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review
Lusso HT07 Jacket£59.99
VERDICT:
Well-executed commuting jacket at a very sensible price
Weight:
560g
Contact:
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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The Lusso HT70 jacket is a properly LOUD high-visibility yellow with lots of reflective piping so it stands out, and despite the reasonable price, it's made right here in Blighty.
The tide of research and evidence has swung against lairy high-visibility colours in recent years, with studies finding that loud yellow doesn't necessarily make you any easier to see. But what has been established to be a Good Idea is reflective material in a jacket, and the Lusso HT70 has plenty of it.
Most of it's in the form of piping, which is a good way of spreading a small amount of reflective fabric around a jacket and so keeping the price under control. There's enough on the HT70 that it's just about impossible to find a position where car headlights don't pick up a flash or three of it.
The main structure of the jacket is made from waterproof, breathable polyester fabric. For this price you don't expect teabag levels of sweat transmission, but the HT70 isn't bad at all, and the mesh liner means you can wear just a short-sleeved base layer under it and still be comfortable. No clammy direct contact with the coating here.
If you do get too sweaty there are two side vents to let out the heat.
The fit is roomy. This isn't a sausage skin for racing snakes, it's a jacket for people who are normally proportioned. And that's office-worker normal, not cyclist normal. The size L fitted me fine even though I need to lose a few kilos.
The HT70 has no shortage of useful details. The collar and lower hem have drawstrings so you can snug out the chill without, in the latter case, the jacket worming elastically up to your waist.
The back is long, as you'd expect, but no so long that it feels silly off the bike. Assuming, that is, you don't feel self-conscious walking round Sainsbury's in high-vis.
Press-studs hold the flap over the main zip, a huge improvement on the usual Velcro, which always seems to get attached to itself, the lining or the cuffs. Said cuffs are Velcro, offer plenty of adjustment and are long enough to seal well over long gloves.
I especially liked the fleece lining in the collar, which makes it comfortable to snug up the drawstring and seal out the elements. It's a little thing, but it adds a welcome feeling of luxury to what is otherwise a very practical garment.
There are two pockets: a large one in the back and a smaller one on the chest, just about big enough for keys and a phone.
The liner and fleece collar do mean that this isn't a jacket that will roll up into a small saddlebag or jersey pocket, but then that's not the point. This is a jacket for putting on, riding to work in, and hanging up on your hook at the office. If the weather's better when you ride home, it goes in your rucksack or pannier.
And it does the job of commuting jacket extremely well. It keeps out the rain, stops you from getting too sweaty and feels very snuggly thanks to the fleece collar, which is worth a few entirely psychological degrees of unchill all on its own.
There are a couple of details that are surprisingly absent. There's no headphone port for listening to music when you're off the bike, and no loop for a blinky rear light. For the very reasonable price, though, I'm happy to overlook these minor faults.
Verdict
Well-executed commuting jacket at a very sensible price.
road.cc test report
Make and model: Lusso HT70 Jacket
Size tested: Fluo Yellow
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?
Lusso says: "This waterproof breathable jacket is a great garment for all day rides in cooler weather."
I think that's over-selling it a bit. I want better breathability and lighter construction for a full day out, but for round-town, the HT70 is sport-on.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Lusso says:
Windproof and waterproof
Breathable
Underarm zips
Reflective piping
Zipped rear pocket
Long tail
Soft feel fabric
Adjustable waist & cuffs
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Tidy sealed seams, no obvious mistakes or dangling threads.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
For a £60 round-town jacket, it does everything it needs to do.
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
9/10
Fabric has a nice soft handle and the fleece-lined collar is snuggly.
Rate the product for value:
8/10
It's very good for £60.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It kept me warm, dry and comfortable.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Fleece collar, ample reflective piping, press-stud flap.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
A non-lairy alternative colour would be nice.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Yes.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.
Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?
Feel, weather-proofing and breathability are all very good for the price, and there is plenty of reflective to keep you visible. A solid 8/10.
About the tester
Age: 46 Height: 5ft 11in Weight: 85kg
I usually ride: Scapin Style My best bike is:
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, club rides, general fitness riding,
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
Latest Comments
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I thought that - £77,580 isn't going to help them do anything to that road to deal with the alleged extra traffic. Ten times that might maybe help…
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What you believe doesn't matter. Only physics and engineering does. An undamped steel spring is frikkin lousy for steering where precise tracking...
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I reckon they stopped using this for the bonding:
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I paid £35 for mine, AliExpress, arrived in a week. I bought it to replace an Edge 820. It's basic, but it displays all the metrics that the 820...
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That little car is great - just what's needed for most single occupant journeys (maybe not so much in the rain).
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I forgot to mention that I was surprised at mentions of people (presumably pro-EBLN) commenting that the anti-EBLN people should move to the...
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So I don't drink, because drinking is defined as drinking water, not water mixed with ethanol.
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16 comments
I've had a red one of these for about 5 years. It survived daily commuting and monthly washing well, although faded from red to pink after a lot of washes. The zips on the pockets gave up eventually, but the main zip is fine. Waterproofing stayed good after 5 years - you don't get that from the cheap jackets. Sewing a tab for a light onto the rear vent quickly solved one of the reviewers criticism's. Big pit-zips are a bonus when it's warm & wet. Large fits well, with room for a fleece when its cold - I'll 5'11'' & 41" chest.
A nice new one has now moved the old one over for off-roading.
Recommended.
Any links to these studies refuting the improved visibility of 'hi-vis' colours?
@ Chuck
Hi-viz is like marmite; you either like it or hate it; and if someone genuinely feels safer wearing dark (or street) clothing then it's unlikely that they'll change their mind.
But, since you asked your question, here's my reply.
My ideas aren't preconceived. They're based on real life experiences every time I look for cyclists through rain spattered mirrors on my truck. I'm not saying cyclists who wear dark clothing are invisible, but it makes them much harder to see.
Chuck, if I'm riding on a quiet road or cycle path I'll probably take my hi-viz off, but when I'm mixing it with either heavy or high speed traffic, or in town where there may be partially sighted pedestrians, I believe it makes sense for me to wear hi-viz.
If others disagree, that's fine - it's a free country and I defend the right of cyclists to wear whatever they want.
My dream commute would be to not commute at all. Or perhaps just a leisurely spin each day down to my private vineyard, staffed entirely by supermodels and Jennifer Lawrence.
commuters dream, i will have one Lusso!
Really?
My commuting dream involves safe routes, responsibly driven cars and a police force that doesn't want to damn you to hell for eternity simply for choosing to ride a bike.
Whenever out on my motorcycle, the sight of a distant figure in yellow hi viz certainly grabs my attention, certainly for long enough for me to establish if it is a traffic cop with a speed gun.
Maybe the effect is diminished in urban or city areas with a more vibrant colour palette, but seeing a very bright non-natural colour on A and B roads must surely register with all but the doziest and myopic drivers out there.
We're trying to get cycling seen as a normal activity like it is in Holland... don't see them wearing high-viz because they don't need it.
If cycling in this country is seen as requiring special clothing to make you stand out, then we've lost. It doesn't encourage joe public to take up using a bike for short journeys or commuting if it requires special clothing.
My high-viz jacket finally wore out last month (not rainproof anymore) and I got myself a nice new one in black with reflective trim. It now means I can get off my bike in town wearing street clothes and not look like a space alien has landed... For high-viz (when dark or foggy), I wear one of those Sam-Browne belt things... which can be taken off and stashed away in my bag.
Seems very similar to the Madison Stellar II (http://road.cc/content/review/57056-madison-stellar-ii-waterproof-jacket), which I use for commuting, but which comes in back, red or yellow and, although RRP is £70, can be found for £30. Mind you, those poppers look cool.
Seems very similar to the Madison Stellar II (http://road.cc/content/review/57056-madison-stellar-ii-waterproof-jacket), which I use for commuting, but which comes in back, red or yellow and, although RRP is £70, can be found for £30. Mind you, those poppers look cool.
It always makes me laugh when I hear about surveys that doubt the merits of bright colours, but it's good to see so many reviews of such garments, which presumably wouldn't be produced if there wasn't sufficient demand out there. Anything that helps make cyclists more visible has got to be a good thing, and some of these jackets are quite stylish too, helping out those who don't fancy wearing the sort of unfashionable hi-viz vest that I'm wearing in my Avatar.
Good review, although the "properly LOUD high-visibility yellow" and "lairy high-visibility colours" quips are hardly the signatures of responsible journalism, when we're trying to get riders confortable about wearing this sort of thing, and certainly don't do any favours for Lusso's efforts to shift this gear either.
By the way, guys, isn't it about time we started to consistently see the back of garments as well as the front?
Why not take the lead, by becoming the first cycling site that insists on this?
Popular ≠ beneficial
Try this:
Popular ≠ beneficial
Why? Because they don't fit with your preconceived ideas about what the outcome should be?
Well, that's the point of the studies isn't it- to see if they do make cyclists effectively more visible? And the answer, apparently, is "not necessarily".
Anyway, I'm not really campaigning against hi-viz, although I do think it's very sad that the streets are perceived to be such dangerous places now that they've become uniform for many people.
60quid for an anorak is not a sensible price. To compare, a breathable traffic jacket only costs about 30quid at most.
Why are cycling waterproofs so expensive?
Any change of linky to what you prescribe sir?
arghhh!!! too bright... do they have the same in a more muted shade? Like blue or grey. Anything that isn't black or burns your retinas out.