Winter riding demands the very best from kit, needing to keep us warm (but not too warm), dry, and protected. Finding a jacket that can do all of those things is often a challenge, with some level of trade off compromising comfort. This isn’t the case with the Assos Uma GT Winter Jacket Evo, which, despite its lightweight and streamlined design, holds its own as one of the best winter cycling jackets.
I tested both the Uma GT Winter Jacket Evo and the Assos Uma Ultraz Winter Jacket Evo jackets, both part of the Uma range for long distance, deep winter comfort (complimenting the men’s Mille range). As both are described as the perfect winter jacket and priced similarly (the Ultraz is £300), what exactly is the difference between the two, and which one is better for your style of riding?
Assos likes creating very specific jackets for very specific uses, and while the Ultraz is designed for ultra cold, deep winter applications, the GT is much more for everyday usage. The GT is still a three layer softshell with a PU bonded membrane, so will cope with most of the daily winter weather you’ll likely (willingly) want to ride in over the cold season.
I tested the Uma GT Winter Jacket Evo across both autumn and winter, off-road and on, in (mostly) wind and rain, though with a few lovely cold mornings peppered in. This jacket copes with them all exceptionally, elbowing its way into the mainstay of my winter wardrobe and making the cut in our buyer’s guide.
Design and aesthetics
The Assos Uma GT Winter Jacket Evo suffers from some of the sizing issues that I found in the Assos Ultraz Winter Jacket Evo; namely that, despite its calculator suggesting I am a small based on my height, weight and age, I’d probably have preferred a medium in this jacket. Assos don’t seem to provide a size guide for additional scrutiny, so it’s quite hard to guess the fit on certain parts of your body.
However, there are slight differences in terms of the structure of the jacket that makes the GT Winter jacket, in my opinion, a much more comfortable wear. Firstly, this is an incredibly low bulk design, eschewing the double layer sleeves and selecting a medium weight Neos fabric on the front rather than the heavier ‘ultra’ version, making it much more streamlined. It’s almost 200g lighter than the Ultraz, comprising 16…
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