Velocio Men’s Alpha Air Jacket

The Velocio Men’s Alpha Air Jacket is a warm, comfortable and very nicely made top for cold and dry-ish days. I had a few niggles with fit and breathability, but they weren’t enough to spoil my enjoyment – and both aspects may actually work really well for you.

Jersey, jacket… or both? I’ll be honest, I’m not a great fan of such hybridisation, and my first experience of this apparel Frankenstein comes in the form of the Velocio Mens Alpha Air Jacket.

As the name Alpha indicates this jacket’s main source of insulation comes from Polartec Alpha, a reliable, reactive, breathable, artificial and cosy material that I own in various forms across a great many garments and accessories. It is superbly soft and comfortable against even bare, damp skin (it doesn’t stick), and it doesn’t boil you when you hit a solid climb or feel like doing town sign sprints.

It’s encased within an ‘Ultralight Japanese Woven Shell’ which has done well to keep showers at bay, along with the spray you get from those damp mornings.

This is water resistant rather than waterproof. The usual DWR coating (PFAS free) keeps showers and road spray firmly on the outside, and in heavy rain the shell surface certainly outlasts the fleece for protection. On a few occasions I got pretty soggy, and it began to feel a little heavy.

The fleece that makes up the remainder seems like a nice idea, but the extra seams are not windproofed. A chill can be felt when using a short sleeve base layer.

The build is solid, and bar the odd loose thread on the cuff interiors it feels very reliable and sturdy. It has elasticity in all the right places, such as the cuffs, arm pits and the hem underneath the pockets. That hem also gets a full-width gripper. It does lack a secure, zipped pocket however, which is disappointing.

The neoprene wind baffle for the zip is a nice touch, as is the zip garage to protect your neck.

All seams and finishes are solid, making for a truly durable and reliable garment that can take a bit of battering and still deliver when it needs to.

I tested a large and found the torso quite tight – despite me being in the lower end of the large’s range – but the arms rather loose. The lengths of both the torso and the arms was just right, however.

I am not a super skinny chap, but neither am I rocking a gut or large chest, and found the proportions a little off. The slim fit and lack of stretch means this wasn’t keen to accommodate things in my jersey pockets beneath, either – you’ll definitely be using the Alpha’s own three pockets.

The three reinforced pockets to the rear can cope with plenty of bits and bobs being crammed inside, maintaining their shape and showing no sign of strain.

It’s very cosy. With a cold snap in full swing I made the effort to use it with just a long sleeve base underneath, and it kept me reliably warm. The fleece elements could actually get a little too warm once into heart rate zones above 4.

It worked for me up to about 5°C and down to around -3°C, which matches Velocio’s -4°C claim closely if not its upper of 15°C. You might easily run colder than me, however.

Value

At £192 this isn’t cheap, but the build quality, performance and materials all feel entirely appropriate. It’s also less money than some very similar competition.

It’s slightly cheaper than the Santini Alpha Insulated Jacket at £210, which reviewed very well for its warmth and low weight – obviously, it uses the exact same insulation. Our reviewer found it ‘on the acceptable side of baggy’ on his stick-like frame, and felt it would be spot on for more ‘regular’ body shapes. Oh, and it actually has a zipped pocket.

The Castelli Espresso Air Jacket is more still at £225, and the extra dosh gets you a warm, comfy and breathable jacket. However it makes no attempt at being water repellent, and there’s no zipped pocket either.

Overall

This is a very well made jacket that’s warm, comfortable and usefully showerproof. Overall I found it a tad less breathable than I hoped thanks to the fleece sections, and the shaping wasn’t quite right for me personally, but these were niggles more than proper complaints. It still did an excellent job, and if you ask me it looked pretty stylish while doing it too.