7Mesh Revelation jacket

Let’s start at the slightly odd name. ‘7Mesh’ is the native name for the coastal town of Squamish, a small place that lies halfway between Vancouver and the riding mecca of Whistler. The company was founded by a bunch of outdoor enthusiasts that cut their clothing design teeth in companies like Assos and Arc’teryx. If you’re a fan of either of those two brands, then you’ll know the kind of quality and material technology that the designers are aiming for. You’ll also not wince at the price as much as most riders might.

The Revelation is a wear-all-day waterproof jacket designed to have just enough features to be useful, but not so many that it becomes heavy and unwieldy. At its heart is Gore’s new Pro fabric, being used in a cycling jacket for the first time. Gore Pro is designed for long wear times and to be rugged enough to cope with most burly activities. The jacket uses this three-layer fabric, with a mustard (or black) outer and a grey inner. It’s beautifully made and well cut; expertly taped with tiny 8mm tape on the seams for minimal bulk and weight. There are two handwarmer pockets, with waterproof zips behind storm flaps. Further waterproof zips are used for the pit-zips and the intriguing forearm vents too. The main zip is a freer-running chunky plastic YKK, backed by a storm flap. The collar is lined in micro-fleece and there’s a removable under-helmet hood secured with three poppers. The cuffs are cinched tight by Velcro tabs, opposite little reflective bits, which seems to be the only reflective here. The hem has an elastic shock cord held in a friction cinch to keep the draughts out.

That’s about it for features. It’s a simple jacket, designed to keep out the worst of the weather, fitting snugly enough to keep it from flapping, but with plenty of articulation in the riding-position sleeves to allow for a couple of slim layers underneath. I’ve been testing the medium size, which fits my 42in chest and not-particularly-athletic frame just fine.

The fit of the jacket is fantastic: it’s long in the sleeves and snug in all the right places, to keep the jacket put. The hem isn’t particularly dropped, but unless you’re time-trialling in it, it’ll fit a semi-upright mountain bike stance perfectly. There’s enough slack in the shoulders to allow a full range of flailing motions, as well as a couple of base layers underneath and the collar zips up snugly enough to keep you cosy on those days of eternal drizzle. The vent zips are cleverly thought out, especially the ‘bizarre-but-it-works’ forearm vents that work in conjunction with the pit zips to funnel air up your sleeves and keep a healthy draft going on days when it’s not that cold or wet. The pit zips work well with backpack straps and allow both flanks to be fully exposed if things get warm.

Given the amount of mud and landscape that I’ve thrown at the jacket, it’s cleaned up fine, with only the cuff pulls and the zips showing any sign of the all-over gritting that it has endured on rides as diverse as the Dyfi Enduro and the Tour of Flanders. The jacket breathes well and the vents add additional cooling, with the main zip allowing the final fine tuning. The zip pulls are absolutely useless though – the tiny, knotted strings are all but impossible to feel with gloves on and seem keen to unravel. Chunky zip-pulls are a must on a foul weather jacket and I think 7Mesh has got carried away with weight saving here. Talking of which, the 270g weight is svelte and the jacket light and enough you can roll it up and stow it in a pack or pocket without fuss.

The poppered hood fits under a helmet and removes easily – although it then becomes hard to keep track of and mine is currently in the bottom of a pack, waiting to be found again.

Having done several five and six hour rides in awful weather wearing it, I was never uncomfortable in the Revelation, whether it was with a light thermal underneath on a mild but gritty day, or on top of a base layer and full softshell on a ride with five hours of driving single-digit temperature deluge.

Overall:

The Revelation certainly does the job of a multi-day, multi-use, foul weather jacket. There are some tiny details like the zip pulls that let it down slightly, but the overall feeling is one of security against the elements. If you’re used to spending top dollar on your performance outerwear, and you promise never to crash while wearing it, then it’s well worth a look.

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