Rapha Brevet Insulated Jacket review

Rapha describes the Brevet Insulated Jacket as an extremely lightweight yet insulating jacket that packs down easily and provides breathable protection from the elements. The Brevet range is designed with a more relaxed fit than Rapha’s Pro Team garments and is intended for long days in the saddle.

When the Rapha Brevet Insulated Jacket arrived, I was excited. It looks great, the quality is superb and it even comes in a cool pouch bag. The fabric feels nice to the touch and the hi-vis features are effective and stylish. As its name suggests, the Rapha Brevet Insulated Jacket is also very insulating and breathable.

Buy now: Rapha Brevet Insulated Jacket at Rapha for £150

Read more: Buyer's guide to Winter cycling clothing (video)

Unfortunately that's where my praise ends. The sizing is inconsistent with other Rapha kit, with the size small I tested coming up too short on the waist. To put this in context, size small Rapha jerseys and jackets are normally the best fit on me.

Video - Buyer's guide to winter jackets

However, the Rapha Brevet Insulated Jacket wouldn’t fully cover a corresponding size small Brevet Jersey. Furthermore, the jacket only has one tiny valuables pocket making you reliant on your jersey's pockets. Unfortunately, the short cut of the jacket means it struggles to fit over full pockets.

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When you become reliant on your jersey pockets, access to them becomes important. Disappointingly, the Brevet Jacket has no access hole, or flap, meaning that access to your jersey pockets is hampered.

In theory an insulating layer that can be packed away doesn’t necessarily need pockets, but unfortunately the Rapha Brevet Insulated Jacket doesn’t pack down small enough. At a push you can ram it into a jersey pocket, but it won’t be comfortable and will dominate. My argument is, if  it doesn’t pack small enough to fit into a pocket, it really needs pockets of its own.

For more info, head over to Rapha.cc