Sometimes the best items of cycling clothing are the ones you didn’t know you needed, finds Iain Treloar.
The gilet (aka vest) is a vital bit of kit for chilly starts and winter all-day-epics alike, providing an important windstopping layer that keeps the body’s core cosy. To the eye, there’s not an awful lot to them—no fiddly sleeves to get the cut wrong on, and often no pockets either. That doesn’t, however, stop a lot of the offerings on the market from being flappy disasters.
British luxury cycling-wear brand Rapha have a reputation for expense, yes, but excellent kit as well. Arguably the jewel in their crown is their outerwear, with a stunning selection of jackets and vests unmatched by pretty much any other brand. The assortment stuns both in quality and diversity; there’s seemingly a garment for every single weather condition, rather than just one trying to tick every box. At time of writing, for instance, there were six distinct models of gilet in the company’s range, with another couple more recently discontinued.
The Brevet Insulated Gilet is an extremely lightweight, packable garment which, according to Rapha, is designed for those long days in changeable conditions. Its silky water-resistant outer is filled with Polartec Alpha synthetic down on the front and the back panels, with stretchy mesh side panels to give a little flexibility to the fit and allow for the extra bulk of layering of garments, or heavily-loaded jersey pockets. The gilet comes in two colours, grey and black, each with two contrasting reflective rings circling the torso. There are no pockets, but there is a handy two-way zipper that grants access to the storage in your jersey with a minimum of fuss.
The key feature of this gilet is its insulation, and it would be easy to write this off as needlessly specific for a small range of conditions. In many years of riding, I can honestly say I’ve never found myself wanting for an insulated vest. But the Brevet insulated gilet is truly an item that you never knew you needed until you had it, and has found a use far more frequently than I expected it would. In the time I’ve been in possession this vest, it’s become an absolute staple of my wardrobe—receiving, at a guess, ten times the wear of my previous benchmark, the Rapha Gilet. In cold early starts through Autumn and early Winter, in conditions down to freezing, this superb bit of gear has kept my torso noticeably warm, whilst also, neatly, avoiding overheating even up to temperatures in the mid-teens.
The fit has also, for me, been perfect—snug without being restrictive, completely flap-free and silent. What you want from any item of clothing is for it to ‘disappear’, to go unnoticed, and this does that. Unlike the previous insulated offering from Rapha, the Transfer Gilet—which blurred the lines between cycling- and casual-wear with its longer cut and pockets—the Brevet squarely targets on-bike function. As such, it’s a touch short at the front when not on the bike, but sits perfectly when you’re in the saddle reaching for the handlebars. Compared to the Transfer, which had a heavier-weight Primaloft lining, the Brevet is quicker drying and considerably more minimal, also holding its shape better when damp.
This gilet isn’t waterproof, featuring a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) coating. Water beads off the surface in showers but it does eventually soak through—although this doesn’t noticeably hamper its ability to keep you warm. It’s also quick to dry; after a serious dousing in a recent ride it was able to dry completely within a couple of hours and was back in action the following morning. Which was just as well, because there’s no other item of clothing that I more want to wear at the moment, and I don’t see that changing until the warmth of spring arrives a few months and a lifetime away.
For more or to buy, rapha.cc
Function 38/40
Quality 38/40
Price 6/10
Appearance 8/10
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