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I have a confession to make. I’ve never ridden in a jacket designed specifically for cyclists. My jackets have all been designed for runners. For many years my primary form of aerobic exercise used to be running, yeah I know, perish the thought of cyclists actually working up a sweat without two wheels under them. Since I owned several running jackets, I assumed that there wasn’t enough of a difference to justify spending more hard earned cash.
Well I was wrong! There is a benefit to riding in a jacket designed for cycling, and no, it’s not just a marketing scam.
With temperatures forecast in the 60s I had assumed that it would be too warm to test the jackets ability to keep me warm. So, I rode out with the idea that I would probably have to remove it at some point. But instead, I kept it on the whole ride. This is where the jacket’s “wicking technology" came in real handy. Even though I was warmer than I would have liked I wasn’t wet from perspiration.
It was a very windy day, and riding around Manhattan with the rivers at your side gives you very little landscape to block the wind. So keeping the jacket on during the strongest gusts turned out to be a good thing. So what’s the big deal, you may be asking. Wouldn’t one of my running jackets block the wind also? Yes, but I probably would have had to remove it due to perspiration, and during those gusts of wind that every rider just loves to face. I would have been going a little bit slower from the clothing wind drag. Isn’t it the goal to bike as fast as possible, or is it just me? The Sugoi jacket was quite form fitting. Now, it’s a good thing that I don’t have a gut because it would have been quit apparent. But the fact that the form fitted tailoring leaves little fabric to grab the wind made me more streamlined, and therefore a little faster during those headwinds.
The next advantage over a runner’s jackets is the addition of the three pockets in the back. These would be practically useless on a run but they certainly come in handy on a bike. They're perfect for stashing food, or my wind blocking gloves that became too warm to keep on, and would have been a great place to keep my map, if I hadn't forgotten it.
In all I liked this jacket a lot. I’ll have to test it in colder weather though and I’m not sure how it stacks up against other cycling jackets since this is my first one, but I’ll be reaching for the wallet to get a couple more of these.
Now I’ll have to ride a bike with SIS shifting.
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