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endura pro-sl three-season jacket

you'd figure by now that we'd have it comfortably sussed, with the emphasis on the word comfortably. as the weather degrades towards winter, there's usually a steady decline, formerly predictable enough that the cycling wardrobe could be kept in an orderly fashion. disappointingly, this year has scarcely followed the script; several weekends have left me at something of a loss, chilly on a saturday and sauna-like on sunday. or vice versa.

the weather forecasts are not of as much help as you'd hope, particularly here on the outer edge, where temperatures rarely take into account the inevitable wind chill. and though breathability has improved dramatically over the last decade, it's still an undeniable fact that such fabrics still struggle to keep pace with the intrepid cyclist. and warm rainy days don't exactly help, often making waterproof jackets a necessary evil while debating whether 'tis better to get wet from the inside or the outside. as mentioned not so long ago, layering would appear to offer the most practical approach, always assuming the at least some of those layers can be stuffed in a jacket or jersey pocket if proving warmer than expected.

to cater for such iniquitous situations, scotland's endura, with close on thirty years experience of the nation's weather, and in collaboration with former pro, marcel kittel, has introduced the pro-sl three-season jacket. the three seasons under consideration are autumn, winter and spring, though i'd be wary of ruling out at least a few weeks' use in a scottish summer. it consists of two basic elements: a thermal outer jacket and a primaloft gilet that can be fastened inside, below the rear of the jacket's collar.

to fine tune the insulation of the outer jacket, the primaloft gilet is thin enough to scrunch up and stick in one of the outer jacket's three rear pockets. should that prove insufficient to cool your impressive physique, there are two vertically-zipped front vents (both with two-way zips), as well as another two on the lower forearms. the latter are remarkably effective, given the premise that cooling the wrists and forearms may be considerably more effective that opening the front zip from collar to chest. and better still, both sets of zipped vents are easily adjusted while riding. and to get rid of those exhaust gases, there's a small mesh patch across the back, beneath the collar. this is covered by an external flap to keep the elements from travelling in the opposite direction.

for added frontal protection, though the main zip is not of the taped variety, there is an internal flap sitting behind the zip to keep out the breeze.

internally, the sleeves and upper torso feature a soft thermal fabric, meaning that, if you're warm enough to wear a short-sleeve jersey, the sleeves don't feel clammy. though the outer fabric features the inevitable durable water repellency, it appears not to have taped seams, serving a few advance doubts about the waterproofing. the high collar is fleece lined, keeping any internal warmth right where you might want it to be, and though the review jacket was bright orange (pumpkin), there are also relfective patches on the forearms, with reflective detailing on the back, including the endura logo on the centre pocket. there's also a fourth, zipped security pocket on the right.

the first ride in bright three-season orange was a remarkably mild saturday, on which i wore the primaloft gilet over a short-sleeve, lightweight jersey, with the jacket on top. because of the island being almost divided in two by a sea loch, the east-side is frequently warmer that the west, the loch offering scant resistance to the prevaling south-westerly winds. thus, though a smidgeon over-warm on the outward trip, the temeprature dropped a few degrees on the route to debbie's. that's when those vents came in very handy, being opened and closed quite frequently.

with the temperature rising a tad during the afternoon, i was more than thankful for the forearm zips, leading to a pleasant cooling, demonstrating the jacket's versatility in the face of adversity.

when the rain and wind arrives with a vengeance, there's still the difficulty of gauging the temperature all across the island. on a dark, dank, windy and very wet morning, i was eternally grateful that i'd changed my mind from once again wearing a short-sleeve jersey, opting for the endura-made debbie's long-sleeve jersey. even so, despite also wearing the fully-zipped primaloft gilet, i could have suffered a few more degrees of warmth in the face of a very cold wind and damningly persistent rain. there was no need whatsoever to use any of the vents.

i can but pay deference to the jacket's constitution; i eventually managed to ride hard enough to encourage more internal warmth, and despite the rain never letting up (we spent almost three and a half hours in pouring rain), when we finally made it for a welcome coffee (or hot chocolate with marshmallows in one case), inside, i was impressively dry. yes, the lower cuffs were more than just damp, but the inside of the sleeves were mostly dry, as was my torso. the three-season jacket may not rival many of the breathable membranes currently available, and it may be more water-resistant than truly waterproof, but all considered, its performance was very confidence inspiring. that has, i'm pleased to say, continued to be the case.

and endura have finally listened and fitted a hang-loop at the collar. joy is mine.

the endura pro-sl three-season jacket is available in black or pumpkin, in sizes ranging from xs to xxl. it's available at the very attractive price of £179.99

endura pro-sl three-season jacket

thursday 4 november 2021

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