Rapha Women’s Classic Softshell Jacket £240

At a glance A stylish, high-performing softshell jacket with all the features you need (plus more you didn’t know you’d start lusting after!) that looks and feels great on cold winter road rides

Tested by
Claire Maxted, tester for The Bike List

Value

Performance

Smart and sleek, this black Classic Softshell Jacket looks and feels great on cold winter road rides. Rapha have recently expanded their collection of women's cycling clothing and if you're prepared to pay for stylish yet functional clothing you won't be disappointed.

Take a look. The first thing you'll notice about this softshell is its asymmetric zip. Then your eye will catch the single rubberised panel on the left shoulder. Turn it around and there's the reflective Rapha logo on the fold-away drop tail and the thoughtful, glove-friendly zip-pull on the back pocket. Open it up and pink headphones wire holders stand out ready to guide the cable to your ear from the specially designed, button-holed pocket.

It only takes one look to understand that this new Rapha jacket is your newest, coolest and most Fonz-like best friend - it oozes cool and looks good in the pub, but it won't leave you out in the cold. This is perfect, because if you're going to invest £240 in a softshell you a) want it to perform damned well, and b) want people to notice that it's different to your average cycle wear.

When riding, this jacket fits a women's pear shape well with thinner shoulders, articulated sleeves, a curved, side-panelled waist and wider hips for an ergonomic cut. Inside, it feels so good you can wear it with a T-shirt as the brushed inner fabric feels nice on bare skin all the way up to the fleece-lined chin guard. A synthetic membrane provides a great wind barrier and also makes it resistant to showers whilst maintaining a high level of breathability, further aided by underarm venting, usable with one hand, and a trademark Rapha pink hem drawcord. I found that the underarm zip pulls could do with being ever so slightly wider for use with big fat winter gloves as I could hardly feel them on -9 deg C rides this year (2010).

Helping substantially with the cold were the stretchy elastic thumb loops - stretch them over your hands or gloves and hey presto, the wind is blocked from whistling its fierce winter chill up your sleeves. The elasticated hem on this is slightly bulky where the stitching overlaps between the thumb and forefinger, but when the temperature really dropped, I couldn't feel this anyway! It could do with less bulk here though for days above zero degrees.

The three large back pockets make the jacket ideal for stuffing with bananas, energy gels, cereal bars, plus a pump which slips into a designated sleeve in the middle pocket, on training rides. The right-hand pocket has an interior buttonhole for a headphone cable and an additional valuables pocket has glove-friendly, metal-loop zip puller. On the rest of the jacket the zips lock down so they don't rattle around and drive you mad. For rainy rides, there is a nifty fold-out storm flap which keeps your rear nicely dry and warns off vehicles with a large reflective Rapha logo.

Continuing in the reflective theme, there is surprisingly high viz dark grey piping on the collar, shoulders and sleeves. This is a stroke of cycle fashion genius from Rapha as although not as overtly luminous as reflective strips on some of their other garments, this dark grey piping is reflective without decreasing the softshell's chic black look in daylight.

It really seems that Rapha have thought of everything, then sat down again, stroked their collective beards and thought some more to come up with a whole bunch of exquisite features you didn't even know you needed. Now, having just discovered them I'm wondering how I could have possibly lived without these finishing touches:

The rubberised pad on the left shoulder is designed to keep your shoulder bag from sliding around; the main zip has been flipped 180 degrees for a cleaner finish; a semi-circular rubberised bite grip on the collar allows you to pull the main zip up and down cleanly with one hand. I've never seen this level of attention to detail before. If this jacket was a hotel, it would have 5 stars, chocolates on pillows and a hot tub in every room.

It will take a lot from another jacket to beat Rapha's Women's Classic Softshell. It simply excels in all aspects of style and performance, that is unless you feel safer (as I must confess I do) top to toe in luminous yellow for your winter commuting. However for cold winter day rides this is a brilliant warm softshell with all the features you need, plus more you didn't know you needed.

The price reflects the jackets high performance level, high quality and attention to detail on the features, so I think it is fair to say that this jacket provides reasonable value for money. If you saved your pennies and splashed out on the Classic Softshell you would be far from disappointed, not to mention probably the only person wearing one on your local roads.

However, the great thing is that if you're not bothered about impressive performance combined with style, headphone wires, clean-looking zips and being mates with The Fonz, you can easily find a more than adequate regular softshell jacket for less than half the price. In summary, this jacket is not just a jacket; it's a piece of art. If you can afford it, you will feel both very warm and super 'cool' every time you put it on.

Rapha says:

Rapha's Classic Softshell Jacket is designed for tough winter cycling. A synthetic membrane means the jacket's softshell fabric is windproof, water-resistant and highly breathable.

The Women's Classic Softshell is tailored specifically for female riders and has side panels to give the jacket a structured shape. The sleeves are designed to increase range of movement. A rubberized pad on the left shoulder keeps bag straps stable when riding and seams have been positioned to prevent them from chafing. Both shoulders are edged with reflective grey piping, as are the collar and sleeves.

The full-length zip has a reverse coil for a cleaner finish, a fleece-lined chin guard and a lockdown puller to eliminate rattles. A bite grip on the collar enables easy zip adjustment on the move and zipped vents under both arms help ventilation.

Three large cargo pockets make the jacket ideal for training rides and the centre pocket has a pump sleeve stitched inside. The right-hand pocket has a buttonhole for an iPod cable and an additional valuables pocket has easy-to-use zip puller.

When conditions turn nasty, the jacket's fold-out storm tail has a saddle grip to keep it in place and a reflective Rapha logo for visibility. Rapha's trademark left armband has a black embroidered logo and the inside of the jacket has contrast pink details. These include cable routing loops, a draw cord with friction locks and a hanging loop.