Gore Bike Wear Element Lady

The cut is on the ‘performance’ side of things – close, but still accommodating for curves. There’s enough room underneath for a couple of thin layers, which is probably for the best as the fabric itself is relatively thick and warm. Once the weather did take the inevitable turn for the worse, I tried it alternately with two thin layers or one thicker one underneath, and it was noticeably more comfortable with the two thin layers.

The tall neck is beautifully snug – the sort of thing to zip up and hide behind when the rain is coming at you sideways – and there’s a fair amount of stretch in the fabric, which works very well to make you completely forget you’re wearing it after a few minutes of leaving the house with it on.

Breathability is superb, as you’d expect for a jacket from Gore, and I was pleasantly surprised with the durability. The peached outer face is nice and soft, as well as being matt and rustle-free.

Two small zipped handwarmer pockets also house the toggles for the hem drawcord, and there’s a velcro tab on the back of the neck to attach the optional hood (which isn’t supplied). The body zip is a fairly fine gauge YKK and I had a couple of instances of it not seating properly into the base plate; easily remedied by ripping it down and re-zipping, but it probably doesn’t do the longevity of the fastening any favours. The adjustable cuffs are fantastic, though: cinch them up tight over your gloves for maximum protection, loosen them off to vent.

Overall: Zip quibbles aside, this has an excellent cut, just enough features to perform, and is packable enough to cart around ready for real weather. 

Jenn.

Review Info