Vulpine Cycling Blazer

Vulpine go for maximum style points in this collab with London designer Oliver Spencer. It's priced at a point that most of us probably wouldn't consider remotely sensible, but what was the last piece of cycling gear you bought that was made in England?

So you've got to ride into town to meet up with the partners for some drinks at that new bar. It's around 18 degrees out, but Siri suggests there might be a shower later. You toy with the idea of leaving your De Rosa hanging on the wall and taking the 911 instead, but you're a bit behind with this month's Strava 1000km challenge, so it was never really an option not to ride. What to wear?

In recent years there has been an explosion in the market for cycling gear that doesn't look too cyclisty: stuff that is cut to be comfortable on the bike while allowing you to affect the desired look when out and about off the bike. Brands like Howies, Rapha and Vulpine have succeeded in combining these seemingly conflicting needs and produced some really stylish cycling outerwear for the (fairly well-off) urban rider.

Much of this gear could still be described as technical cycle gear first, with added style. Increasingly, however, we're seeing items which are closer to "traditional" tailoring, with added cycling features. Rapha and Vulpine now offer blazers in their range, and this is Vulpine's offering, which was designed in conjunction with Oliver Spencer. I'm not in Shoreditch and wasn't familiar with Spencer or his oeuvre, so I had to rely on Wikipedia, which informed me that he was an officer in the American Revolutionary War.

His collaboration with British cycling brand Vulpine has resulted in a dark blue single-breasted blazer, conceived, they say, over a coffee. The jacket has obvious influences from both its parents - the lining shares the contrasting seam trim previously seen on Vulpine's other jackets, this time in striking white. There are also welcome details like the concealed reflectives (when you fold up the cuffs and the collar, and a bit more in a split at the bottom of the back), again a signature Vulpine touch.

Oliver Spencer (yes, my research extended beyond Wikipedia) chipped in with the modern styling of the blazer itself, with design details such as the external pockets being subtly different to what you'd find elsewhere. The fabric is a mix of 63% cotton and 37% nylon, designed to be showerproof - not something that many blazers can claim. I found that water does indeed bead up and roll off as you'd expect from a decent soft-shell. Vulpine have a fair bit of experience with water-resistant cotton, using their Epic Cotton fabric in a range of rain jackets.

The fabric is not particularly warm, meaning that this is definitely better suited to warm spring afternoons or summer evenings. The front panels are lined with a cotton/polyester blend, giving a bit of wind resistance, and the back and sleeves are unlined. I've been wearing this in March and April, and the days where it was warm enough to wear just this and a t-shirt were fairly few and far between. Come the summer months I'd anticipate getting a bit more use out of it without shivering.

In terms of what it's like on the bike, I found it to be quite comfortable for making leisurely, gentlemanly progress around town. Vulpine say that if you're planning to ride much on the drops then you should consider a size up, but let's be honest you're not going to be riding far or very fast dressed like this. I didn't use it at all at night time as it was simply not warm enough, but the inclusion of good quality reflective tape will make this a definite option come summer evenings. Each armpit has a couple of metal vent holes to let some moisture out, although this feels like a token gesture as there's plenty of air coming in the front anyway.

Sizing is by chest size, like a suit jacket, running from 36in to 46in. The 42in fit me well enough with a pleasing slim cut, although on the bike (even riding on the tops) the sleeves were arguably a little on the short side for me. With the cuffs folded up for night-riding, they were palpably too short. It's a compromise, obviously, between the fit off-bike and when riding.

Storage-wise I'm pleased to see there aren't pockets at the rear. Rapha's similarly priced cycling blazer has one, and I don't think it looks right. You do have three open pockets on the outside and a couple of rather small ones (one with a button closure) inside. Neither of the internal pockets are big enough to fit an average-sized smartphone, and I'd be a little hesitant to trust it to one of the outside pockets, but that's what your manbag is for. Disappointingly, the stitching holding one of the external pockets in place started to unravel after only a handful of times wearing it.

As I mentioned, the collar folds up when you want to unleash the reflective, and is held up by closing a couple of buttons at the neck. Don't be fooled into thinking that this will keep your neck and chest warm in the way that a dedicated cycling jacket would when zipped up - it is a blazer after all.

So would I buy it? No, I probably wouldn't, and definitely not at that price. I bought a Vulpine soft shell a while back, which is a staple in my wardrobe, and if I had this sort of money then I'd more likely consider one of Vulpine's more cyclisty jackets like the Harrington - a full £100 cheaper. But if this is your style, and your bonus just came in, you might well like it. If you are in the market, you'll likely have looked at Rapha's lapelled jacket too, which claims to be quick drying but not to offer any water-resistance. On the flip-side, Rapha do claim that their cotton/nylon blend has some stretch built in, which is not the case here.

Verdict

Expensive smart cyclewear that's made in the UK; water resistance is a bonus, better stitching may be needed