Pactimo Men’s Alpine Thermal Jacket

Pactimo's Men's Alpine Thermal Jacket packs a lot of warmth and windproofing performance into a lightweight package. Breathability is excellent, too, but the DWR coating didn't stand up to wetter weather and it took ages to dry.

If you're looking for a more weatherproof option, check out our guide to the best waterproof cycling jackets.

> Buy now: Pactimo Men’s Alpine Thermal Jacket for £180 from Pactimo

The Alpine Thermal Jacket falls into Pactimo's 'Cool Weather Collection', good for temperatures between 5 and 15°C, it says, though in testing, and with a good baselayer, I was comfortably warm on days when the thermometer never rose above -2°C.

The two key reasons are the built-in panels of Polartec Alpha insulation, a fuzzy liner which adds a lot of warmth but not much weight, and the excellent windproofing throughout. Pactimo doesn't tell us much about this outer fabric, other than that it's a 'stretch-woven' fabric and made from recycled materials. It looks good and seems snag-resistant; I wore it on some mountain bike rides through the winter brash and thorns and it came out the other side unharmed. Sticking to less undergrowth-heavy riding should see this jacket last years.

Pactimo describes the positioning of the thermal lining as 'Zone-application of fill', which is American for 'putting it in the right place'; that is, where you are most exposed to cold: across the chest, down the arms (top and most of the underside); across the shoulders and three-quarters of the way down the back, as far as the pockets. If I was designing this garment, I might have opted for less of the thermal lining down the underside of the arms, where I'm less likely to overheat, though I'm hardly going to complain about being too warm in -6 degrees!

The side panels are left unlined and have a grid of pinholes (lazer-perforated, apparently) up towards the armpits for added breathability, though it's difficult to separate their effectiveness from the generally excellent breathability of the overall garment. Even in fairly high-intensity activities I never felt like the jacket was collecting water inside, and the lining material also seems excellent at transferring any moisture. This matters particularly with this style of jacket, because you don't want to be taking it off as it won't fit easily into a jersey pocket.

The mid-height neck is also lined with Polartec Alpha, and fitted me closely enough to keep out draughts without throttling me, though I caught some skin in the zip a couple of times. That was despite the zip-pull port, which perhaps needs to be a tad bigger.

Otherwise, the YKK zip seems sturdy, with a mid-sized tab that I sometimes had to grope about for when wearing heavy gloves. It's a two-way zip, too, handy for accessing jersey pockets. The internal zip baffle kept all the draughts out.

Designed in Colorado, the jacket has been put together in China, and to a very high standard. All the outer panel stitching is tidy and tight, with a double row of stitching used here and there. Inside, the panel seams are mostly sewn flat, though not flatlocked. Wearing it without a baselayer I couldn't feel any lumpiness or rubbing against my skin, and with the excellent stretch and good length it was one of the most comfortable jackets I've tried.

At the waist, the hem is stretchy all round, and lined with a silicone strip which ensures a good, secure fit.

The cuffs are rather simple affairs, just elastic trapped inside a small hem. There wasn't much stretch and I found they wouldn't grip my thin wrists particularly well, and I also found it a pull to get them over the wrists of my thickest gloves.

The jacket comes in seven sizes for men and five for women. I fell somewhere between a medium (waist) and large (chest). The large size sent for testing fitted me well, though not particularly closely. Looking at the pictures on Pactimo's website, that's how it should be. I didn't mind this, because there was plenty of length in the sleeves and plenty of space inside for warm baselayers. I did notice, though, that when standing, the middle pocket at the back gaped a bit, and suspect a tighter waist may have helped with this.

Talking of pockets, the three elasticated ones are generous and there's a fourth, zipped pocket that's well concealed behind the right-hand one. There's a good long cord on this to pull on with gloved hands.

There's a smattering of reflective strips, either side of the pockets, on one breast and between the shoulders; also a flash on the sleeve which also bears the words 'COLD.DRY' – a reference to the kind of conditions this jacket excels in. It's unfortunate Pactimo doesn't play up this point in the website description, where it's more eager to talk about the C0 DWR Coating. This, it says, is a less environmentally harmful take on a water-repellent finish. Sadly, it doesn't seem to work as well either. On a cold, wet day between Christmas and New Year, I found the jacket wetted out within 20 minutes, and after an hour and a quarter was wet through. It also took several hours to dry.

Rebecca tested the women's cut and we reached similar conclusions, though she found the pockets too tight and I complained they were a bit slack...

Aside from this natty pale blue, the Alpine Thermal Jacket comes in a sage green and black. The blue is not particularly eye-catching; I imagine the green isn't either. Maybe a fluoro option for those who desire it would be a good addition.

Value

At £180 this isn't the most expensive jacket we've tested on road.cc, but there are cheaper options that are also more weatherproof.

This winter, I also tested Pearson's very similar Test Your Mettle Road Cycling Insulated Jacket; this also has the Polartec Alpha lining and has a closer fit than the Pactimo. Its water repellence was much better, weight almost identical and it's £35 cheaper at £145.

The Albion Insulated Jacket 3.0 that Hollis tested last winter packs down smaller than the Pactimo, is even lighter and also had a reasonably effective DWR coating. It's slightly cheaper at £165.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought the jacket performed very well in some extremely cold weather, and I really liked the look. Personally, I'd be put off buying it by the fact that, even after spending £180, I'd still have to invest in something else for wet days. If you don't go out much in dirty weather, though, you might find it very much up to the job.

Verdict

Excellent warmth, windproofing and breathability, but the wet weather performance is less impressive