8 highlights of Santini’s autumn/winter clothing range + vid

Italy’s Santini have launched their autumn/winter range that contains heat-generating clothing and an expanded women’s range.

Santini design and make their entire range in Italy, and 2015 is the brand’s 50th anniversary. They came visiting road.cc yesterday and here's the clothing that really caught our eye.

Look out for reviews on road.cc over the coming weeks and months.

BeHOT Heat Generating Bib Tights £129.99

The BeHOT tights are very interesting in that they generate heat as you move rather than simply holding on to it – up to 4°C, according to Santini.

That might sound like witchcraft, and the actual mechanism by which BeHOT works is a secret, but it’s inherent in the fabric rather than an added treatment, so it’s said to be there for life.

Santini say that the movement of your legs stretches and compresses the fabric and it’s this that generates the heat. On top of that, the tights are designed to hold on to the heat that is produced.

The BeHOT tights also get an Acquazero treatment to help keep water out.

We’ll be really interested to try these out and see how that BeHOT technology works in the real world.

Reef Rain Jersey £139.99

The Reef, which we first showed you from Taipei Cycle back in March, is essentially Santini’s version of the Castelli Gabba – a short sleeve windproof and water resistant jersey. You can team it up with water resistant arm warmers, like Santini’s new BeHOT arm warmers, in cooler weather.

The Reef was developed with Team Belkin and is made from a breathable membrane fabric called Tempo that is very stretchy so you can get a close fit. It comes with a really long tail designed to keep road spray off.

If you don’t yet have a water resistant jersey in your life, take a good look. Everyone we know who has one gets tons of use from theirs.

Fluke Jersey £89.99

The Fluke isn’t the most feature-laden jersey but it’s the kind of thing you’ll get loads of use from over the autumn and winter.

It’s a regular-fit training jersey made from a thermofleece fabric. Silicone dots inside the elasticated hem gripper are designed to keep everything in place.

Rebel Jacket £129.99

The Rebel looks like very good value. It’s a jacket but it’s pretty much a jersey weight despite using a double layer fabric – a water resistant and windproof outer with a thermo fleece inner.

As well as a mesh liner, you get a few neat little features like a soft collar lining, reflective piping and a zip garage.

Brigand Jacket £169.99

The Brigand is made using windproof and water resistant Gore Windstopper X-Free 300 fabric that is stretchy for a close fit.

What Santini call an Active Air Intake back panel is designed to add to the breathability. It’s a vent that’s covered by elastic fabric running down the centre of the back.

This is a jacket designed for really cold conditions – when the temperature is close to freezing or even below that.

Balthus Windbreaker £89.99

The Balthus is a new windbreaker made from a fabric from Pidigi called Sunrise. It’s stretchy, windproof and water resistant. It’s also very, very light and low bulk, so you can easily store the Balthus in a rear pocket when you’re not wearing it. Elasticated mesh panels are designed to improve the breathability.

This is another of the garments we’re looking forward to trying out over the autumn. A good windproof is an essential in anyone’s cycling wardrobe.

The women’s Velo windbreaker (£89.99) uses the same Sunrise fabric.

Mearsey Long Sleeve Jersey £99.99

Australian track rider Anna Meares has a whole collection of signature designs in the Santini range, the Mearsey being a thermal jersey for the off-season.

As well as a women’s specific cut – obviously – the Mearsey comes with pockets on the hips that are a little easier to access than the ones at the rear.

There’s no danger of the logo coming off in the wash because it’s embroidered.

Kerrie Winter Jacket £159.99

Like the Brigand jacket (above), the women’s-specific Kerrie uses Gore Windstopper X-Free 300 fabric to provide protection from the weather and the Active Air Intake back panel to provide ventilation.

The cuffs and neck use a high stretch thermofleece for a close fit and those side panels are reflective silver.

Santini’s UK distributor is Fisher Outdoor Leisure. Expect these products to arrive in the shops over the next few weeks.