CAFÉ DU CYCLISTE X 66° NORTH WINTER JACKET & MARIE BIB TIGHTS

£225 , ★★★★☆ £216 ★★★★1/2 South Europe meets north

What do you get when you cross the glamour of the French Riviera with the ruggedness of volcanic Iceland? This: a collaboration between Nice’s classy cycling clobber merchant Café du Cycliste and Arcticadjacent outdoor brand 66°North, which has almost 100 years of history in insulating the people of Iceland.

The Landmannalaugar jacket is part of a fourpiece collection of clothing for the extreme cold that came about when Café du Cycliste visited Iceland to tour its lava trails. Look closely and you’ll notice mountains built into the design: this is a jacket set in the Landmannalaugar nature reserve in the southern Highlands of the country, renowned for its thermal pools and outstanding playground for outdoorsy types.

The jacket’s made primarily from recycled polyester (97 per cent), with fleece warming the areas of the body that need it and a thinner elastane giving flexibility at the elbows and security from the wind at the wrists. There are three pockets on the back, plus a zipper on the left side of the chest. Fit is performance-tight, though there’s a pleasing bagginess to the collar that means you aren’t choking when fully zipped up. This is indeed a snug, stylish jacket that does a stellar job in fending off cold, blustery weather. It doesn’t pretend that it does, but be warned that this jacket doesn’t keep showers out. That’s left to elsewhere in the collection with the Skyli Gore-Tex anorak (see right).

The partnership with 66°North doesn’t extend to any garments below the waist, but Café du Cycliste did send us its water-repellant Marie Winter Cycling Tights to complete our outfit. Put simply, they’re the finest tights I’ve ever tried. The materials used combine warmth with their suppleness particularly well, which means they avoid the compromises made in the pedal stroke of other thicker, more bunchy bib tights.

WE SAY... An easy-on-the-eye combo for the cold. Just make sure you pack a rain jacket...