Dare 2b Women's Swept Away Windshell

Having a lightweight packable windproof jacket makes an enormous difference to comfort levels on a ride in changeable conditions or at the turn of the seasons, Dare 2b's Swept Away Windshell is designed to offer all those benefits to women riders and it's keenly priced too. 

Made from 100% super lightweight Polyamide, the Swept Away is designed to keep wind chill at bay and has a water repellent treatment to keep off the worst of any rainy spell. It'll not see off prolonged and determined precipitation, but will certainly provide enough protection to get you to the end of your ride. The jacket is well featured, with a shaped tail, gently elasticated hemline, mesh panels for ventilation where you need them, lots of reflectivity and softly elastcated wrist cuffs with integral thumb loops. The whole jacket packs into its own mesh bag which has a Velcro loop to fasten it to the back of your saddle, around your wrist or it'll pop into a jersey pocket, given it's only about the size of an orange.

In use, it's a perfectly adequate windshell, offering good levels of protection and with very little weight penalty. It's not the most breathable fabric if you're pedaling hard at times, but it's far from being the worst either and with the effective mesh ventilation panels, it doesn't leave you unduly sweaty. The cut and fit are good, with sizing being very slightly on the generous size, and good length in torso and sleeves. The sleeves are fine for all handlebar positions, including stretched forward on the drops, and the thumb loops are actually usably comfortable if further wrist protection is required- a nice touch for colder weather use.

This is a jacket that will get year round use, given that it's easy to layer and light and compact to carry along on any ride. The only problem I had with the Swept Away was the quality of the zip, which didn't move as freely as you'd like and was a little plasticky and insubstantial feeling. Given that it's handy to be able to zip up a windshell single handed, it would have been nice to have had a more plush feeling zip.

£45 is a very good price for such a light and compact wind shell, especially given the number of features and attention to detail. It'll give year round service too, and is available in either black (I'd have preferred something less ninja-like) and 'Extreme Pink' which is just that, and definitely more visible than the black, even with all the reflectivity.

Verdict

Fantastic value for money for such a lightweight, well featured shell. Shame about the flimsy zip though.