GORE C5 INFINIUM THERMO JACKET, GORE C7 WINDSTOPPER PRO BIB TIGHTS
£219.99; £124.99 Cold weather specials s
Gore has a stellar reputation for designing warm, waterproof gear to battle British winter riding conditions.
Its new winter thermal jacket uses its persistent beading technology, Infinium. Usually, water repelling jackets use a fabric where the waterproof membrane is sandwiched between the outer skin and the lining. The C5 shifts the membrane to the outer layer of the main fabric to keep water at bay, and you don’t end up cooking.
The details on the jacket are everything you’d want, stretchy yet secure cuffs, a dropped tail, highly structured rear pockets and a waterproof zipped security pocket alongside the traditional three. The soft-fleeced lining is warm.
The C3 tights are a great match to the jacket. The upper bib section is lightweight with a mesh back. The hip and mid-section uses Gore’s active pad, which is generously padded. Here Gore also uses a Windstopper fabric cut and pre-formed in such a way that it moves with you. It is mostly used on the forwardfacing sections of the tights, which helps keep windchill at bay. The rear sections are a more stretchy, fleeced fabric that’s snug when it’s chilly. The tights have great reflective details and every seam is flat-locked, so it’s irritation free. In the rain the material does bead up water for around three quarters of an hour before wetting through; even then we didn’t get cold, thanks to the thick fleece material. Our only niggle is the midriff, which is cut like a summer bib short and doesn’t offer much protection from chilly winds.