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review
Vespertine Sash-ay Scarf£58.00
VERDICT:
Warm, sophisticated and shiny. What's not to love?
Weight:
82g
Contact:
www.vespertinenyc.com
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.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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At first glance, this Vespertine Sash-ay Scarf is a fairly low-key, grey tweed woolen scarf along the lines of centuries worth of old fashioned posh school scarves.
Sure, it has a nicely woven pattern and it even has a cunning buttonhole and button partnership, allowing for easy securing of this wayward item of winter clothing.
BUT, and it's a substantial 'but', wave the glare of car headlights in its general direction and its true colours become apparent. The Sash-ay is part of the new breed of urban cycling kit cleverly using reflective thread woven in with wool during the normal weaving process, resulting in an effective but distinctly un-techy looking reflective garment. It looks like a tweed scarf and it behaves like a tweed scarf, whilst also being a reflective addition to your after-dark cycling safety arsenal.
It's a sturdy wool scarf, and delivers good levels of warmth, especially given the button securing it (if you want), and suitable for wearing with pretty much anything from normal street clothes, through to super technical riding kit if you so desired. After all, it's just a scarf! The reflectivity is impressive and it definitely enhances visibility of the wearer, even if only adding to overall conspicuousness. Even the impressively cunning button is covered in reflective stuff. Such are its androgenous good looks, that it would happily grace the neck of man or woman.
Sadly this rather lovely scarf's only currently available from Vespertine direct in the US, but Sarah the owner and designer is a helpful lady and it's no real problem to buy from her direct. It's not cheap, but it's woven in Scotland from merino wool and it's a top quality scarf with the added bonus of making you that bit more visible on a dark night.
Verdict
Warm, sophisticated and shiny. What's not to love?
road.cc test report
Make and model: Vespertine Sash-ay Scarf
Size tested: Grey
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 urban cyclists wanting to enhance their visibility.
Good for anyone out on dark streets.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
100% merino wool tweed with reflective weave.
Button and buttonhole to secure if desired.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
10/10
Superbly well made and lovely fabric.
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
Definitely warm and visible.
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Good quality fabric but keep it away from velcro.
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
7/10
Slightly itchy, but very comfortable otherwise.
Rate the product for value:
9/10
Superbly well made and high quality.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Performed very well. Was warm and visible.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Style, button/buttonhole, reflectivity
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes, very much.
Would you consider buying the product? Yes, and as a gift.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Maybe, if they were a very good friend.
Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?
An attractive unisex merino wool scarf with the added bonus of enhanced visibility.
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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Add new comment
14 comments
does look like a modified tea towel to me.
Where are all the Rapha haters to decry its price tag?
At least the 'designer' has realized this is to be worn at night only!
Similar to what I was thinking. If this was made by Rapha, the bile from the 'haters' would have pushed the comments into 3 figures
http://summerwine.wikia.com/wiki/File:Wally_Batty_JoeGladwin.jpg
Silly bloody sods...
you've just googled the words 'buff' and 'stylish' and posted the first link you found. at least i'm hoping you didn't click on that link and think, 'what style!', for your own sake
cactuscat, thank you for keeping to topic.
You are correct ... that's exactly what I did to find an opinion other than my own. I do own quite a few original Buffs myself (mainly in merino), so maybe I am not a stylish person ... I don't really care. 
Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder and I just happen to like Buffs. I don't however like this scarf 'thingy', nor the price. 
bit silly that they make it in scotland and you have to buy it from the US. wonder how much it would be if they could send one direct?
You seem be be good at inferring inaccurate opinion and reaching baseless conclusions from what you think you've read.
If you re-read the article it says the scarf is 'Woven' in Scotland. This infers that the tweed fabric is produced in Scotland, but the scarf may well be finished off (e.g. that button stitched on, etc.) elsewhere. Oh, and 'scotland' is spelled with a capital 'S'.
About the Tester:
Age: 37
Name: Bertie Wooster
It's a £60 shiny scarf with a button on. Jeez. Rule #5 anyone?
Better off with a Buff, which would also look more stylish and is way cheaper (though still expensive).
That button just looks silly (sorry), as if some hapless amateur came up with a fix. You might feel I'm being a bit harsh here, but that's how it looks to me.
because buffs are *so* stylish, said no-one, ever.
unusual to see you commenting on one of leonie's reviews, nbrus. what? oh.
Really? Do you even bother to engage your brain before posting?
http://www.mybikemyworld.com/article/fashion/5-stylish-buffs-for-bikers....
Considering there are only a small finite number of reviewers writing for road.cc, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise.
Is that simple enough for you? 
triumph-2.jpg
The comments section exists solely so that readers can post comments related to the review/article. It isn't there for h*lf-w*ts to make personal attacks to other users when they don't agree with their opinion. Stick to the topic and we'll all get along fine.
Ouch!!!