Gore Bike Wear Oxygen 2 GT AS

The Oxygen 2 GT AS (we’ll stick with Oxygen from now on, eh?) is an unashamedly road-cut waterproof jacket. You will struggle to fit much more than a winter base layer (or an excess of pie) underneath unless you decide to size up, but that would kind of be missing the point. As with the other road-style jackets we’ve reviewed, it works nicely while pedalling, but does look a bit silly when off the bike. Bolero, anyone? The Gore in particular didn’t play too nicely with baggy shorts either – leaving a bit of a gap at the front, and snagging on the rear.

The zipped cuffs and collar are made of a reflective, stretchy softshell. This creates a comfortable and snug fit – possibly too snug at the cuffs – it would be difficult to get very chunky winter gloves under the jacket without leaving the zips slightly open.

There are no pockets whatsoever on the jacket. There are however two zips that run down the rear sides. These offer some venting, and also allow convenient access to rear jersey pockets (assuming that you have them on your preferred riding top). That venting is compromised (and hard to open) if you are riding with a pack.

The fully-taped Gore-Tex Active is probably the best performing fabric that I’ve ever used. Even in damp and mild conditions, it did a sterling job of keeping me relatively dry while working hard. No waterproof membrane is ever going to be completely breathable, but I was seriously impressed.