Galibier Mistral Pro Jacket

The Galibier Mistral Pro is a warm softshell jacket that offers plenty of protection from unfriendly weather at a bargain price.

• Pros: Windproof, water resistant, inexpensive
• Cons: DWR treatment will need reapplying (as usual)

I reviewed the Galibier Mistral (minus the Pro suffix) a couple of years ago and was very impressed. The Mistral Pro is a similar proposition in that it's designed to protect you from wind and rain, but it's more hardcore!

This is a really impressive jacket for winter and cooler spring/autumn rides. I've been using it comfortably in temperatures as low as 0°C and up to about 10°C. Any warmer than that and you'll probably start to overheat, depending on how cool you run and how hard you ride.

Okay, so what do we have here? The Mistral Pro is made from quite a thick and fleecy polyester fabric with a brushed inner face and a waterproof ePTFE membrane hidden away inside. The outer face of the fabric has a DWR (durable water repellent) finish to encourage water to bead up and flow away rather than soak in. I'll come back to how this fabric performs in a mo.

The Mistral Pro has a dual-layer front. Open the offset front zip of the outer and there's an inner section, also zipped, the two halves of which extend just to the sides of the jacket – they don't continue around the back. Make sense? This inner section is made from a Roubaix-type fabric, a lot like you might find used in winter tights.

The Mistral Pro performs really, really well. No wind at all gets in through the fabric while a tall, close-fitting collar, double cuff and elasticated waistband mean there's no danger of cold air wafting in uninvited. This means that you can stay warm and comfortable even on very cold rides in the depths of winter.

As mentioned, the main fabric has a waterproof membrane to stop the rain getting through although, in common with most softshells, there's no seam sealing so heavy rain can worm its way in. If it's likely to start hoofing down you'll need a waterproof shell in your pocket, but for most other conditions, including light rain, the Mistral Pro will see you right. I had a 45-minute ride into the office yesterday morning, for example, where it rained for 15 minutes at the start and 10 minutes at the end, and I was perfectly dry inside.

The Mistral Pro is reasonably breathable although, inevitably, the internal atmosphere can get sticky when you hit a long climb or things get tasty on a group ride. The double-layer front gives you options here. You can open the outer zip a little to let some fresh air in without freezing your chest; you can open the outer zip fully and leave the inner done up for more ventilation without the jacket going completely AWOL in the wind; or you can open both the outer and the inner fully for maximum cooling. The point is, you get plenty of adjustment options to suit the temperature and the terrain you're riding.

You get three deep and roomy pockets around the back plus a zipped waterproof one that's large enough to take your mobile phone and a wallet. Plenty of reflective trim back there aids visibility.

The cut is slim enough to avoid flapping – a pet hate of mine – with enough stretch in the fabric ensuring that the Mistral won't feel uncomfortable even if you're a few pounds over race weight.

And so to the price... £79.55? Wow! Being a spoilt rotten cycling journalist, I don't necessarily know the price of everything I'm reviewing until I've used it for a few weeks and it's time to do the write up. I was expecting the Mistral Pro to be considerably more expensive than it actually is. The Sportful Giara softshell jacket that Dave Arthur reviewed recently was £120, for instance, and the dhb Aeron Women's Full Protection Softshell was £110. The Mistral Pro is a bit of a bargain.

> Buyer's Guide: 14 of the best winter cycling jackets

Overall, this jacket puts in a really strong performance. It's windproof and it'll keep out even prolonged showers, helping you to stay warm and comfortable on everything from cool spring/autumn days to deepest winter. Add in the fact that it comes at a highly reasonable price and the Mistral Pro is an attractive proposition.

Verdict

A well-made softshell jacket that'll keep you warm and comfortable in cool, cold and wet conditions – a bargain price too