Urban Legend Winterbreaker Jacket

The first thing that immediately jumps out about the Urban Legend Winterbreaker ladies softshell jacket is that it doesn't look like a bike jacket. With a design-led fashionable cut and what looks like a broad cowl neck and voluminous hood, it looks quite at home as a jacket for wearing out and about around town.

And that's what's intended. Urban Legend hail from Budapest and the company's range of clothing neatly encompasses fashion and fully functioning bike gear for townies. All the designs are designed to both look genuinely good and perform on the bike.

The second thing that jumps out about this jacket is that it looks utterly bombproof. The windproof and waterproof softshell fabric is soft and pliable to the touch but durable and laughs in the face of even the worst weather, easily living up to its name.

A particularly innovative feature is the way that large hood and cowl neckline unfastens to create a covering for the lower face. That converts the jacket into a truly weatherproof shell for urban cycling in the worst conditions. Reflective asymmetric zips add to the cool looks of the jacket, and even the generous side pockets feature these.

In use, it's a bit tricky to get that Velcro-fastening face covering bit sorted, particularly one-handed, but once in place, it really is an effective and superbly warm proposition. The hood is large enough to wear with or without a helmet underneath, and it does cinch in to prevent it billowing without. The cuffs are long and neat, with plenty of length in the arms to give easy and comfortable wear on the bike, while the body of the jacket is cut neat enough to protect and not flap about, but still looks well-cut and stylish. It also has a nicely shaped curved tail to keep everything protected when leaning forwards. The sizing is a touch on the neat side, with the large I tried being roughly equivalent to a large UK12 or small UK14, and that's the largest available.

On the bike, it was super warm and cosy, making the most of the soft-backed fabric's insulating qualities, and shedding weather with ease. As such a warm jacket, the addition of underarm zipped ventilation was a welcome one, making it useful for all winter conditions, not just the average polar vortex.

It might just be the perfect jacket for winter use on and off the bike in an urban environment.

Verdict

Really great combination of style and on and off-bike functionality in a serious winter jacket