dhb Windslam gilet

This new gilet does a fine job of keeping the cold air off your upper body and, like most of dhb’s redesigned range, boasts several really neat features.

The main fabric – the blue stuff – is a virtually windproof polyester that’s stretchy, especially widthwise, so you can get a close, flap-free fit without any restriction. Road spray and light drizzle roll off the outer surface without soaking in while the fleecy inner holds a lot of warm air around your body to keep you toasty when the temperature drops. A baffle behind the high-quality YKK zip stops the wind getting in there and we found the arm holes close fitting enough to provide good sealing – they certainly don’t gape open and let all that warm air escape.

The rear panel below the yoke, on the other hand, is a lightweight open mesh – you can just about see through it – so it lets moist air escape to keep you from getting damp and sticky.

We especially like the two pockets tucked into the side-seams just above your hips. They’re rear-facing so all your gubbins sits on your back rather than falling to the front where it would get in the way of your pedalling, and they’re zipped so nothing can fall out. Each of them comes with a gap for running an earphone lead internally too, if you want to be wired for sound.

An elasticated band stops the waist from billowing out while a silicone gripper does a good job of holding it in place as you move. You get a decent amount of reflective trim too – piping around the back and a couple of flashes on the chest.

Downsides? We’ve said it before but we struggle with the width of the necks of some of dhbs outer garments. The Windslam’s collar is tall with a lovely soft microfleece lining, but we just find if too large – much too large – so it let cold air in when we wanted to shut it out. Fair enough, it gives you the option of wearing a couple of high-necked layers underneath, but we found it draughty unless we filled up the space with a Buff.

The only other issue you might have is that the Windslam is bulky compared to some windproof gilets, which can be an issue if you want to take it off mid-ride and store it away. You can remove an ultra-skinny gilet on the fly and stuff it in your pocket without stopping, as long as you’ve got some half-decent handling skills. The DHB model is more of a squeeze. It will fit into a pocket, but you have to roll it up tightly to get it in there, and there’s less room for anything else you want to carry.

That said, at £34.99 the Windslam gilet is very affordable. If the cut of the neck works for you, you won’t find much better value for money.

Verdict

Windproof gilet with some neat, well thought-out features, but we found the collar much too loose