Put the Optimum Stowaway Rain Jacket on and it's immediately apparent that it's really not suitable for riding a bike. Using it doesn't dispel that first impression.

The Optimum Stowaway Rain Jacket lives up to the middle bit of its name by folding down incredibly small. It has its own draw-stringed stuff-sack sewn into a side-seam and squished into there it's about the size of a small fist so will easily fit into a rear jersey pocket with room to spare, or it'll happily get lost in the bottom of a rucksack.

The Optimum logo on the breast and back are reflective, and there's reflective piping stretching all the way across the back and down the sides for a soupçon of visibility if the red isn't enough. The zip has a wind baffle behind it and dock at the top.

Those good things don't make up for the jacket's failings, the worst of which is the amazingly baggy fit. It billows just standing upright in it indoors. Once on a bike it gets much worse. The Optimum jacket fills up with air at the slightest speed and the material flaps and balloons about you in such a way that it feels like it's slowing you down, which it probably is. All that spare material in the wind also makes a lot of fwappy noise.

The unsuitability for cycling thanks to poor fit is compounded by the arms, which are far too short. They are about the right length if you're standing straight with your arms right by your sides when the cuffs rest happily around the wrists, so if you're using the jacket for strolling about town you'll be fine, but as soon as you get on a bike and stretch your arms out in front of you the sleeves start their journey up the arms. It's annoying on a flat-barred bike when there's a fair amount of wrist-gap, it's actually comical on a dropped-bar bike, where the sleeves settle halfway up the forearm.

There are little elastic loop on the hem of each sleeve to hook your thumbs through, but these don't work because the sleeves are just too short.

The elastic on the cuffs and around the hem is too loose to control the jacket , so the wind pulls it up your body.

The zip has a broad baffle behind it to help with wind protection but this is cancelled out by the collar. It's high, but so loose it channels air down into the jacket when you're in a tuck.

The 'Rain' bit of the name is odd as there's no indication that the jacket does anything to protect you from the wet, and that's what I found. It will save you from the briefest of showers but beyond that it wets out pretty quickly and then does that horrible thing of clinging to your body in a creepily clammy way. On the plus side once the jacket is weighed down with saturated water it stops flapping away in the wind, and as it's not a breathable jacket at least you'll be warm and wet.

Ignore the cheap price and packability of the Optimum Stowaway Rain Jacket because it's completely inept as a cycling garment. The fit is appalling, the arms are farcically too short, it billows up and about in the wind, flaps noisily and annoyingly, and doesn't like rain.

Verdict

Pretty much everything you don't want in a cycling jacket

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Optimum Stowaway Rain Jacket

Size tested: Medium, Red

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?

The Optimum Stowaway Rain Jacket Is a lightweight windproof jacket that packs down into a small stuff-sack that's compact enough to fit into your jersey pocket, making it perfect emergency protection in the unpredictable British weather.

Lightweight it is, and windproof too, although a lot of it does end up inside the jacket, I certainly wouldn't want to use it in an emergency if it gets cold or wet. It's incredibly badly tailored for riding a bike in.

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

Ultra lightweight windproof fabric.

Full length zip with inner storm flap

Sewn in stuff sack for convenience

Reflective Optimum branding

High collar

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
2/10

It's a lightweight thing that certainly feels its cost.

Rate the product for performance:
 
1/10

Poorly designed for cycling in, and no good in the rain.

Rate the product for durability:
 
5/10

It's a lightweight and flimsy thing.

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

Packs up small and light, so you won't notice it's in your back pocket.

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
1/10

Poor fit and blousy demeanor make it unpleasant to ride in.

Rate the product for value:
 
1/10

Cheap, but mostly useless for cycling. Cheap doesn't have to mean badly designed.

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

The fit was totally wrong for cycling and it was only good for the lightest shower, getting dismayed with actual rain. Packed up tiny though.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

It packs up small in it's own little bag.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Most everything.

Did you enjoy using the product? No.

Would you consider buying the product? No.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? No.

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

Avoid.

Overall rating: 1/10

About the tester

Age: 47  Height: 180cm  Weight: 73kg

I usually ride: It varies as to the season.  My best bike is: The one I'm on at the time

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

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, cyclo cross, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Fun