Struggling to find the right garment to wear for Dunwich Dynamo?

Are you struggling to find the right garment to wear for the Dunwich Dynamo?

For so long I have resisted buying purposefully hi viz cycling garments as most of them are less than attractive, and are associated with our Lycra-warrior commuter brethren. Finally a garment has been released that is not only highly practical for long distance night rides, but it even has an option high visibility component and yet is not an utter eyesore.

Rapha have established themselves as one of the more stylish cycling clothes manufacturers, through high attention to detail, great use of innovative fabrics, and a great eye for cut and colour.  The brevet jersey was designed with the Paris Brest Paris event in mind, though thankfully the jersey can also be used by mere mortals for more normal purposes.

The jersey uses the sportswool that is synonymous with Rapha jerseys, this is a merino/synthetic blend, it is brushed on the inside but mercerised on the exterior. This gives it great wicking, insulation and durability.  Merino has many useful properties, it is great at insulating even when wet, the fibres manage to keep pockets of air trapped, it is also renowned for its anti bacterial properties (it tends not to stink in the way that plain nylon does) and it is much more comfortable against the skin than standard synthetic fibres.

Most Rapha jerseys have 3 pockets on the back, this one has some extra pockets. There is a waterproof brevet breast pocket - this is for the docket that gets stamped on Audax rides, though it conveniently would also take a passport or common sized smartphone. There is also a  zipped pocket that hangs inside under the normal 3 pockets - this could be filled up with ample provisions to get you through a long night of cycling.

There are two high visibility bands on the jersey - one pink and one white, these go right round the jersey.  The sleeves are also finished with pink ribbon and the left sleeve has an additional band of white ribbon.  The jersey also has a matching hi vis lightweight gilet in the pink material, with grey and white bands on for contrast..  For Paris Brest Paris there are strict rules about the amount of reflective material needed for the night time periods of the event.  The gilet is designed to meet all these requirements but also has mesh panels to stop the riders overheating whilst wearing the gilet.

Though designed with a specific event in mind this is a jersey that would be comfortable and useful for anyone who enjoys night rides or wishes to be a little more visible when commuting.  Without the gilet it just looks like a well cut attractive garment, but with the addition of the gilet it would make it nearly impossible for a driver to utter the words "sorry mate, I did not see you." But once off the bike the gilet will fold down and stuff into any of the pockets.

http://www.rapha.cc/brevet-jersey
£155.00

by James Hoggarth