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review
£49.99
VERDICT:
Roomy jacket with plenty of vents let down on quality and price
Weight:
117g
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 Northwave North Wind Jacket is one of those emergency jackets that you might need for part of your ride. Lightweight, packable and a relaxed fit makes it ideal for those relaxed day rides where you want to keep things to a minimum.
Its made 100% from polyester which while not the most technical of fabrics certainly keeps the wind out. Impressively so to considering how thin the material is. The downside with this windproofing is a lack of breathability: if it can't get in it can't get out either.
Northwave have got around this by including plenty of vents and flaps to release unwanted heat. You've got a large mesh section under each armpit, a mesh flap at the upper back and a vent at the lower back.
This lower vent is ideally placed to give you access to your jersey pockets without having to unzip or go under the jacket. All this venting adds up to good breathability for a jacket of this style and it's one of the cooler ones on the market.
Another neat addition at the lower rear vent is a small section of material which Northwave call a banana pouch pocket. You can roll the jacket up and it stores itself in this pouch, which is ideally sized for a jersey pocket.
The build quality is okay but there are a lot of loose thread ends for a fifty quid jacket and the whole thing feels a little cheap. The zip has been working smoothly though, and the material itself is pretty robust.
As far as fit goes Northwave have always been an exception to the general rule that European gear is smaller, being more UK sized than European. This is a medium/UK38 (chest size) and it was still quite big on me considering I actually have a 38in chest. It's spot-on in the body though, with a dropped tail giving plenty of rear coverage. The arms are the right lengths when you're in the drops.
Overall the North Wind Jacket is entering a very crowded market place and while it's much cooler than many of its rivals I think the quality and overall feel doesn't justify the £49.99 asking price. There are better on the market for the same price.
Verdict
Roomy jacket with plenty of vents let down on quality and price
road.cc test report
Make and model: Northwave North Wind Jacket
Size tested: Medium
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 North Wind jacket is a stowable wind jacket that's ideal for emergency use. The relaxed fit makes it ideal for non-racers.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
*100% polyester
*full zip
*stowable pocket
*yellow/black, white/black or black/white
*S-3XL
*mesh panels
Rate the product for quality of construction:
5/10
Untidy thread ends and stitching just spoil the overall finish.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
6/10
Decals peeling off all ready and some more threads are coming loose.
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
7/10
Well-ventilated.
Rate the product for value:
5/10
There are some much better finished and quality items out there for the same price.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It's good at windproofing and the stowable pocket is very easy to cram the jersey while on the move. Impressive ventilation too.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The ventilation.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The quality.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes, it worked well doing the job it is supposed to do.
Would you consider buying the product? No, the quality puts me off.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? I doubt it.
About the tester
Age: 35 Height: 180cm Weight: 76kg
I usually ride: Whatever needs testing or Genesis Flyer, fixed of course! My best bike is: Kinesis T2 with full Centaur Red
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,
As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!
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