Van Rysel RC 500 Ultralight Windproof Cycling Jacket

Van Rysel's RC 500 Ultralight Windproof jacket is light, very bright and packable. Better still, the price is excellent for something cut (mostly) well enough for serious road riding – it's an ideal emergency layer to stash in a saddlebag or pocket.

• Pros: Low price, slim fit, packable
• Cons: Minimal protection, thin to the point of fragile, untidy stitching

With its translucently thin ripstop polyester fabric and large mesh back panel, the RC 500 Ultralight is never going to hold off serious storms or rain (or boil you inside it). It is, however, going to do a better job of protecting you than a £20 note, so it seems a fair swap.

> Find your nearest Decathlon store here

The jacket swallows itself into an internal pocket to end up around the size of a pasty (I'm hungry, OK?), so carrying it is little bother. The build is as simple as it gets: tiny (colour-coded) plastic zip, elasticated hem, elasticated cuffs and a mid-height collar. It's still got room for nice details, though.

The collar is soft lined, both ends of the zip get garages, and there's a plastic pull tab to help when gloved. The cut is pretty well judged, with slim arms and torso (the latter helped further by the stretchy mesh back panel). I didn't get any fluttering below 25mph, though beyond that the shoulders would politely start crackling, very quietly, as there's a bit too much room there even for my broad frame.

The stitching on the overlocked seams is a messy, but it's hard to complain given the price. Van Rysel, if you haven't heard, is Decathlon's new premium brand, and in part replaces its now defunct value-focused B'Twin brand. (Van Rysel translates as 'from Lille', but the label confirms this jacket is most definitely van China.)

The Ultralight does a reasonable job of preventing cold winds from stealing your heat on descents, though there's only so much a paper-thin layer lying against the skin can do. It's definitely enough to justify carrying it, and good to have when the sun goes in on a peak. It even takes the misery out of drizzle. Every time I've stopped to put it on, I've been happy I did.

There's even a wide vent, held shut by elastic, for access to jersey pockets. A nice touch, though in practice it's easier to just lift the jacket than fish around through the elasticated overlap.

> Buyer’s Guide: 11 of the best packable windproof jackets

The RC 500 Ultralight is a really handy bit of kit that can take the sting out of unexpected dips in the weather, and an absolute bargain to boot. In fact, it's not that easy to find a competitor at this price. Only two of the 11 jackets included in our own buyer's guide (above) are below £50. One is the Polaris RBS Pack Me at £30, and the other is... this one.

Verdict

Great minimalist emergency layer for an incredibly minimalist price