collection of deals related to cycling indoors, with bike trainers, software, fans, and perhaps even the odd laptop or TV.

👟 Black Friday cycling shoes: A roundup of cycling shoe deals from around the world, with everything from budget options to high-end carbon race shoes.

👕 Black Friday cycling clothing: A handpicked roundup of deals on cycling apparel, with everything from socks to speedsuits.

🚸 Black Friday kids' bikes: Our pick of the best deals on kids bikes from the US and UK, with options for all ages.

When it comes to cycling jackets, whether that's the best winter cycling jackets or the best waterproof cycling jackets, there is a huge range on offer covering full waterproofs to deep winter jackets. However some of these can really add up in price to several hundreds of pounds.

The Assos Equipe RS Johdah for example comes in £635, or $830 while the Van Rysel Winter Road Cycling Jacket is £69.99, just shy of 10% of the price by comparison. But just what does an increase in price actually get you when it comes to jackets? Is it all marketing jargon, named brand snobbery, or actual technical enhancements which make the performance markedly better?

Winter jackets

Given the above example, let’s start off with winter cycling jackets, rather than waterproof jackets. First off, the more insulated models which can be packable but tend to lack pockets or additional features and worn as an accessory. Then you have what might be seen as a somewhat heavy duty winter jersey with pockets, additional features, and can be worn with just a base layer underneath, or with a jersey too for an additional layer.

When it comes to the more packable and insulated ones, those are the two main constituents that dictate the pricing. The likes of the Le Col Pro Insulated Jacket and Albion Ultralight Insulated Jacket are a couple of key examples and some that we have reviewed or I have used myself.

Neither of these feature pockets, but both include a two-way zip. This straight away is a common feature on higher end jackets and something that I love since it means you can access pockets in your jersey underneath and also have different options for enhancing breathability. Both are packable, to an extent. The Albion stuffs up incredibly small so that it can share occupancy of a pocket with spares, while the Le Col takes up the bulk of whatever pocket it’s in.

Other features that will influence price are if these include a DWR (durable water repellent) coating. Often these items do not, however the more expensive Le Col jacket does include one to provide resistance against showers, while the Albion does not.

The type of insulation used also has an impact on the pricing. Dedicated insulated jackets will often use a down inner between two layers, or synthetic insulation. Both are designed to trap air, a great insulator, and keep you warm. Cheaper jackets may forgo this in favour of being more of a windstopper, with a thin external membrane and no water protection.

Then Endura Pro SL Primaloft II blurs the line somewhat between these and more traditional winter jackets. It features pockets, breathable panels, but forgoes the packability. Other examples here are the aforementioned Van Rysel and Assos jackets, while the Castelli Perfetto RoS 3 is another popular choice.

These jackets tend to become more expensive, as a common addition to them is the use of water resistant or waterproof membranes to varying degrees. In the case of Castelli, it actually makes the jacket to be more breathable and better at moisture management, rather than focussing on weather protection. I personally like this for preventing build-up of sweat, but I run like a furnace, whereas my college Josh Croxton found the jacket to be not quite insulated enough compared to the Perfetto RoS 2.

Clever fabrics is why the likes of the Assos Equipe Johdah have such a high price. It’s more common for higher end jackets to include inner-gilet layers to help with additional warmth, but Assos takes this to a new level with proprietary fabrics galore which bump up the price. This is combined with an incredibly complex pattern, involving many more panels to be stitched together than on a basic model. This helps the fit and comfort, but adds to the manufacturing cost.

Brands like Polartec, Pertex, and Gore-Tex are names you will often see associated with a jacket. These have been well established as effective brands for weatherproofing, so often more expensive offerings will feature these technologies.

We do of course have outliers such as the Van Rysel, but although it has great insulation, weatherproofing, and a host of pockets and features, it lacks breathability, which is where higher priced jackets often strike a far better balance. Given you still generate heat when you cycle, and a non-breathable jacket will store and build that heat to uncomfortable levels over time, this is still an important factor.

Waterproofs

This brings us onto waterproofs, which in the era of no PFAS chemicals have suffered somewhat when it comes to balancing breathability and protection. I still use my Gore-Tex Shakedry jacket even now, patched up and all, as a standard bearer for waterproof jackets. Those forever chemicals, nasty as they are in manufacturing, had an ability to maintain water repellency, and therefore breathability, that the market is still catching up on.

Interestingly some waterproofs use a mix of features that make them somewhat winter jacket like. Rapha has previously had an insulated waterproof jacket offering greater insulation. Meanwhile the Castelli Gabba R is highly packable but features external pockets for packing, albeit zero insulation in favour of aero gains.

Again a common denominator in higher prices items are the likes of dual-zips, potentially some external pockets, specific technologies for enhanced breathability or insulation, or smart fits that reduce fabric flapping and make for a more race-day appropriate garment.

Generally, a good waterproof will often sit around the £200 nowadays. The Gore Wear Spinshift for example is £224.99, and has good waterproofing, but it is not a close fit and therefore flaps a lot. Meanwhile the Castelli Ultra is breathable with a close fit, but lacks outright waterproofing.

Nowadays with the lack of PFAS, waterproofing is not as effective as it once was. Indeed in persistent rain for a few hours, I have yet to find a jacket that stays waterproof, but the key is that it maintains body temperature via delayed saturation, wind proofing, and breathability so you don’t soak from the inside.

Again Polartec, Pertex, and Gore-Tex are key players here and are often seen on more expensive offerings. Pas Normal uses Pertex for example, while Castelli uses Polartec.

You will often find that cheaper waterproofs can result in a boil-in-the-bag sensation such is the lack of breathability, while also lacking additional features and outright protection. It is often the breathability where cheaper jackets suffer.

Meanwhile more expensive offerings will feature two-way zips, breathable panels, internally stitched seams, and have better overall fits.

A word on cycling kit pricing structure

It is important to note however that prices do not always determine the quality of a product. Indeed I’ve spoken to brands before that stated they saw an increase in sales once they increased the price of their kit, as at the previous cheaper price it was deemed that clearly it was not as good as the more expensive offerings.

Equally, some brands spend more money on marketing and sponsoring teams, so some of that cost is passed on to consumers. Gorewear is a brand I have always viewed as offering good value, but it’s marketing was poor by comparison to most. This is perhaps why the brand is shutting its doors soon for good. Meanwhile Castelli sponsors World Tour teams, while Sportful at present do not. They each use the same technologies, but Sportful is cheaper and often better value, although it perhaps lacks the technical excellence of some items such as the Gabba R.

The main point really is that more expensive doesn’t always mean better, and sometimes there is a case of diminishing returns. A £200 jacket might be twice as good as a £100 jacket, but a £300 jacket might only be 20% better again. Then a £635 jacket might be the best, but only by another 5% or so.

The key, really, is looking for what you need out of a jacket. Do you want insulation, packability, breathability, features such as external pockets and two-way zips? More often than not, to get a great balanced mix of these features, you pay more. Cheaper items may do one or several of these things well, but seldom manage to do all of them well concurrently. However for those daunted by £400+ price tags, you don’t need to spend that much to get a good quality cycling jacket for most needs.

Happily we've collectively spent many hundreds of hours testing foul weather gear here at Cyclingnews to produce all of our reviews and buyer's guides, so if you're unsure then have a read of some to get a real flavour of what to expect.

Canyon is renowned for selling quality bikes with great specs at highly competitive prices and has a range of them discounted in its Cyber Monday sales, continuing to offer its Black Friday cycling bargains.

Canyon doesn't just sell complete bikes though, it also has Cyber Monday deals on smaller stuff, too.

So whether you're in the US, the UK or elsewhere in the world, you can snap up a discount on anything from Canyon-branded clothing to a Canyon Aeroad or many of its other road, gravel and mountain bikes. UK riders can find other gear and components with a Cyber Monday discount, including Look and Shimano pedals, Topeak pumps and more.

To reflect the different Cyber Monday Canyon offers on either side of the pond, we've split this guide into USA then UK deals. Follow our Cyber Monday bike deals hub for all the latest deals from the sales in general.

And if you're not necessarily looking for Canyon, keep an eye on Cyclingnews' Cyber Monday coverage. We're keeping our Cyber Monday pages updated and checking the deals, with pages for Specialized, Trek and more, as well as a Zwift Cyber Monday roundup for anyone looking to take their winter training indoors.

Quick Cyber Monday deals

USA: Quick Cyber Monday Deals

• Amazon: Cyber Monday sales
• Rapha: Save 25% sitewide
• Competitive Cyclist: Up to 40% off bikes
• Mike's Bikes: 25% off Kickr Core
• Specialized: $2000 off Tarmac SL8
• Jenson USA: Up to 90% off cycling gear
• Trek: Huge deals on a range of road gear
• Canyon: Up to 50% off in 'stealth' sale

UK: Quick Cyber Monday Deals

• Amazon: Cyber Monday deals
• Rapha: 25% off apparel sitewide
• Specialized: £1250 off Tarmac SL8
• Sigma Sports: Up to 60% off
• Balfe's Bikes: 40% off road bikes
• Hunt: Up to 40% off wheels
• Le Col: Up to 65% off clothing

Cyber Monday Canyon deals in the USA

Cyber Monday Canyon deals UK

Check out our other deals roundups

Retailers are seemingly going big for Cyber Monday in 2025, and navigating through the noise to find that unicorn of a deal can be a big task. But lucky for you, the team at Cyclingnews are hard at work sifting through the sales to find the best deals as they go live. Check out our other roundups below:

All deals

🚴 Cyber Monday bike deals: Our overarching hub, with deals on everything from bikes to clothing, tech and more

⚡️ Amazon Cyber Monday: Deals specifically for cyclists, with Amazon's next-day delivery

Brand-specific Cyber Monday roundups

🚲 Cyber Monday Trek bikes: Deals on all of Trek's bikes, clothing, helmets, shoes, accessories and more, found at Trek and beyond

🚲 Cyber Monday Canyon bikes: Our pick of the top deals on Canyon's bikes, sold direct to consumer from Canyon's website

🚲 Cyber Monday Specialized: Our pick of the best deals on Specialized's bikes, including Tarmac and Aethos, plus shoes, helmets, kit, tyres and so on, from Specialized's own website and beyond.

👕 Cyber Monday Castelli: A roundup of our favourite Castelli kit deals, found across the various Cyber Monday sales.

👕 Cyber Monday Rapha: With 25% off sitewide, we've rounded up our favourite items from the British brand.

💾 Cyber Monday Garmin: A live, ever-changing roundup of our favourite deals on Garmin's bike computers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors and more, from Garmin's own site and beyond.

💾 Cyber Monday Wahoo: A roundup of our favourite deals on Wahoo tech, such as smart trainers and bike computers, from Wahoo's own website and beyond.

Category-specific Cyber Monday hubs

💻 Cyber Monday indoor bike trainers: A collection of deals related to cycling indoors, with bike trainers, software, fans, and perhaps even the odd laptop or TV.

👟 Cyber Monday cycling shoes: A roundup of cycling shoe deals from around the world, with everything from budget options to high-end carbon race shoes.

👕 Cyber Monday cycling clothing: A handpicked roundup of deals on cycling apparel, with everything from socks to speedsuits.

🚸 Cyber Monday kids' bikes: Our pick of the best deals on kids bikes from the US and UK, with options for all ages.

Still unsure on the best bike for you?

Here at Cyclingnews, we have a selection of guides to help you decide, whether you are wanting to know which is the best carbon road bike or aero road bike for you. Also check out our guides to the best gravel bikes and best electric bikes.

Who is Canyon?

Canyon is one of the world's foremost direct sales bike brands. Founded in 1985 in Germany, it now sells throughout the world, offering high quality bikes with great specs at prices that often undercut brands found in bike shops.

Its bikes garner accolades for their ride quality too, with long-term sponsorship of WorldTour pro teams and a stream of victories in major races proving the quality of the brand's engineering and its bikes' performance.

Canyon doesn't just sell bikes either, with a range of Canyon clothing and components, including its innovative variable width drop road handlebars.

Le Col has launched its Black Friday Sale, offering massive reductions on some of the best cycling apparel on the market. The British cycling brand offers up to 50% off across its site, featuring discounts on the best bib tights, winter cycling jackets, base layers, accessories, and more.

We're in the midst of deep winter riding here in the Northern Hemisphere; it's actually snowing here in Edinburgh today, so I decided to build a top-to-toe winter cycling outfit to see just how much I could save. The result was an incredible saving of $463.80 on the seven items I selected. It included a huge $129.80 discount on the Le Col Pro Bib Tights, which, for me, is an essential item when it comes to winter rides.

Get up to 62% off in the Le Col Black Friday Sale.

With such hefty discounts, the Le Col Black Friday sale is a great opportunity to treat yourself or do some early Christmas shopping for the cyclist in your life. However, it's sure to be popular, so if something catches your eye, I'd suggest snapping it up fast before it's gone. Le Col, as an extra sweetener, offers free US shipping for orders over $170.

The chosen deals are from the Le Col US site, but Le Col UK is also running discounts, and worth checking out if you're UK-based.

If Le Col isn't on your Black Friday radar, then below you'll find a host of other Black Friday deals from big brand tech to cycling shoes, and just about everything in between.

The Cyclingnews Black Friday 2025 hub is also the place to check out all the latest deals as they land, and we'll be updating this on the lead up to and across the entire Black Friday weekend – running from 28th November to 1st December.

• Black Friday bike deals: The best savings for cyclists in 2025
• Black Friday Zwift: Deals from as far away as Watopia
• Black Friday Specialized: Save on everything from flagship bikes to socks
• Black Friday bike helmets: Safety on a budget for road and off-road use
• Black Friday cycling shoes: Sort your feet out with some fresh slippers
• Black Friday electric bikes: Power your way to savings
• Black Friday turbo trainers: Indoor cycling on a budget
• Black Friday kids' bikes: They grow so fast, so don't pay full price
• Black Friday Garmin deals: Smartwatches, cycling computers and more
• Black Friday Rapha: Big deals on the British clothing brand
• Black Friday Wahoo: The best prices on Wahoo's range of cycling tech

I recently penned an opinion piece where I suggested that Oakley’s latest AI-enabled sunglasses, the Meta Vanguard, might actually catch on. Having tested them over the past few weeks, I’m still of that opinion, but far from being filled with excitement at the new frontiers this will open for AI-enabled cyclists up and down the land, wearing the things made me feel a bit uneasy.

They are, from a technical standpoint, quite magnificent and offer things that the best cycling glasses cannot. The audio is great, the AI is responsive and actually useful if you’re into that sort of thing, and the camera is pretty decent considering you wouldn’t know it was there unless it was pointed out to you, all while being actually good at being a pair of sunglasses, something that the likes of the Engo 2 HUD glasses fell short of.

Being able to film people without them knowing, whichever way you square it, is creepy, and that’s something I just can’t get over, no matter how novel it is to ask my glasses to send a picture of the view to my partner.

Design and aesthetics

The Oakley Meta Vanguards look, to all intents and purposes, like any other pair of Oakleys (in the broadest sense). Unless you knew there was a load of smart gubbins going on, then you could be forgiven for thinking they were just a slightly more bulky pair of wraparound shades.

In my gold version, with the Prizm 24k lenses, they’re certainly going to stand out. The lens isn’t crazy large like the likes of the Oakley Sutro, but it does wrap heavily and seamlessly continues over the temples where the touch-sensitive buttons live.

Inside the lens on the upper right of your vision is a little, white LED status light to indicate when the Vanguards are filming. It’s not the most clear, though, but luckily, there are also audio signals. Over the right-hand temple are two of the physical buttons. The larger of the two takes care of capturing; single press to take a photo, press and hold to begin recording video, with a single press again to stop recording. There’s a smaller button too, which can be customised to perform various functions.

Over the left temple is the power button, though just opening the arms and placing them on your face turns them on with a satisfying sound through the temple speakers, which I’ll get to shortly.

Music functionality is a big sell, and playback can be controlled by tapping (play/pause) and swiping (volume control) the touch-sensitive area on the outside of the right temple. They aren’t using bone conduction, just a pair of pretty punchy speakers that project the sound towards the vicinity of your ears.

Battery life is claimed to be 9 hours of ‘typical usage’ (it isn’t) and 6 hours of continuous playback. The case, which acts as the charging port, can also hold an additional 36 hours of battery like a powerbank if you find yourself somehow away from a charging port for that long, but still in possession of a bulky glasses case.

The fit is classic Oakley, with straight arms that wrap around the skull and grip the back of your head, combined with lightly rubberised arms and a grippy nose piece. They’re obviously going to be heavier than a standard pair of cycling glasses, at 67.1g (2.36oz), but the grip and retention are sufficient that they didn’t shake loose at all, even when riding off-road.

Unlike many cycling glasses, you cannot swap the lenses or replace them if they wear out, so it will pay to be a little more careful with them and pick the right lens. The 24k is cool to behold, but my advice would be to go for the Prizm Road lens; it’s far more versatile and won’t leave you squinting in lower light.

Naturally, I need to address the AI aspect. In order to set these glasses up, you need to download the Meta AI app, which is by far and away the worst thing I’ve ever had to download to my phone, including the work expenses app.

Instagram and YouTube are becoming increasingly awash with AI-generated slop, but the Meta app has a dedicated feed just for AI clips. Maybe if you’ve had a lobotomy recently, this might appeal to you, but any sane person should turn their nose up at such horrors as ‘man doing yoga spawns from a pepperoni pizza’, ‘creepy owl man with red eyes rides a motorbike’, and nine examples of ‘oversexualised woman',

Each of which cost many litres of water to ‘create’ - Yes, these are actual examples from my feed, and yes, we should all push back at the rising tide of utterly pointless AI-generated crap.

Once you’ve dodged the epicentre of brainrot and found the glasses tab, pairing the glasses with your phone is relatively easy. I ended up pairing them outside the case in the end, which isn’t the recommended way, but once they’re all set up, they just connect instantly with your phone when you put them on, and away you go. You can ask them to do all sorts of things now that will free your hands.

Performance

Technically, the Oakley Meta Vanguards are quite an astounding bit of kit. Let’s get the actual sunglasses bit out of the way, as let's be real, that’s probably not why you’re considering buying these.

In true Oakley fashion, the optics are exemplary. I do think this is what sets these apart from other smart sports glasses, insofar as they’re not rubbish at being sunglasses, but actually very good. The Prizm Road lens is the way to go in my opinion, but in full sun, the 24k option is great. The field of view is decent, and while they aren’t vented in any meaningful sense and so do suffer occasional fogging, they sit further from your face than many other Oakleys and so don’t fog all that easily.

Considering how much they weigh, they are quite comfortable and very secure. I have quite a small head, though, and I do wonder if they might be a bit tight on those with large heads. I also found the arms interfered with the helmet cradle on some of my helmets, but this is often a problem we smaller-headed folk suffer with.

Given the shape of the arms and the weight, they aren’t a pair to slot into helmet vents, and obviously, once you take them off, you lose any of the additional functionality. I tended to slip an arm down the nape of my neck if I wanted to store them, but given the wrap of them, they sit quite proudly.

Onto the additional functions, then. Music is excellent. I listen to music all the time when I ride, but I cannot stand the insipid sound that bone conduction headphones like Shokz offer. These use actual speakers that deliver pretty decent audio while keeping your ears open to the elements to hear traffic. They also have a neat trick of auto-adjusting the volume depending on the wind noise, which was something I’ve not come across with any headphones before; it’s great! Given that the LED status light is very hard to see, the audio signals informing you of when you’re recording and taking a photo are very welcome and very clear.

The AI-assistant type of features are quite handy too. Asking my sunglasses to tell my partner I’ll be out riding for another hour or so, and even sending a picture of the view without having to stop or even take my hands off the bars is neat, though it can also be achieved in much the same way by stopping for a few seconds and getting one’s phone out. I tend to mute message notifications, as when I’m riding, I like to be able to switch off and having ‘NEW MESSAGE FROM JACK LUKE’ interrupting my sixth consecutive play of Pink Pony Club is annoying.

I must admit I tried and failed to pair the Vanguards with my Garmin. It is possible, I’m told, but the added functionality it brings is being able to ask my glasses ‘How am I doing?’, whereupon it will use several litres of water to tell me in my ears what I could glean by simply glancing down at my bike computer. This is one of those things that exists just to show off to your mates at the café and not something I consider an actual selling point. This may be more of a useful feature for runners, but I write for Cyclingnews, not Runner's World.

The camera, considering it’s installed in a set of sunglasses, is surprisingly good. The field of view is wide, and it’s natively portrait-oriented, giving you a big clue that the footage and images it captures are designed for social media rather than cinematography. The voice commands were relatively good at picking up what I wanted to do, but at speed or in windy conditions, I tended to use the buttons. The clips, as long as everything is all paired up properly, will be waiting for you in the app when you get home from your ride, ready to spam your Instagram stories with. A warning, though, they will have a wee AI glasses logo stamped on them, marking you out, whether you want to remain anonymous or not.

Unlike the music playback, which doesn’t appear to affect battery life that much, the camera does seem to drain the battery quite a lot. I managed to use about 75% of the battery in an hour and a half just by spamming the camera loads, so you need to treat it as snapshots and selective highlights rather than the ‘film everything and work it out in the edit’ approach that modern action cameras and giant memory cards allow.

So, all told, a technically marvellous bit of kit, but I’m afraid the Vanguards left me feeling like a creep. Unless you know these are AI glasses, you would just assume they’re a regular set of garish shades.

The camera, set right between your eyes, is so subtle that, even with the recording halo around it, I am certain many people wouldn’t know they are being recorded. It’s a sad fact that creepy men exist in all walks of life, and cycling is no exception. And I can’t help but feel that arming such men with a way of secretly filming women on rides from behind can only be a bad thing. You may suggest that the wearer has to loudly say ‘Hey Meta, start recording’, which would alert anyone to their intentions, but you can also just film by pressing the button silently, so that won’t cut it.

Meta’s other glasses have already been hacked by those wishing to keep their recording activities private with a mod to disable the recording light, so it’s no stretch to assume the same could be done here to achieve similar ends while riding or running, or just out and about. I think the Ray-Ban options have somewhat entered the public consciousness as a recording device now to some degree, but these may fly more under the radar.

I also feel that what they offer isn’t worth the emotional cost of having to say ‘Hey Meta’ to your glasses like a dweeb, or tie your sunglasses choice to a billionaire tech bro for all of your followers to see. While the functionality that is on offer is incredible for a pair of sunglasses, it’s also less good than what it is trying to replace. If you want really good ride footage, then buy a decent action camera and a pair of normal sunglasses. If you want great audio, then buy a good pair of headphones and a normal pair of sunglasses, and if you want to let your partner know you’re going to be home a little later, then stop and text them.

Value

A set of these Oakley Meta Vanguard sunglasses will set you back a cool £499, or $499 in the USA. That’s quite alarmingly expensive for a pair of sunglasses, but with all they pack in in terms of added functionality, and with them being the first properly good pair of smart glasses for sports use, I don’t actually think they’re overpriced.

Good value? Well, that depends on your need. I’ve scored them somewhat decently for value because they’re groundbreaking more than they are useful. If you are an obsessive sharer of clips and pics from your ride to Instagram and Strava, then they will no doubt prove a welcome addition to your face, and likewise if you’re a tech-head who likes to show off the latest gizmo, then they will scratch that itch with aplomb, but in terms of being truly useful, I’m not so sure.

Verdict

I really am torn on the Meta Vanguards. Technically, I think they’re an incredibly impressive bit of kit. They somehow knit together decent audio, decent footage, and decent sunglasses into one package. For social media clips, they’re excellent at capturing true POV footage that’s instantly shareable, but I have been left wondering what they truly add to my ride.

I’m afraid I loathe having to say ‘Hey Meta’ aloud to a pair of sunglasses. It’s cringe in a way that somehow ‘Hey Alexa’, 'Hey Siri', or ‘Hey Google’ isn’t, though not by much. I’m far from a Luddite, but for me, riding a bike is as much about disconnecting from devices as it is about riding itself.

I hate the fact that I have to interact with the worst kind of AI slop just to use the sunglasses, and I hate the fact that somehow my sunglasses are part of Mark Zuckerberg's extensive ecosystem.

Most of all, I dislike the fact that there’s a camera between my eyes that can film people without them realising, even though I never use it for that. They made me feel uncomfortable just by connotation. At least with a phone or a camera, while you may risk crashing, your intentions are laid bare for the world to see. I don't really have a metric to mark them down for this, though...

Nothing - and I really mean nothing - gets my cyclist friends more excited than when I tell them I’ve got a new winter cycling jacket.

Convinced we’re going to find the Next Best Thing that will change our riding lives forever, every test garment is carefully picked over in meticulous detail by my cyclist pals. Especially in the women’s jacket fields, where a good jackets are few and far between, over the years, I’ve honed quite the sense for a quality wrapper. For it to land a spot in the best cycling jackets list I am looking for exceptional fit, taped seams, water and wind proofing, a solid zip, flattering over layers, big pockets, and quality thermal regulation; I don’t ask for much.

However, the world of waterproof cycling jackets is changing in the wake of the PFAS ban, and we’re starting to see how brands rethink what a winter jacket and waterproofing can do and be without the crutch of forever chemicals to keep us warm and dry. I’m expecting big innovation - especially in the women’s market which has been lack-lustre in recent years.

Enter the Velocio ONE jacket, designed to be, well, the one jacket you always reach for. Priced at £263 ($359), it’s a bold claim for such a simple design. But then again, Velocio has often been able to give cyclists exactly what they need in a jacket - and the Velocio ONE is proving to be no different.

Design and construction

This is a very simple jacket. Simple in design, structure and features,

Personally, I don’t mind simple. Two of my most frequently used jackets to this day are very simple and straightforward (for those interested: Endura's Pro SL Primaloft and Pearl Izumi WXB Attack). Simple is hard to get right. Simple can be exceptional.

In the case of the ONE jacket, this is a single layer garment, utilising Polartec’s Power Shield Pro membrane - a softshell fabric densely woven and designed to keep you warm without being overly sweaty. This has been paired with a durable water-repellent (DWR - read our jargon buster for more) treatment to block wind and the worst of the rain, while inside is composed of a really soft, almost brushed fabric. Most of the seams are reinforced with the exception of those on the front panel hem, collar and wrist cuffs - none of which made much difference to my dryness in wet weather and if anything kept air circulating well.

The Velocio ONE actually reminds me considerably of the Pearl Izumi jacket, if the Pearl Izumi was a softshell, and with a few more the upgrades I wished it had - bright coloured fabric, rear pockets, slightly more fabric across the bust and lighter overall weight. It’s a really well considered design. Like the Pearl Izumi, Velocio boasts some excellent environmental credentials, utilising Biolon - a plant based nylon - in the membrane, supposedly reducing the carbon footprint of the jacket by an impressive 50% in comparison to virgin nylon (a petrochemical derived material). I'm quite interested in the sustainability of my clothing, so for me, this is a big win.

Let us turn our attention though, to another winner: the colour. I was actually offered the choice of either the black, blue or this gloriously cheerful golden, egg yolk yellow version, and almost fell off my chair in my haste to reply ‘the marigold! Dear God, yes, please send me the marigold!’

Reader, it is not hyperbole for me to say that I love this colour with every fibre of my being. I’m not sure when we decided that all our kit should be black, navy or sage green, but I miss brightness. I miss colour, whimsy, fun and I certainly miss being highly visible to cars. And Velocio has nailed it with this choice - veering close to a hi-viz, but cooler, and eminently more modern. Should we select our cycling kit entirely on the basis of preferred colourway with little regard to performance? No, of course not, but I still absolutely do.

I’d like to also give honorable mention to Velocio’s choice of a zip, it’s solidly well built two way zip that works well (there’s honestly nothing worse than a flimsy zip), and also to the soft-touch collar. I was a bit worried that the material would get saturated in the rain and keep me cold, but it didn’t, and it’s a nice little addition for those wanting a bit of extra warmth

Fit and cut

Velocio states that it took 15 years to design this and I can see why. The more time I spent with it, the more considered most of the design became.

The cut of the fabric is interesting and lends itself to a more natural, comfortable fit on the body. I’ve said this before in other reviews, but cycling jackets often miss the mark in two key areas: across the bust and through the torso, where they tend to be too tight, restrictive, or just too short. Velocio seems to have addressed this by very slightly rotating the shoulder seams inwards. Standing up, the jacket feels relaxed and balanced - without pulling, bunching or tugging - and once in a forward riding position, the fabric falls perfectly into place.

In terms of the torso length issue, Velocio has added slightly more length at the front, with two triangle panels on the hip which allow for more stretch without bulk. The result is that these two little sympathetic design features mean you’re unlikely to resemble Winne-the-Pooh when not in bibs. Ta-da! The magic of incorporating an understanding of women's bodies into pattern design.

Sizing

Velocio has a reputation for getting women’s kit right, but I do always brace myself when it comes to sizing. As a woman, I spend a lot of time trying to decipher sizing charts to figure out what is going to fit me. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a dark art, or more akin to reading a fairytale than an actual guide.

Velocio offers both a size and fit guide to help you figure out what might work best, and I do commend their efforts in this department. However, it uses height to weight banding, which I find almost as useless as a chocolate teapot. Women in particular hold weight very differently across their bodies, and even at similar heights and weights, it’s unlikely to be easy to distinguish between sizes, and can be understandably off-putting for some women.

For this review, I made the decision to size up to a medium, primarily because I prefer a slightly more relaxed fit to be able to layer underneath and trap all that lovely warm air against my torso. I’ve also been burned in the past by brands who refuse to acknowledge that a woman might have a chest bigger than that of a barbie doll. I need not have worried however, as the medium actually came up on the slightly bigger side (what a refreshing discovery!) and I probably could have sized it down for a closer fit - even with additional layering beneath - and still been quite comfortable.

The only very small surprise was the length of the sleeves, which seemed considerably long. I like being able to tuck my cold fingers inside my jacket, but they did seem to give you more fabric than was strictly necessary for this.

Overall, I felt Velocio has a pretty good size chart with reasonably accurate measurements and providing something a bit more on the generous side of fit.

Performance

In the UK, we have had a suspiciously dry and temperate year, and so actually finding a cold, soggy day to test this jacket out has been a bit of a struggle. However - for you, dear reader - I persevered. I learnt pretty quickly that I had somewhat miscategorised the Velocio ONE. On our initial outing - a 20 minute trip to the supermarket in the midst of a downpour I can only describe as biblically torrential - the jacket all but fell apart. I was soaked to the bone in minutes, and realised that this isn’t a waterproof in the traditional sense. In saying that, I am not sure there are many (if any) jackets in existence that could have withstood such a deluge. I’d taken the marketing of a ‘one’ jacket, to mean that it could withstand anything, and misjudged the DWR as evidence for ‘can-go-out-in-all-weathers’.

The Velocio ONE is described as a jacket designed for the ‘broadest of conditions’ and from my testing, I think that it is best to take this literally. It works best over averages - an average summer evening as the nights turn chilly, an averagely cold autumnal morning, a weekend ride with friends that dips between showers, a bit of a windy afternoon. In short, it can cope with a lot of average riding, so long as that riding is in average weather.

Short sharp showers (even those with a bit of weight behind them) didn’t seem to be a problem, and I stayed mostly dry as the water beaded off. Paired with a merino base layer (my preferred base layer) beneath a jersey, I found myself comfortable even in single digit celsius conditions (or about 50 degrees fahrenheit and below for our imperial friends across the pond) which is no mean feat, because I am a cold rider. If I was going to be slightly picky, I would say that due to the lack of lining, you do feel the cold from the rain quickly if you’re not adequately layered up, particularly if it’s windy.

Perhaps most importantly though the Velocio ONE was not sweaty or prone to overheating - or at least no more sweaty than any other jacket I have tried - owing mostly, I suppose, due to the Polartec membrane, that helps regulate temperature and keep air moving well around the jacket. As I sized up, I perhaps ended up with slightly more air movement in the jacket than I’d have preferred on breezy days - I did find it ballooning a bit behind me as I was hit by a headwind - but the trade off for a more relaxed fit and additional layers felt worth it. I never felt cold, nor did I end up clammy.

If you’re comparing the Velocio ONE to a waterproof, there are certainly lighter models on the market - my kitchen scales clocks this in at about 232 grams - but considering the thermal performance of it without any bulk at all, I am incredibly impressed.

One of the first things I noticed with the Velocio ONE is how quiet it is. This might not be a requirement for you in your jackets, but I do find a crinkly crisp-packet jacket unendingly off-putting as I am cycling along - I hate a rustle. Instead, Velocio’s polyamide / polyester blend, tipping it closer towards the style of a softshell style jacket, and meaning it is incredibly soft to handle. Polyamide is usually a stiffer fabric, designed for durability, elasticity and keeping colours bright, so I was surprised the jacket felt so soft and wearable.

Between the comfort and the colour, I actually found myself gladly reaching for this jacket. I just felt comfortable in it - I liked how it looked, and I loved how easily I could layer with it. There was no tugging or uncomfortable bits to occupy my brain as I rode, and my temperature remained pretty constant throughout.

Now, on to some of some of my criticisms.

I would like a vent or two in the armpits. Now, I know what you’re going to say: adding in a vent is all well and good but it is going to affect the water and wind proofing and certainly will change the structural integrity, fit and weight of the garment! And yes, I would agree with you wholeheartedly on this front. However, just a little vent never disappoints, and could see this just extending the seasonal usage, and allowing me to maybe use it more into the warmer months too as an extra layer.

Adding some reflective detail on the back wouldn’t go amiss either. There’s virtually no reflective detail at all currently, and I do find that a bit uncomfortable when cycling in traffic.

And finally, the cuffs and the pockets both seem to suffer from very slightly flimsy elastic, which is disappointing on an expensive jacket. On the wrist, I found that although it’s great for getting the jacket on and off, pulling it over my sports watch and for layering, it does allow gusts to creep up the sleeves. Perhaps I have exceptionally bird-like wrists, but they could have made them tighter. Equally, the pockets on the rear could do with both a bit more depth and elastic in order for me to entrust all my precious cycling trinkets to them. On such a well thought out jacket, some sloppy elastic does cheapen the vibe ever so slightly.

Verdict

No matter which way I spin it, this is an expensive jacket. In an ideal world, Velocio is trying to go with the one-and-done approach. This is designed to be the jacket you can wear across all seasons, come rain or shine - and so you won't need another jacket. Girl math; You're practically making money here. And while I think it performs admirably in the role of general dogsbody, I know that it isn't quite perfect enough to be my only cycling jacket. Just thinking of the temperature dipping and I can feel my loyalty waning.

However, in saying that, it's a really well thought out jacket. It feels like Velocio has carefully considered women's bodies and designed something we will love, rather than just producing a smaller version of the men's jacket, and that goes a long way. Already I've recommended it to a friend looking for a daily commuting jacket, and I genuinely think she will love it.

So yes, it is a pricey jacket, but it's one I have really enjoyed wearing. I do think it might be worth it.

Winter cycling is hard going. It’s cold, it’s often wet, and without the right gear, it can be pretty miserable. I can see why so many people turn to indoor training apps like Zwift to ‘get the miles in’, especially when decent winter cycling gear is often quite expensive.

I’m not going to sugar-coat it; if you want to stay warm and dry you need to invest in a decent waterproof cycling jacket and a decent winter cycling jacket, which are going to run up a bill a lot higher than a pair of summer shorts and a jersey, but I’ve also been riding through the winter enough times to have a few cheap tricks up my sleeve to make riding in the grim months a bit more bearable.

None of these tips is going to serve as a replacement for quality gear, but if you’re relatively tooled up on the kit front and still recoil at the sight of an impending downpour, then they may just tip you back into being able to stick it outside for a little longer before you retreat to the indoor trainer.

1. Shoe dryers

Riding in wet shoes sucks. My colleague, Tom, has spent countless hours testing the best cycling overshoes, but ultimately even the best ones will allow some water in given enough time and wet enough conditions. As long as you stay warm it’s not going to kill you, but if you ride back to back days and you have to slip a fresh, dry sock into a still-soggy shoe it’s an incredibly dispiriting way to start your ride.

For (in relative terms) very little money I cannot recommend strongly enough that you buy a cheap set of shoe dryers. I use mine after every damp ride, and you simply slide them into your shoes, switch it on, and in a few hours they’re dry as a bone and ready to get soaked once again.

In fact, if you take nothing else away from this article, just heed me here. Buy the shoe dryers. Everything else is secondary.

2. Invest in a good base layer

In the summer, I don’t bother with a base layer. I know many of you do, and that’s totally fine. In the winter, in spring and in autumn, I wear one every ride. Outer layers often get all the plaudits for keeping you comfortable, as they have to act as a physical barrier to so much of the bad weather, but having a good base layer is so important and a lot cheaper than having to buy a top-flight outer layer.

It’s not just about keeping you warm, but also about making sure any sweat you produce doesn’t stay in contact with your skin. Nobody wants that clammy feeling, and when you stop working, this will make you feel very cold very quickly. A decent base layer will work wonders for improving your comfort over and above just throwing more mid-layers on to try and stay warm.

Personally, I tend to run a quality merino short sleeve for spring and autumn, and then in deep winter I swap to the Assos LS Skin Layer P1. This has quite a high RRP for a base layer, but I trust my colleague Tom’s judgement when he says the Van Rysel Racer 2 is excellent value.

3. Cheap, auxiliary lights

I have spent a long time testing and curating my guide to the best bike lights, and, much like with waterproof jackets, there’s a strong case to be made for spending as much as you can afford on a set, as they really do make life more pleasant when riding in the dark if you stump up for a posh set. However, as I found out on a recent ride, the best lights in the world – dynamo options aside – can’t save you from being a forgetful moron and neglecting to charge the things.

A cheap set of auxiliary lights, especially for the rear, can serve as more of a mental salve than anything else, allowing you to have a fallback if your main beams fail you. Personally, I love the Cateye Orb bar end lights, as they are unobtrusive, cheap, and don’t involve an elastic band of any kind, but literally any small lights will do the trick here.

4. A dedicated charging station

This is for all the people out there who, like me, aren’t good at charging stuff. If you run out of charge for your electronic gears in midsummer, it’s going to be rubbish but not necessarily dangerous. Running out of juice in midwinter can put you in real trouble, whether it's gears or lights.

You needn’t make some sort of mad station with glowing lights, but just having a cheap multi-socket extender permanently set up somewhere with something to charge your lights, bike computer, and gears can be a lifesaver. Just come in from your ride and plug it all in immediately so you don’t forget when you’re trying to warm up.

5. Decent socks

Please don’t fall into the trap that I fell into for years and think you can just wear summer socks and rely on overshoes to keep your feet warm; it won’t work. If you want the absolute best winter cycling socks money can buy then push the boat out and buy some alpaca wool socks from Hollow as they’re monumentally good, but if you quite reasonably don’t want to shell out £40 on a pair of socks then there are plenty of budget alternatives that’ll do a pretty decent job at a fraction of the price.

Merino has a great warmth-to-weight ratio and so is always going to be a good option, and you can pick up a pair of Endura BaaBaa merino socks for around £10, but don’t feel you have to stick to cycling brands. I use hiking socks often through the winter, just make sure you don’t go too heavyweight or you’ll compress your feet and cut off circulation.

6. Glove liners

Much like with socks being key to your feet staying warm, if you struggle with cold hands even with a set of the best winter cycling gloves, then a pair of merino glove liners can help give you a little comfort boost for a pretty small outlay. Naturally, you’ll have to make sure you’ve got the room in your gloves, but they’re usually very low profile and are designed to fit like a second skin.

7. Reproof your waterproof gear

This may sound obvious to many of you, but I still run into plenty of folks who just assume that as soon as their waterproof jacket begins to wet out on the surface, then it’s done for and they have to put up with being soggy from there on in.

Modern waterproofs especially need reproofing more frequently thanks to changing chemical regulations, but you can do wonders by just giving it a blast in the tumble dryer to revivify the water repellent coating.

If that doesn’t work, then a wash and reproof is needed, which may sound daunting, but it’s pretty simple and pretty cheap too, and in terms of cost-to-benefit ratio, it’s a brilliant way to feel happier when the heavens open.

8. On-bike luggage

My hottest winter cycling take is that the ultimate winter accessory is a small Carradice saddlebag. I run one all winter, every winter, and while it may not look sleek and aero, and it certainly adds weight, it pays dividends at every cafe stop when I can smugly pull out a down jacket while my friends shiver into their baked potatoes.

Comfort isn’t a dirty word, and having the capacity to take or stow extra layers is a real boon in the cold. Plus, there’s almost always extra room for a flask of tea, a decent snack, and a proper spares kit. Maybe it’ll make you a bit slower, but when it’s miserable out, nobody cares how fast you go, just that you do go.

9. Thermal water bottles

Alright, if anyone wants to make jokes about Brits and their tea, then now’s the time… When the weather is bleak and the ride is long, sometimes a hot drink on the go can be an absolute lifesaver. I often take a bougie pour-over coffee with me, or a mint tea if I want to avoid going all jittery, and it’s a real pick-me-up that warms you from the inside out.

Spatz makes a great-looking option, or you can find more basic versions that’ll also fit in your bottle cages on Amazon. My top tip would be to test out how long things stay hot for before heading out to ride, as often they’re more effective than you expect. I’ve ended up getting home with my flask still full of burning hot liquid that’s too hot to drink, so top it up with a bit of cold water to make it drinkable before you set out.

10. Flaps for your mudguards

Full-length mudguards should be a non-negotiable thing in my eyes, but this isn’t the article where I try and convince you to fit them. What I am going to do is try and convince you to improve your mudguards, because you’re sensible and already have them fitted, don’t you?

The more coverage you can get – by which I mean the closer to the ground you can wrap the guard around the wheel – the cleaner and drier you will remain. The easiest way to achieve this is by adding flaps to your mudguards. You can buy them aftermarket and install them with a bolt, you can make your own (repurposing an old Ass Saver works well for this), or if you buy some Kinesis Fend-Off mudguards, the packaging is designed to be cut out to make a flap for each fender, which is a real selling point for me.

Not only will they keep you in a better state, but they’ll also keep anyone behind you from getting a face full.

11. A rag by the door

I suspect we’ve all been there… You come home from a wet ride, you chuck your bike away wet, go and get showered up and get the kettle on for a cup of tea, and totally forget about the bike until the next day, by which time it’s already rusty. I have a bag of rags that sits by the door so that when I come home from a wet ride, I can, as a bare minimum, just wipe the chain, chainrings, and cassette down and remove as much of the surface water as I can.

It’s not perfect, but it’s also basically free and can save you a lot of money in replacement chains.

12. A small jet wash

I am now #blessed with an outdoor hose, but when I lived in a flat that didn’t have an outdoor tap, having a small portable jet wash prepped and ready by the door, next to the rags, was a godsend, especially when riding off-road.

Filthy bike comes home, gets an immediate hose down, then a rag, then it can go away to be deep-cleaned at my convenience at some point down the line. Kärcher’s mini jet wash is brilliant, and I still use it today, sometimes even though I have the hose. It’s a little more powerful, but nothing as severe as a full-sized one, so no need to worry about bearing damage. It’s probably the most expensive thing on this list, but it’s also fantastically useful and a huge upgrade over the ol’ bucket and sponge.

Yesterday, as reported by German site Velobiz, W.L. Gore & Associates, better known simply as ‘Gore’ appears to be axing its in-house clothing brand, Gorewear, itself an amalgamation of two previous in-house activewear brands catering to the running and cycling markets.

Gore, in letters to retailers, outlines economic pressures as the cause of the closure of the brand, and the decision has apparently been taken after “careful consideration and in-depth analysis of long-term prospects”.

Gorewear has been producing cycling clothing since 1984, and while it is perhaps most famous for its waterproof cycling jackets, it also produced bib shorts, overshoes, jerseys, and a whole range of accessories for both cycling and running.

It is perhaps this diversification away from the brand’s key offering - that being waterproof gear - that stretched it a little thin; it is fair to say that the cycling apparel marketplace has rarely been this hotly contested.

Details are thin on the ground for now, but the closure of Gorewear isn’t necessarily reflective of bigger issues at Gore in general. The parent company has no doubt been wrangling with the transition to PFAS-free waterproof membranes, something which means it no longer has as much market dominance thanks to its old PTFE membranes, but Gorewear is quite a small part of a much larger beast.

Gore the parent company will still continue to produce waterproof textiles under the Gore-Tex brand, and these will continue to be used in cycling jackets like the Rapha Pro Team Gore-Tex Lightweight Rain Jacket, as well as across the outdoor industry more broadly, but also in military applications and other industrial settings.

As more details come to light we will endeavour to keep you abreast, but don’t panic, Gore-Tex isn’t going anywhere.

It isn't cold enough yet where I live for me to bust out any kind of heavy-duty winter gloves, but it has been chilly enough to wear lighter full-finger gloves on occasion.

Given the conditions, I have picked up my testing for my guide to the best winter cycling gloves, looking at a couple of lighter options better suited to warmer autumn conditions.

I've been riding in the Velotoze knitted waterproof gloves for over a year, and am now ready with my full review. If you're interested in some comfortable, lighter, long gloves, this pair could well be one to consider.

Just under a year ago, I reviewed the Velotoze Waterproof Neoprene Cycling Gloves, one of three long-fingered offerings from the brand, and a pair that quickly became my favourite neoprene gloves once I logged some miles with them in the rain.

Now, it's time to look at the knitted waterproof glove option. These gloves use a lightweight, soft knitted construction with a waterproof membrane inside. They are very comfortable, but there's built-in waterproofing too, which adds value and versatility.

The gloves retail at £42.90 / €45 / €39.50 and come in one black colour.

Design and aesthetics

Velotoze products are used regularly by the UAE Team Emirates-XRG, including world champion Tadej Pogačar. I first spotted him using VeloToze gloves at last year's Giro and was interested to learn more. After speaking with the brand, I'm also told that at least one other team purchases these gloves to use without branding.

The waterproof knitted gloves are constructed from a mix of acrylic, nylon, spandex, and elastane. A three-layer construction makes up the fabric, with a waterproof membrane are sandwiched between the first and second layers.

I'd say the gloves sit around the medium-weight bracket overall. They aren't super thin and light, but they are lighter and offer more dexterity than lots of proper winter gloves. The brand says they are designed for a temperature range of 5°C (40°F ) to 19°C (66°F ). That upper limit will depend on how conditions are; if it's wet and windy in warmer temps, you may still need gloves.

Some waterproof products of this nature can feel a bit 'crinkly', but there isn't any of that here. The gloves are soft, lightly elasticated all over, and have been very comfortable with a pretty much perfect fit in my size medium, which is true to size.

There's a white 'Velotoze' wordmark on the outside of each glove, and the palms are covered with grippy silicone 'oTo' letters all over. These are just some of the letters taken from the brand name, and VeloToze uses them on a few bits of kit.

The gloves have a nice long cuff, always a welcome feature for me on a pair of gloves, and due to having no velcro or zips to worry about are easy to pull on and off. You can easily run the cuffs over or under jersey sleeves as desired.

Performance

First off, I've mentioned it already, but these gloves are super comfortable. It's a simple design and shape, but the woven, stretchy nature of the gloves ensures they contour to your hands really well when you pull them on, and there's no slop or bagginess. It's a comforting feeling, I relish pulling them on and really like the longer cuff. Big tick for comfort.

There's a dual-purpose offering here, and depending on what you are doing, this could be an incredibly versatile pair of gloves. You can wear the gloves when it's cooler or cold, and they provide a good amount of warmth. In warmer temperatures, I'd say between 10-15 °C / 50-59°F, they may become a bit sweaty. The waterproof membrane does affect breathability, but overall, it's not bad. You're not going to have anywhere near the same levels of sweatiness as with a neoprene glove, for example.

If you're going hard, you could wear these gloves well down into single digits, and they will look after you, too. And the comfort and dexterity will help you out when doing things like reaching for food. They are also touchscreen compatible, which is always helpful.

No glove is totally waterproof, and fabric gloves will eventually succumb. These knitted gloves do a very impressive job when it comes to waterproofing for me however. Under my tap test indoors, they dealt with an onslaught before succumbing and letting some moisture in.

Outdoors, I recently gave them a solid test on a 200km ride with several hours spent in the rain; they did a fantastic job and only started to get a little soggy after a good few hours in the wet. Overall, they kept my hands dry and warm whilst my ride companions were wringing out their saturated gloves. On a long, hard ride, they came into their own and felt like a secret weapon.

The particular day saw temperatures of around 15ºC / 59ºF, but with wind chill and rain making it feel much colder than it was. The gloves warmed my hands up very well after getting cold in the cruel wind, and came into their own when the rain came down. They are also very easy to pull on whilst riding, another feature I like.

In the poor conditions before the rain came, there was a slight wet and warm element when working hard, as I sweated, but overall they kept my hands very comfortable.

It's worth noting that these gloves need a cold hand wash when cleaning, so remember not to just throw them in the wash with the rest of your kit.

Value

I think these gloves offer very good value for the money at £42.90 / €45 / €39.50. They do a lot and offer good protection over quite a wide temperature range. Comfortably cheaper than many other gloves from recognisable names.

They fill quite a nice gap in my glove arsenal, and I do love the comfort and fit. Money well spent in my opinion, especially when they make bleak rides more comfortable.

Other alternatives

While I have tested these VeloToze options for a year I am aware that there are similar options from other brands on the market. I haven't tested the GripGrab model, but my colleague Will swears by them, though they lack the touch screen compatibility on offer here. Likewise Sealskins and Showers Pass have a model that looks very very similar, so if you can't find a VeloToze in stock then have a hunt around for these other options.

Verdict

These are excellent gloves that bring a lot to the table. I love the comfort VeloToze has built in, and the fit of the gloves is bang on.

They work for me in colder, dry conditions and do a very good job of keeping the rain at bay on wet rides. I would reach for a full-blown neoprene glove for the wettest rides generally, but for changeable weather or showers, these comfortable gloves will keep your hands dry.

When it starts to get cold and winter sets in, chat amongst cyclists can often turn to gloves and how to keep the hands warm when riding in cold weather.

This isn’t a new problem; cyclists have probably been trying to solve the issue of cold hands on the bike since records began, and each winter I meet riders who struggle with cold hands and who are searching for the best winter cycling gloves.

We are, of course, all different; there are always those riders who are perfectly happy wearing no gloves down into freezing temperatures. There’s also an element of bravado and one-upmanship at times, riders will ride without gloves in the cold to try and show how tough they are, but generally it’s nice to have warm, comfortable hands in the cold. It also makes it easier and safer to do things like steer the bike, change gear, eat food and take a drink from a bottle; I myself once dropped both of my bottles in a road race thanks to soaking, frozen hands,

Today, we will be looking at lobster gloves, what they are, and why they might help keep your hands that little bit warmer in the cold if you find yourself struggling or always on the lookout for warmer options.

The big issue with cycling is that you need enough dexterity in a winter glove to ride the bike in a safe manner, which, by and large, seems to rule out mittens for most of us, which could well be the warmest option.

I'm focusing on road or drop bar bike riding here; there are systems like handlebar pogies or gloves out there for flat bars, but I don't see anywhere near as many road riders using this kind of kit, at least in my part of the world.

At the very least, this seems to put something of a limiter on the size and amount of insulation that goes into cycling gloves. Again, everyone has slightly different needs, but generally, I find that road riders at least don't want to wear gloves that are too bulky or big.

Take skiing, walking, or mountaineering; people doing those outdoor activities wouldn't think twice about perhaps choosing a dedicated layering system consisting of a thin liner glove, a bigger main glove and then even a third outer shell for waterproofing. Cyclists seem to draw the line at a thin liner glove, and don't want too much bulk.

What is a lobster glove?

A lobster-style glove simply mimics the claw of a lobster (if you use your imagination a bit), hence the name, and splits the fingers on your hand into groups, offering more dexterity and control than a full-blown mitten, which keeps all the fingers together.

A lobster glove, also referred to as a trigger glove sometimes, due to the way it isolates the ‘trigger’ finger, generally separates the fingers into groups for improved dexterity, but crucially keeps them in larger 'pockets' which are designed to be warmer than individual fingers, thanks to there being more room for an insulating layer of warm air.

There are different ways of doing this; some lobster gloves split the fingers into two pairs, some group the two largest fingers together and then keep the rest separate, some separate the fingers internally, but group them into one central pocket.

Doing this means the elimination of individual fingers on the glove; keeping the fingers together in a bigger space promotes warmth and reduces the need for additional stitching along each finger, which can be a weak point and an entry point for the biting wind to enter.

Do lobster gloves work?

In my experience, yes, a lobster glove can work very well and is warmer than a regular five-finger glove in certain situations.

First, and this is a permanent caveat, you can get away with an awful lot in the cold if you're riding hard due to the amount of heat you generate. So if it's a short, high-intensity ride, a cyclocross race or similar, you may very well be able to ride without gloves or just with thin ones in pretty low temperatures.

In reality, more often than not on longer road rides, the overall ride may be split into more intense efforts and lower effort work, and this is where you may find yourself pulling gloves on and off to suit.

On longer, cold rides, or low intensity ones, I've found lobster gloves to be the warmest kind of glove I have used to date. Specifically for me, the Gore Wear Insulated Trigger gloves, which separate the index finger, keep the other three grouped for warmth. I don't suffer too badly with my hands in the cold, and I appreciate that some riders do, but on freezing January days, they kept my hands toasty for hours in the biting cold.

Despite being initially wary of a bigger glove on the bike, I found the dexterity to be very good, nowhere near as poor as I imagined, and this really helped. The way a lot of cycling-specific lobster gloves divide the fingers means you can still brake and hold the shifters pretty easily.

Another area in which lobster gloves have proven their worth for me has been when used as a waterproof outer shell over a five-finger glove. This sort of use is common in walking or skiing, as mentioned, but you don't see as many bike-specific options, and I believe this is because there isn't the demand, and they end up being quite specific products, and Assos told me as much recently.

Products like the now-discontinued Sportful Lobster gloves are very water resistant and thin, designed to pull over a five-finger glove to keep your hand dry, but also boost warmth by limiting breathability. They roll up so small you can carry them in a saddle bag, and I've relished the extra protection in bleak weather.

Though cycling-specific options are scarce, with some hunting, it wouldn't be too hard to find some from other disciplines that might work for cycling. A spare outer lobster glove could work wonders if you're out for hours and the weather closes in. Pulling a pair out of your back pocket or saddlebag as your riding mates' gloves get soaked will dispel any doubt about them being the wrong choice.

Riders are all going to want different things for cold-weather riding, and different regions have different levels of cold. However, for general, cold-weather winter riding, a lobster glove can be a real ally when trying to keep your hands warm on a drop bar bike.

I don't need them all the time, and can use a five-finger glove for the majority of the British winter, but when I'm out for hours for a steady ride on a freezing winter day, the comfort and warmth the right lobster glove brings keeps my mind on the ride at hand and prevents the pain of frozen, painful fingers. If you want the warmest option this winter, and haven't used them before, they may just be worth a try.

SRM and Q36.5 are set to launch a new pedal and shoe system that both brands claim will have the 'lowest stack height in the market'.

This system sounds a little like the Ekoi pedal and shoe system that launched this year.

This news arrived with us today, in the form of a kind of 'pre-launch' with an initial outline, which will be followed up on in one month with the full product launch. We think it better to keep our readers abreast of the latest tech developments, so here is what we know so far.

SRM founder Ulrich Schoberer and Luigi Bergamo, founder of high-end clothing brand Q36.5, have seemingly got together to create a new pedal and shoe system.

The brands' claim that the combo 'reduces stack height by over 8mm relative to existing systems' meaning the system’s will trump Speedplay in the stack height department, the current industry leader.

It sounds like Bergamo was convinced of the advantages that come with reduced pedal stack height and approached SRM to make things happen.

Schoberer even claimed that other manufacturers were 'totally ignoring' some of the gains that can come from reducing stack height.

Generally, benefits are said to include better power transfer and a more aerodynamic and efficient position, thanks to a lowering of seatpost height, not to mention improved cornering clearance that comes with an overall slimmer pedal body.

Given SRM is famed for its pioneering power meter technology and cycling power meter systems it's curious this new pedal doesn't have a power meter; the stack height seems to have been the focus, so potential customers will need to look at a crank-based, spider-based, or axle-based power measuring product.

The pedals have also been designed specifically with the Q36.5 Unique Pro shoes, Q36.5's flagship road shoe and some of the most expensive around, which I tested this summer. That model already champions low stack height and uses a very thin sole.

The pedal system will be available exclusively with the Unique Pro shoes. We assume a new cleat standard will be needed, and given the shoe's current RRP of £550 / $600 / €550, it's probably fair to expect a retail price for the system of at least another $100 on top of this. We will know for sure in one month.

It’s a sad fact that, for now at least, waterproof jackets don’t perform as well as jackets from a few years ago. The removal of harmful PFAS chemicals from the manufacturing process means that, amongst other effects, the durable water repellent (DWR) coatings that used to be based on fluorine chemistry are now less durable and less water repellent, but the LDALWR acronym has yet to catch on.

What this means in practice is that your waterproof gear – and for most of you reading this, this most likely means your waterproof cycling jacket – will more readily and more frequently wet out. Wetting out is what happens when the durable water repellent becomes overwhelmed, allowing the face fabric of your garment to become saturated with water. Once this happens, the jacket not only looks wet, but it also drastically reduces in breathability, as the water vapour from your sweat cannot pass through the layers, as it is impeded by a barrier of water.

This reduction in breathability then means your sweat stays trapped inside the jacket, condensing, and getting you wet from the inside, which is why so many people wrongly assume water has come through from the outside. Once your jacket starts wetting out more quickly than usual, then it’s time to break out the reproofing chemicals to get it back to performing at its best.

You may even need to do this to a brand new jacket nowadays, as the latest DWR treatments are no longer oleophobic (oil resistant), meaning any oil they come into contact with during their manufacture, and before sale on the shop floor/warehouse, can have negative impacts. Basically, grubby hands and sewing machine lubricant can mean your brand-new jacket doesn’t perform as you expect, as the DWR treatment is applied to the fabric before it is cut, sewn, taped, and has logos applied; all steps involving a lot of physical touch.

Can't I just put it in the wash with my other clothes?

The first step to getting your gear on song again is cleaning it, though. Most decent jackets feature a liner fabric inside to protect the membrane, but over time, the tiny pores in the membrane, as well as those in the liner fabric itself, clog up with dirt and grime. Flushing these out from time to time improves breathability, as well as just making your jacket look and feel cleaner.

Not only that, but at-home DWR treatments adhere best to clean, dry fabric. Simply spraying a reproofing spray on a filthy jacket is a recipe for short-term gain but medium-term disappointment, so get it in the wash before you do anything else.

I recently spent an evening discussing DWR aftercare with Gore-Tex (yes, I know, what a life I lead) and learned a lot about best practices that I was unfamiliar with. I previously tended to use wash-in treatments, on the assumption that it gave better coverage, and avoided heat, but the advice from the experts is that heat is actually extremely helpful in making the DWR ‘pop’.

But first, to washing… Gore recommends a little bit of liquid detergent, with the zips all done up, and a 40ºC wash, though it also pays to check the care instructions on the garment first. Never use powder, never use softeners, never use bleach, never use stain removers. If you have a detergent tray that’s gummed up with crusty old powder, then give this a good clean and run the machine empty on a rinse cycle.

If you’re really nervous, then use a dedicated technical garment wash like Nikwax Tech Wash or Grangers Performance Wash. The latter isn’t necessarily endorsed by Gore-Tex as the one to use, but I did get sent home with a bottle of it by the Gore-Tex representatives, so read into that what you will.

A wash may be enough to revivify the DWR, but you’ll need to apply some heat. Toss the jacket in the tumble dryer on a ‘warm gentle cycle’ until it feels dry. Then, put it back in again on the same settings for a further 20 minutes to really get the best results. If you don’t have a tumble dryer, then iron it on a low setting through a towel without steam. This is also the advice, if the care label allows, for Pertex jackets.

If this is enough and the jacket is beading water like a champ, then disregard the next step, but if not, it’s time to get the spray bottle out.

How do I make my waterproof waterproof again?

Previously, I have always useda wash-in reproofer, but having spoken to Gore this it seems has some disadvantages, mostly in that it applies a waterproof coating to the inside of the jacket where you don’t need it, and if the jacket ends up crumpled up in the wash, you can potentially end up with missed spots. It seems the best way is to spray, and both Nikwax TX Direct (as recommended by Pertex) and Grangers Performance Repel Plus (Gore’s drug of choice) come in spray-on varieties.

Other options besides Nikwax and Grangers are available, but they all follow roughly the same steps. Spray the product onto a damp garment, making sure to get into all the crevices and ensure you get full coverage, then pop it into the tumble dryer and, as befor,e run it on a war,m gentle cycle until it feels dry, then leave it in for a further 20 minutes. You should now have a well-beading garment.

What about Shakedry?

If you are lucky enough to own an old Shakedry jacket, then don’t do any of this. Shakedry has the waterproof membrane on the outside of the jacket, and so it should bead up indefinitely, so all you need to do is wash it on a delicate cycle at 40 degrees. Don’t reproof it, don’t use softeners, don’t use bleach or stain removers. Don’t do anything to it besides just washing it properly.

Proper preparation ensures best performance

If you’re like me and have a good deal of experience with old, pre-PFAS ban garments, then you’ll be used to your jackets being relatively low maintenance. I have some old Gore-Tex Pro mountaineering gear that’s still good as gold ten years on, and I barely have to do anything to it, but that’s not the world we live in anymore.

Learning to reproof your jacket is often a reactionary undertaking; your jacket ceases to perform as expected, so you go and reproof it. We need to start being a little more proactive, however. Got a bikepacking trip coming up? Maybe give your outerwear a little love and a DWR refresh before you set out to make sure it looks after you. The same goes for wet road riding. Both mud and road spray contain oils that can impact the DWR, so being properly prepared before the impacts start to become apparent will mean you stay drier and more comfortable.

With that in mind, I’m off to throw all my test jackets in the dryer and get the spray bottle out.

Can I waterproof anything with a DWR spray?

In theory, yes. I have a lot of DWR-coated soft goods, like winter bib shorts and arm warmers that could do with a reproof and the theory is the same for things other than your hardshell jackets. Wash according to the care instructions, spray a DWR on when it’s damp, and give it a tumble dry or an iron through a towel to activate the DWR thoroughly if the care label allows. If not, just let it air dry and keep your fingers crossed.

There’s nothing really stopping you or me from giving our winter bib tights a DWR coating to help with road spray (though mudguards will be a far more effective method), but as soft goods don’t generally have a waterproof membrane, they will never be truly waterproof. That’s not going to stop me experimenting, however.

As the seasons inexorably change for the worse (though secretly I actually really enjoy the onset of autumn and the start of gloomy riding), people are always scratching around for that one piece of clothing that’ll allow them to ride in bad weather in something approaching comfort. The fulcrum on which the delicate see-saw of winter comfort is often balanced is the winter cycling jacket, or the waterproof cycling jacket. The former is mostly designed to keep you warm, but the latter has the harder job of keeping you dry.

Waterproof cycling jackets for years were just like any other waterproof jacket, just cut for cycling, but since Castelli launched the original Gabba way back in 2010, cyclists have been torn between the form-fitting a breathable softshell jacket and the more waterproof, but more sweaty hardshell.

Now there are more softshells than ever to compete with the plethora of hardshells. There’s the Castelli Perfetto RoS 3, and the new DoDiCi, which Castelli claims is the ‘spiritual successor’ to the original Gabba. Rapha has the Shadow, which is now on its second iteration, whilst Maap has the Elements Pro. Castelli even has the Gabba R, which I loved, though the aesthetics are somewhat questionable.

Which one should you buy, though? Given that the outlay needed for just one jacket can be prohibitive, it’d be remiss of me to suggest you should just buy one of each. Well, as ever, the answer is ‘it depends’.

What are hardshell waterproof cycling jackets good for?

If you are frequently riding in moderate to heavy rain then a hardshell is probably what you should opt for. They are simply better equipped at keeping you dry than a softshell, as they form a (hopefully) impermeable barrier that at least keeps your top half dry. If you remain dry it’s a lot easier to stay warm when the temperatures plummet, and when it’s really cold it’s not a terrible idea to throw on a waterproof jacket to reduce the breathability of your layering system and up the temperature a little.

They’re also a little easier to throw on and off in changeable conditions and stuff in either a jersey pocket if they’re lightweight like the Maap Atmos or the Pas Normal Mechanism Pertex, or in a bar bag if they’re more bulky.

Because they’re better able to protect you in genuinely horrendous conditions (provided you get a decent one) my recommendation is usually to get a hardshell jacket first, as it’s better to be over prepared for bad weather than underprepared and will open up riding in a broader range of conditions than a softshell will.

My one caveat to this would be that intense riding in a waterproof jacket is a sure-fire recipe for discomfort. However breathable they claim to be, a hardshell will be sweaty and clammy if you’re riding on the limit. Even the mythical Shakedry jackets get humid, so if you’re looking for something to throw on while you do intervals in the rain I’d steer you towards the softshell aise.

In a similar vein, hardshell jackets, due to their relative inflexibility, cannot be cut in an aerodynamic fashion. They need to be baggier to accommodate a range of body shapes, and this makes them flappy, loud, and draggy. If you’re looking to go fast whatever the weather then a hardshell isn’t the one for you; save it for steady zone 2 miles in the rain and chuck on a softie for the hard stuff.

What are softshell cycling jackets good for?

While I reach for the hardshell if its raining, for those days where it’s miserable but not soaking then a softshell is a better bet. Gloomy fog, mist, drizzle, the occasional shower, high winds and chill air. The weather that wouldn’t necessarily stop you riding, but that you don’t really relish riding in.

Softshells are substantially more breathable than their harder siblings, and almost always more form-fitting, with the standard 3x pockets at the back. You can wear them over a jersey, or over a base layer as a replacement for a jersey, making them really quite versatile once you get your eye in as to their ideal temperature range.

The better breathability and improved aerodynamics (Castelli’s Gabba R for example is faster than the brand’s San Remo skinsuit) mean they’re better suited for high intensity riding. If it’s grim and you’re going hard it’s usually sufficient to open up the top or bottom zip, or if you’ve still got an original Gabba like I do, open up the zip vents on the front.

The downside to increased breathability is an increased susceptibility to cold. I used the original Gabba for years through Yorkshire winters, treating it basically as my winter cycling jacket, but the latest Perfetto isn’t that capable below 12ºC. Because they’re close-cut it’s also a lot harder to layer up underneath them, with most only really accommodating a cycling base layer and thin jersey. The heat will need to come from within by riding harder, which is fine if you’re planning an intervals session, but less optimal if you’re on a zone 2 trundle.

This is exacerbated in the wet. Softshells will come with a durable water repellent (DWR) coating that allows water to roll off for a time, but in actual rain you will get wet, and if it’s cold then you need to be generating quite a lot of body heat to remain comfortable.

While a waterproof jacket, with the ability to layer up underneath and seal the heat in, can function relatively well as part of a deep winter layering system, a softshell doesn't work so well as the outer part of a system. There simply isn't the room to layer up underneath in the same way, so you have to make sure the jacket you buy is right for the conditions you are planning to ride in.

Basically, buy the hardshell first, then worry about whether you need a softshell later.

Autumn is here, and depending on where you live in the world the days are getting shorter and the mornings and evenings are darker. For me, at home in the UK, I now leave the house in the dark to make my early Saturday morning chaingang.

Winter riding means lights; in fact, all year-round riding means bike lights, but it’s the wintertime when cyclists reach for them out of necessity. The best bike lights will help you see in the dark, and they will also keep you more visible to other road users and motorists and ultimately safer.

Sometimes, putting a set of lights onto your bike isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing option, though it depends on the bike and the lights. But in the context of looking at a nice, sleek road or gravel bike, strapping lights on, especially when they are bigger and bulkier, doesn't look quite as good.

Historically, fitting lights used to mean attaching them to a bike's handlebars and seatpost with some sort of mount. I spent my fair share of rides with a front light taped to my handlebars as a teenager after losing or breaking the mount.

Over the last decade or so, light setups and the way they can be fitted have been getting cleaner and neater thanks to improved light design, as well as a far better range of mounts, brackets and adaptors that really help clean up the way lights can fit and look on your bike, freeing up space and getting them out of the way of your hands.

Of course, safety trumps any kind of aesthetic aversion. It's really important to ride with lights on your bike, especially in low light and the dark. To be clear, just fitting lights to your bike is great, but this article looks at some of the things you can do to get them looking neater and tidier; but safety must always come first.

So, how can you achieve a clean light setup? You might be thinking, ‘Easy, just buy an out-front Garmin mount adaptor and/or a 3D printer,’ and you would be right, but there's more to it than that.

I’ve examined several key ways you can achieve a neat and even super clean light setup on your bike. If you're interested in moving that big, bulky front light sitting front and centre on your handlebars and just making things a bit cleaner, this guide should help, and at minimum give you some ideas and inspiration.

I've spent my fair share of winters, rushing back in for lights on my way out of the house to ride, and then just slapping them on the bike, but with a bit of planning and creativity, you can take things to the next level.

Clean things up with your computer mount

Moving a light off your handlebars and under them by using an adaptor paired to an out-front computer mount is one of the easiest and now most common ways to achieve a clean front light setup.

Many of the best bike computer mounts can now make use of a three-prong GoPro-style adaptor – which has pretty much become the universally adopted standard – to accommodate a light (though other brands have their own mount systems too), meaning you can affix your light underneath the mount for a much cleaner look.

There are a couple of ways to do this; buy yourself an out-front mount with a GoPro-style fitting built in underneath, or find a GoPro mount to fit to your existing computer mount, then find the corresponding light mount. Bolt the two together, fit the light, and you're done.

For instance, in the picture below, I've used the stock Ribble Ultra Grit out front mount that happily comes with an integrated GoPro adaptor, and then paired it with the Exposure Boost2 light using the Exposure Side Entry Clip (sold separately), which the light simply snaps into, resulting in a neat, clean, out front setup.

Now that this has become more common, many smart bike lights now have remote functionality, so you can control the light from your bars without having to fiddle around underneath.

Some bike brands' integrated handlebar computer mounts will vary, and you may need to find an aftermarket mount to meet your requirements, but there's so much on the market now that it shouldn't be too difficult. American brand K-Edge, for instance, makes high-quality aftermarket combo mounts for a range of brands.

Plenty of light companies now make adaptor brackets and mounts, allowing you to mount your lights to a computer. As long as you have a computer mount with a three-prong adaptor, a cheap adaptor bracket will be all you need.

There are lots of companies dedicated to producing aftermarket light mounts now for all kinds of mount and light pairings. Companies like RaceWare components and MagCad make a huge range of aftermarket 3D printed mounts for a range of lights.

So, if you want to easily clean up that front end, get yourself a computer mount with a GoPro-style adaptor, and the corresponding bracket or adaptor for your particular light.

Tidying up rear lights

Front lights get most of the attention when it comes to neatening things up because there's just more scope to move them out of the way and off your handlebars, but there are still things that can be done to tidy rear lights a little more. There's more on this below.

First, it's an obvious one and will depend on what you require from your lights, but a slimmed-down, smaller light like the Knog Plus above can help clear things up. It's only 17 grams and sits perfectly behind my seatpost, and crucially, still packs a punch. I tend to just use it riding solo, as on constant beam, which is what I would set it to in a group to respect my riding mates, the battery will only last two hours.

Second, if you want to really clean things up, a saddle rail-mounted light mount gets your light up behind the saddle and really looks super low profile; a range are available from multiple brands.

The one in the picture is a (deep breath) Exposure Boost-R with ReAKT and Peloton light with an Exposure saddle rail mount. This looks great, but it may mean rethinking your saddle bag setup.

Fit them into an existing space

Another way to achieve a clean light setup is by fitting bar-end plugs that double as lights. This works by utilising existing space on the bike to add two additional lights that you wouldn't normally use. I like doing this for winter to easily add two additional lights for little cost and minimal effort.

I have a pair of Cateye Orb bar plug lights mounted to the ends of the handlebars of my Dolan winter bike; they simply replace the bar end plugs and are CR2032 battery powered. It’s a very unobtrusive way of adding extra lights to your setup. What sold me originally was driving up behind a cyclist on an unlit road who was running them; they make the bike look so much wider and alerted me to their presence more effectively.

Get the tools out

3D printing and the ease with which it can be done these days have meant that a vast array of components can be printed cheaply and easily now, providing solutions to a wide range of problems.

This is the case in the light space, and 3D printed brackets and mounts, as mentioned, provide workarounds to specific light fitment issues and can help make things look neater than ever before. If you have a certain issue or requirement now for your lights, a custom mount probably isn't going to be very difficult to produce, and could really make your bike look neat.

My colleague Will recently sought help from a company to provide a mudguard-mounted light bracket, providing a solution to a specific issue he had.

“This specific light mount was built to tackle two issues I have. The first is that I hate having elastic bands or O-rings on my bike; they look ugly, and I'd much rather have a permanent solution.

"The second, non-aesthetic problem is that in winter I often run a large Carradice saddlebag to take layers, snacks, spares, and generally just because I like the vibe, but even with my rear light right at the base of my seatpost, it is often obscured, and therefore rendered useless."

Bags, mudguards and other accessories can sometimes obscure lights or make fitment hard. This was the root of the problem for Will, and he wanted to change his lights on his bike, but how?

"To fix this problem, I got in touch with Jaggers from 3bits.cc, a small brand that makes really neat mounts, and asked to be a crash test dummy for a mudguard mount for my Exposure Boost-R.

"A few photos, some back and forth on design, and a wait for the 3D printer to do its thing and here's the result: a neat, sturdy, bolt-on solution that shows that if you want something made, you should just reach out to some makers on Instagram and see what you can concoct. Off-the-peg options start from around £20-25."

This is a perfect example of how 3D printing can provide highly useful solutions for your particular bike and setup. Want to mount a light to a mudguard or neatly underneath your saddle? No problem, reach out to a company and see what they can do for you and your bike.

It isn't possible to cover every mount and light type here, but here's another little mod for getting a super clean light setup on a Garmin computer mount and with a light that already has a thread on its body, which can be the case to connect to certain bar mounts. You could also drill the body of the light to do this, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Utilising the existing thread on a light body gives you a way to mount the light to a Garmin mount with no adaptors or brackets whatsoever; you just need a bolt and some tools.

I've outlined the process above with images, but you'll need to remove the computer mount insert from the mount itself and drill a larger hole in the middle of the insert and the bottom of the mount to accomodate an M3 size bolt or similar, you may also need to cut the bolt to the required length and lightly file the bolt head to get a clean fit.

Once the bolt is in place, reattach the computer mount insert and use a hex key to screw the computer to the mount. There you go, a light attached to the computer mount without any kind of adaptor, and it looks very clean.

This is just an example, but it shows what's possible with a bit of creative thinking. Side note, if doing this means running your light upside down, double-check your specific light model and beam is safe to be run upside down; some are not due to the beam pattern and type.

Custom fabrication

It’s possible to go a step further and build light integration into a bike frame itself. Of course, dynamo light wiring has been wired into parts of bike frames for decades, but it’s possible to achieve an incredibly clean setup these days if you go down the custom route.

I got in touch with custom frame builder Rob English, owner of English Cycles and a man responsible for some incredible custom bikes, to see what kinds of things are possible regarding light integration if you really want to get creative.

English custom light integration work seems to revolve around Dynamo light setups or custom solutions to integrate lights into frames themselves.

“Most of the integrated light setups I have done have been with dynamo lights. The cleanest way to integrate a dynamo hub is to use a custom fork with the SON SL dynamo hub. This uses the dropouts as the connectors, so there are no plugs to mess with or see, and the steel fork acts as one leg of the wiring.

“Then the front light can be mounted at the fork crown, with a wire running to the rear light. With a fully hidden cable build, the rear light wire could be run up the inside of the steerer and into the frame to be completely out of sight.

"For integrating the rear light, it depends on the build - I have mounted lights under saddles, at the seat clamp, on the seatstays and at the dropout. In each case, the wiring runs internally right to the mounting point. Sometimes this involves additional parts - such as a saddle mount requiring a connector in the wire so that the seatpost can be removed from the frame."

English's own custom winter bike features a light integrated into the seatpost itself, surely the ultimate clean light solution. Ok, incorporating a light into a bike frame may be unnecessary for some of us, but if you're all about neatness and custom solutions, this could be a viable option.

"On my personal winter bike, I liked the idea of having an integrated rear light that couldn't be forgotten or stolen. But didn't want to go the dynamo route. The bike has a seatmast, which gave me mounting space.

"I modified an Exposure rear light to remove the lip on the body, so that it could slide into a socket brazed into the frame. There is then a small bolt accessed from inside the seat mast to secure it in place. The USB-C port on the underside of the light makes it easy enough to charge while on the bike."

It seems e-bikes also open a lot of doors when it comes to custom light setups. English explained that his own e-cargo bike had some very custom lighting thanks to the power available from the main battery.

"On my e-cargo bike, with the main battery available for powering the lights, I added a strip of white LEDs to the front rack, and rear ones to the rear fender and seatmast - all with fully internal routing including a control unit to vary the pattern/speed of the pulsing.

"The front light is mounted on the fender, because this sits under the frame-mounted front rack, there wasn't a way to access the power button on the back of the light. So I removed the switch from the light and ran the wiring under the fender and up the inside of the steerer. There is then a machined housing on the handlebar for the switch to enable easy access."

At the end of the day, bikes still need pedalling, and a neat light placement won't make your next hard, cold ride any easier. However, if you improve your setup this winter, the morale boost and sense of pride in your machine may just mean the pedals turn that little bit easier, and spring doesn't seem so far away.

The Exposure Lights Strada Mk12 AKTIV, in our opinion, is one of the best bike lights, packed with clever tech and an almost indestructible build. Our very own Will Jones inadvertently put that to the ultimate test, after a mount failure sent the Strada "tumbling down the road at warp speed."

The Strada passed the crash test with ease, confirming its impressive build quality and cementing its position in our bike lights buying guide as one of the best bike lights we've ever tested. However, this quality usually comes with a massive price, but right now you can get the Exposure Lights Strada Mk12 AKTIV at Tweeks Cycles for just £265.

This Exposure Lights deal surpasses the previous best price of £279 from back in July, and represents an 18% saving on the RRP of £325. With winter riding and dark nights looming, this is a bike light deal worth snapping up, as this is very likely to sell out fast.

The Exposure Lights Strada does it all brilliantly, and in our review of the Mk11 version, we scored that model with an impressive 4 out of 5 stars. It just missed out on the perfect score, mostly due to price, so this deal on Mk12 makes it even better. The changes to the Mk12 are minimal, so the review is worth checking out for all the details.

Review highlights of note are the road-specific beam pattern, which provides the optimum beam for road cycling, with the impressive AKTIV mode that auto-dips the beam and detects vehicles approaching. Basically, it's like swapping from full beam to dipped in your car.

Although the initial setup is a bit of a faff, once you've got it dialled, the Strada has various programs and a remote switch allowing customised lighting to suit your needs, from intense blasts to all-night adventures. These lighting modes are backed with an impressive battery life – up to an incredible 36 hours, depending on the program you're using.

The Exposure Lights Strada Mk12 RS AKTIV is, in our opinion, as good as it gets in a bike light, and only got marked down for cost, so at this price, it's now got value for money to add to its impressive repertoire.

If you're looking to pair the Exposure Lights Strada with the best rear light on the market, then there can be only one choice – the Magicshine SEEMEE300. It has a perfect 5 out of 5 stars review, and is not just our favourite light, but one of the most impressive pieces of cycling tech we've ever reviewed.

The Magicshine SEEMEE300 is currently discounted to just £47.99 at Amazon, 20% off the RRP. It's not quite the cheapest it's ever been, but if you're gearing up with the Exposure Light, the savings you've made there make for a superbly priced front and rear light package.

These deals are UK only, but below you'll find the best prices available in your territory on the Exposure Lights range, including the Strada Mk12 RS AKTIV, and also the Magicshine SEEMEE300.

Getting dressed for a bike ride is pretty easy in the summer months. Simply throw on a set of the best cycling shorts, pair it with a cycling jersey, a helmet, some cycling shoes and socks and away you go. Maybe add a pair of cycling glasses and gloves for good measure, but it doesn’t require a great deal of thought.

As the seasons change, however, things become trickier. Autumn (or fall, for my North American readers) and spring are the hardest to dress for; do you need bib tights and a winter cycling jacket, or will shorts and a cycling vest suffice?

I’ve spent years riding year-round, week in, week out, in all conditions, so I’m going to break it down for you based on what temperature the forecast says it’s going to be. No more guesswork, just comfortable riding without overheating or getting frozen to the bone.

One caveat to make here that goes for riding in any of the cooler temperature ranges listed here is that the intensity or nature of your riding will dictate how much you need to wear. For instance, if you're riding hard for 90 minutes in single-digit temperatures, it's remarkable how little you need to wear whilst generating heat. But it's important to be mindful of what you need once the hard work has stopped, though.

The guide should provide an excellent all-around framework for choosing what to wear for any given range.

Above 30ºC / 86ºF - Very hot weather

Over 30 degrees, or about 86 degrees Fahrenheit, you’re going to want to opt for dedicated lightweight gear. Standard summer jerseys and shorts are good, but above this threshold, even they can lack the breathability you need to stay cool, especially if the humidity is high and sweating reduces in its effectiveness.

Jerseys like the Maap Aerate, Rapha Ghost, or even the sleeveless Assos Equipe RSR are made almost entirely from mesh, allowing your whole torso to breathe more easily and sweat to evaporate. Just beware that if the sun is strong, many of these jerseys don’t have UV protection, so you may burn through them. The mesh these jerseys are made of is effectively the same as a base layer anyway, so don’t add any unnecessary layers by wearing a base layer too; you’ll only heat yourself up.

Lightweight shorts will also help, though I found these make less of a difference than the jersey, so don’t feel the need to invest here unless you’re regularly seeing these temperatures.

A ventilated helmet will be a better choice here, as your head has a huge impact on your overall ability to stay cool. I really like the POC Cytal Lite, while my colleague Josh swears by the Specialized Prevail.

I wouldn’t stress too much about going to lightweight, mesh shoes unless you’re regularly experiencing these temperatures, but I do find that lightweight mesh socks actually have a surprising impact over normal summer socks. They don’t cost a great deal, but they are a great thing to have in the drawer for occasional use.

If it’s raining, then just get wet and don’t take a jacket. Keep your phone in a waterproof case if it isn’t waterproof, but no jacket is going to perform in these temperatures, and you’ll probably be glad of the cooling effect of the rain anyway.

Finally, it sounds mad, but having a set of sunglasses like the POC Elicit, where the lens is frameless, the arms skeletal, and importantly, the lens sits far from the face to allow more airflow, will do a lot to stop your face becoming drenched in sweat, forcing you to take your glasses off. And if you really want to go all-in, then get a set of insulated bottles to keep your drinks cold.

22 to 30ºC / 72 to 86ºF - The golden zone

This is the golden zone where you really needn’t overthink things. Whatever summer jersey you like, a standard set of summer shorts and socks, normal shoes, and a mesh cycling base layer if you find it more comfortable. Summer gloves, too, though this is a personal choice.

If you’re racing or riding hard, then you may find an aero helmet is too sweaty at the top end of this range, but for the most part, the best aero helmets nowadays are vented enough to be able to handle this sort of heat.

If it’s raining and you’re riding hard, then I’d just accept your fate and get wet. If you must wear a jacket and you’re on a Zone 2 ride, I suggest going for something that prioritises breathability and low bulk, like the Maap Atmos, but you may find you steam up pretty fast still.

17 to 21ºC / 63 to 71ºF - Warm

As above, for the most part in this zone, you can just wear your standard summer gear. At the very bottom end, you’ll be better off wearing a base layer than not, and I’d probably feel better taking a lightweight gilet or vest, or adding a set of arm warmers into the mix that I can stuff into a pocket if I get warm, or pull out again before a long descent.

One difference to the previous golden summer zone is that in this range, you may find you get a bit chilly if you get drenched, so grab something light like a Maap Atmos, or even a softshell jersey/jacket like the Castelli Perfetto RoS 3. A thicker waterproof will still leave you boiling in the bag, but you don’t want to get home feeling miserable and wet.

12 to 16ºC / 53 to 62ºF - Cool (the really tricky one)

When I look at the forecast, it isn’t 3ºC that fills me with dread, it’s 13ºC. When it’s properly cold, things get easier, but this zone is really difficult to get right. Underdress and you risk getting chilled, but overdress and you run the risk of ending up a sweaty mess.

Modularity is the best bet in my view. Things you can take off and stuff in a jersey if needed, or pull out and throw on if it suddenly gets cooler. A spring base layer, paired with a summer jersey, arm warmers and a gilet (ideally one with pockets), and some shorts helps. Cargo shorts are particularly useful here, just for added capacity.

Alternatively, a long sleeve jersey with a summer base layer and standard shorts with a light gilet for emergencies, or just a long sleeve jersey with a spring base layer to add some extra insulation inside.

If you get cold fingers, then some lightweight winter gloves will serve you well, and while I still find this range perfectly manageable with normal socks, if you’re not blessed with great circulation, then a set of winter cycling socks and/or a set of neoprene toe warmers will stand you in good stead, especially if there’s occasional spray.

If it’s raining, then you will want a thicker, more traditional waterproof jacket. Something like the Rapha Pro Team Gore-Tex jacket, or the Albion Zoa if you’re heading off-road.

At the bottom end of this range, you may want to swap from standard cycling shorts to winter cycling shorts. They're a niche product, but one that I use time after time, especially for longer, slower rides.

6 to 11ºC / 43 to 52ºF - Cold

Here’s where it gets what we would all probably describe as ‘cold’, and happily, things get a little easier. You’re going to want a set of bib tights and a long-sleeve jersey as your staple options, underneath one of the best winter cycling jackets. If you run hot, then a spring base layer, but if you run cooler, then a winter base layer will be a better option. With that baseline crossed off, then tailoring your accessories to suit can have pretty dramatic consequences.

A neck warmer is an extremely cheap way of staying warm, as a lot of blood flow goes up your neck close to the surface to get to your brain, which you may want to also insulate better with a cap or a winter hat at this point, though, for me, I find this a surefire way to overheat. Middleweight or thick winter gloves will stop you getting cold, and a light winter jacket will almost certainly be needed. Overshoes will be needed, along with winter socks.

In this temperature range, getting wet, through sweat or rain, could be disastrous, so a really good waterproof cycling jacket is key. Likewise, mudguards are an absolute must for riding in cold and rain, as far as I’m concerned. A clip-on thing like an Ass Saver Win Wing will help, but nothing beats the protection of full fenders and flaps.

Curiously, if you’re riding grave,l I think instead of wearing bib tights it’s a lot more sensible to opt for thermal shorts and leg warmers. Winter gravel is filthy, and your shins get a pasting every ride, and it’s a lot easier to clean leg warmers and a lot cheaper to replace them if you have a spill and put a hole in the knees, too.

0 to 5ºC / 32 to 42ºF - Very cold

This is really very cold for riding in, and especially if you head out in the morning the risk of residual ice can be high, but if you must venture out, then start with a deep winter base layer, winter socks, bib tights, and a long sleeve jersey paired with a deep winter jacket. Thick gloves are a must, even lobster gloves if you get cold hands, and on your feet, it’s beneficial to have dedicated winter cycling shoes, too. An insulating midlayer may help too, especially if you’re not riding at a high intensity.

You’ll need a neck warmer to cover your neck and your face, and a winter hat to keep your ears from freezing. I tend to use a thicker neck warmer when it’s this cold, made of merino rather than the simple synthetic Buff neck tubes.

If it’s in this temperature range and it’s raining, there is very little you can do to remain comfortable. I’d honestly suggest just chalking it up as a loss; ride indoors instead, or go to the gym, or just have a day off. A very good waterproof jacket will stand you in good stead for a while, but very quickly your legs will get soaked and frozen, so you may even need waterproof trousers.

Once it gets to this temperature range, I almost always head out with additional luggage capacity in the form of a Carradice saddle bag. It’s not necessarily the most high-performance option, but having space to pack an extra warm layer to throw on in case of a puncture, or space to de-layer if it warms up, is a godsend sometimes.

-5 to 0ºC / 23 to 32ºF - Sub-zero

Everything that was true for the previous temperature range is also true here, but you’ll definitely need an insulating midlayer now. I prefer something lightweight and synthetic like Polartec Alpha – Velocio’s Alpha Long Sleeve or the Pearl Izumi Pro Alpha Layer are perfect examples.

While it’s unlikely to be wet, it’s not impossible, and riding in sleet is one of life’s great miseries, and freezing rain is really quite unsafe to ride in, so give it a miss and get on Zwift if you can.

Below -5ºC / 23ºF - Extreme cold

Cycling in temperatures this low isn’t for everyone, but the good news is that when it’s this cold, it’s unlikely in my experience to be wet, though it may well snow. Lobster gloves will really be beneficial if you’re prone to cold hands, and even pogies (insulated hand shrouds that mount to your bars permanently) to add an extra layer of insulation.

Any exposed skin will suffer, so make sure you've got a decent face covering that won't slip, and large glasses that remain airy to stop them from steaming up (though in my experience, this is next to impossible sometimes).

While winter cycling clothing is at the limits of being effective here, you can just wear something like a mid-thickness down jacket instead, or at least put one in a large saddlebag just in case. It really helps to dial back any really intense riding, too. Any excess sweat you produce may well lead to you getting utterly frozen.