hi viz

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.

My daughter's reaction to me trying on the Polaris RBS Grid jacket was simply, 'WOW'. There really isn't an excuse for, 'sorry mate, I didn't see you,' if you're wearing this. To say the jacket is bright is an understatement.

Techno-freaks won't get excited about the Vizavee retro-reflective Union Jack vest - it's essentially a very thin polyester waistcoat dressed in heat-transferred Scotchlite strips with Velcro closures.

While I missed refinements such as mesh pockets for keys, the medium was bang-on size-wise, weighed next to nothing and folded small enough to fit in bigger wedge packs.

Aimed primarily at commuter cyclists, the Proviz Electroluminescent Hi-Viz jacket may lack the tailored cut of racier garments but even so it doesn't billow like a builder's tarpaulin and protects your back and vital organs particularly well if you are riding a tourer, crosser or similarly upright road bike and thanks to four integrated electroluminescent strips it's highly visble too.

Respro Hi-viz ankle bands are just brilliantly simple safety aids made from dual sided, washable neoprene that fit in a flash around the ankles, doubling as handy trouser-clips into the bargain. Lycra can induce slight slippage beyond ninety odd rpm but before you all start sniggering and picturing geography teachers, brown cords and three-speed sit up 'n' begs, they're fine with 3/4lengths, the latest generation of civilian styled cycling trews and can even be worn as arm bands should you prefer.

These Proviz Winter Cycling Gloves are an absolute steal and perfect for most types of road riding thanks to a combination of clever design, keen pricing and good quality materials. Like others at this end of the market, there's some trade-off in terms of water-repellency but they're genuinely wind-proof and remain toasty-even fully saturated or submerged.

This has to be a great idea. The Mavic H2O is a top-notch waterproof that also doubles as a reflective garment for bad weather or night time riding. Since having this on test I have to admit that I don't bother packing anything else for either commuting or training in either bad weather or at night. I've been delighted with its performance in every regard.