For a deep winter’s jacket you need high levels of insulation, limited bulk and exceptional breathability to keep you happy and comfortable hour after hour in the saddle. The Assos Uma GT Ultraz Winter jacket Evo has this in spades, holding its own in our guide to the best winter cycling jackets.
That the Assos Uma GT Ultraz Winter jacket Evo is so well made is no surprise; Assos jackets are built for specific conditions and specific purposes. It feels like a serious, grown up jacket, for serious, grown up cyclists: It even has a lapel telling you exactly what its Unique Selling Points (USP) are and how to wear it (as part of a layering system), and a sleek cyclist-looking shape to it. Everything about this jacket seems to scream high quality and performance.
In order to test it, I decided to take the jacket out in as many weather conditions as possible, which was a great plan as this autumn and winter seems to have given us in Britain every season imaginable: from unseasonably warm days to brutal winds, to cold, dark, damp days and bright clear icy ones. In particular, I adopted this for most of my morning commutes, where I needed something visible, warm and able to cope with changeable conditions.
Design and Aesthetics
Despite my raving about Assos’ carefully considered designs, sizing turned out to be incredibly difficult on the Assos website, and I chose poorly. I went for a small, but should have sized up to a medium, if not a large. ASSOS says that the Uma GT Ultraz jacket Evo is a more relaxed fit, but that isn’t at all what showed up on my doorstep. Instead, I received a race-style, second skin cut that isn’t my personal preference at all in a jacket. Assos recommended a small size based on my age, height and weight, and as there was no additional size guide to scrutinise that assumption, I went with their recommendation.
Consequently, I spent a lot of time tugging this jacket to get it to sit in place; with a longer torso, smaller waist but larger bust than typical for my smaller frame, I felt a bit like I was trying to fit myself into doll’s clothes, made for perfectly proportioned women rather than the curvier human shape I am. The torso was too short for me, arm holes too small and the fabric constricted my chest. Even zipping…
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