Endura Women's Luminite II Jacket

Endura's Women's Luminite II jacket is a well constructed, lightweight, fully featured commuting jacket that is exceptionally hi-viz. It comes in fluoro yellow and pink, as well as the green tested, plus a more stylish black.

The amount of reflective detail makes you really stand out in headlights, plus there's an LED unit in the back pocket if you're caught short without lights, although a backpack obscures it. (Remember to remove the clear sticker on the battery to activate it.)

The first thing that struck me about the jacket (apart from the blinding green colour) was how much lighter and less bulky it is than my previous Luminite, which I bought in 2009. On the plus side, it weighs less and folds up much smaller, but the material is a lot thinner and feels rather less robust, and also doesn't bead water off as effectively. It's adequate in showers, but I wouldn't recommend wearing this jacket in heavy or prolonged rain because unfortunately the delicate polyester fabric didn't seem up to it. I wore it on a 75-mile audax on a wet and very windy day in March, and was dismayed to find that my chest was properly wet when we stopped after the first 25 miles, as were my arms.

Throughout testing I found the jacket got quite clammy inside, even with the pit zips fully open, although I do tend to ride quite hard when commuting. This meant that it was difficult to ascertain after riding in rain whether the moisture inside was down to perspiration or rain penetrating the fabric. Either way, the result was damp clothing.

Great cut

Apart from this drawback, I really like the jacket. The cut is great – close fitting but not too tight. I sized up, according to Endura's size guide, to a Medium because I wanted to fit thick layers underneath in winter, and it's still a flattering fit, except the rear pocket bags out a bit when empty, which wasn't an issue with the old Luminite. Also, it's not particularly long at the back, which might result in a soggy bottom if you don't run mudguards.

The neck is nice and snug even without tightening the drawcord, and it's fleece lined at the back. The adjustable cuffs have reflective Velcro tabs, but perhaps could be a tad bigger to easily pull down over thick winter gloves.

Good features

The breast and hand pockets are very useful, and the rear pocket is fairly capacious and has a storm flap. All are zipped and fleece-lined. All the zips have reflective toggles added to the zip tags, which makes them easy to use with thick gloves – except, weirdly, the main zip, which is the one I use most while riding (so I swapped a toggle off a pocket onto it).

The construction quality is excellent. All seams are fully taped, the stitching is good and the main zip has double storm flaps, so definitely no water can get in there. It's also windproof, so keeps out cold draughts. To help you regulate your temperature there are armpit zips with mesh lining – and again zip toggles, though understandably not reflective ones.

Overall, this is a good commuter jacket that would be excellent if it had better breathability and rain resistance.

Verdict

Well made, fully featured hi-viz commuter jacket, if a little sweaty