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review

Altura Blitz Waterproof Women's Jacket

8
£59.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Great value for money, well featured waterproof jacket. Best suited to cooler conditions or less sporting rides. Available in purple
Weight: 
436g
Contact: 
www.zyro.co.uk

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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In an arena where increasingly the sky seems to be the limit for price the Altura Blitz, a fully waterproof, lightweight, cycling specific jacket for £59.99, has got to be worthy of serious consideration. And it's purple.

The Blitz is a good looking jacket with plenty of nifty features. It's fairly light, weighing a pretty respectable shade over 400g, and it's tough. Altura have thought carefully about which features are necessary on a jacket and have included most of the ones you could need, such as reflective areas and piping, rear zipped pocket, side zipped pockets that double as ventilation, chest pocket and a soft fluffy fleecy lining to the collar. Wrist cuffs are partially elasticated and Velcro fastening and the whole jacket is mesh lined. The fit is on the generous side for the size, which makes it ideal for layering for cold season use. It's also a decent length in the body, and with good length sleeves, so taller women shouldn't be put off.

In use, the jacket is a comfortable style to wear, contoured but roomy, and allows for easy freedom of movement. Rather strangely, the tabs to fasten the cuffs are incredibly long, so unless you have very chunky wrists indeed, or habitually wear your cuffs over your gloves, you're going to find quite a lot of extra flapping tab here.

While the mesh lining does improve the comfort of the waterproof fabric next to skin, it also has the unfortunate effect of making the jacket warmer too. This isn't a problem in colder months obviously, but with a jacket of this weight and style, it would be handy to be able to use it all year round, and it's designed to be a versatile jacket. The combination of the mesh lining with a level of breathability of fabric not on a par with more expensive jackets (as you would expect) means that the Blitz does run warm and does leave you feeling a little on the sticky side after a vigorous ride. The side pocket ventilation does offset this a little, but it still means this jacket is better suited to slightly chillier conditions than to a full British summertime downpour. Mind you as the UK can do chilly for a fair portion of the year that doesn't necessarily impact on the amount of wear you can get out of it.

Available from a size 8 to a size 18, this is a jacket that will please most sizes and shapes of female rider, and the £59.99 price tag really does mean good value for money, especially for those not intending to be out riding hard for a protracted period of time. It comes in hi viz yellow and, did I mention, purple? Why would you ever look beyond the purple?

Verdict

Great value for money, well featured waterproof jacket. Best suited to cooler conditions or less sporting rides. Available in purple.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Altura Blitz Waterproof Womens Jacket

Size tested: Purple, Size 12

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Aimed at female riders, for all types of riding.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

100% polyester

Mesh lined

Reflective accents

Zipped side pockets/vents

Fleece lined collar

Velcro/elasticated cuffs

Hip drawstring

Available UK8-18

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
6/10

Well put together, but components such as zips and zip pulls could be more solid.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

As a cooler weather waterproof, very good, but runs a little on the warm side for all season use.

Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10

Good quality fabric but existing breathability issues will only get worse with time.

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
7/10

Very respectable weight. Light enough to pack in a bag, but not small enough packsize for a jersey pocket.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
8/10

Very comfortable to wear. Good shape and cut.

Rate the product for value:
 
10/10

Really good value for money, and will be a go to jacket for quite some time.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Performed very well as a cost effective waterproof jacket option.Only the breathability levels and warmth stopped it from being a truly versatile all rounder.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Price, cut, features, fabric finish, colour

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Breathability, mesh lining

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Probably.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Definitely.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

A well put together jacket with some nice features, and really good for the price.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 1.65m  Weight: 67kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, mtb,

 

Lara has been riding bikes for longer than she'd care to admit, and writing about them nearly as long. Since 2009 she has been working as part of the road.cc review team whilst championing women's cycling on the side, most notably via two years as editor of the, sadly now defunct, UK's first and only women's cycling mag, erm, Women's Cycling. 

Believing fervently that cycling will save the world, she wishes that more people would just ride a bike and be pleasant to each other. 

She will ride anything with two wheels, occasionally likes to go fast, definitely likes to go far and is always up for a bit of exploring somewhere new and exciting. 

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