BIKES

Ale PRR
Ponente £85
Madison Road
Race £44.99
With its fluoro panels
and bold, stylish
graphics, the PRR
Ponente gilet from the
Italian Alé clothing
line is nothing if not
striking. But with its
mesh back, windproof
front, zip baffle and
rubberised hem to stop
it riding up, it’s also a
plenty technical item.
It doesn’t fold down as
small as some of the
others do, but will still
fit in a pocket. When
wearing this on the bike,
we barely knew it was
there — which is possibly
the biggest
compliment we can
pay a garment.
It’s a well-made
gilet; hi-viz, and
looks the biz
www.paligap.cc
In sleek black with natty
detailing, the Road Race
gilet is a stylish keepyou-warm
option that
not only folds easily
into pocket proportions,
it has a decent-sized
zipped pocket of its own
too. Despite being very
well priced, it carries
a gamut of features
including that pocket,
a mesh back, soft
collar with zip garage,
zip baffle and a nice
wide elasticated hem.
There are also dashes
of reflective detailing
dotted about, and it also
comes in white for extra
visibility. We
found the fit
to be great,
with warmth
to match.
Everything you
need without
breaking the bank
GROUP TEST
WINNER
www.madison.co.uk
Pro Vision Aqua
Repel £30
dhb Ultralight
Ladies £29.99
While it lacks the soft
touch of most the others
here, the Pro Vision
does boast a 100 per
cent waterproof shell, so
you can be sure that it’ll
get you home and dry
in a storm. We did find
that in use it acted very
much like a full-sleeved
waterproof, in that the
inside of the garment
was somewhat sweaty
when we arrived at our
destination, but we were
warm nevertheless and
not uncomfortable. It
doesn’t pack down as
small as some, but it
goes in a pocket
just fine and at
£30 represents
good value.
Warm and dry
but a little
plasticky
www.provisionclothing.com
The only gilet of
our seven to arrive
tucked into its own
little stuffsack, which
wasn’t much bigger
than an andouillette
sausage and probably
tastes considerably
better. The material
is flyweight but still
boasts a cosiness factor
thanks to its soft-feel
collar. Fit is good and
it’s very comfortable on,
but we did find there
was a certain amount
of billowing as the
oncoming wind found its
way into the arm-holes.
But it did keep us warm,
and with a retail price
of less than £30
(currently reduced
to £20.99 on the
Wiggle website)
it’s hard to argue with
the value.
Great starter gilet
to get you home
www.wiggle.co.uk
SEPTEMBER 2014 CYCLING ACTIVE 71