The Madison Sportive Hi-Viz Waterproof Jacket is new from the Milton Keynes-based clothing company and they claim it’s the most visible product they have ever made.
The jacket is designed to keep you safe and dry in all conditions, and was born from the brief for a waterproof jacket to withstand wet weather without any compromise to visibility, while also being able to pack down to a compact size so it can fit in a jersey pocket when not in use.
Taking its basic design from Madison Clothing’s well-regarded RoadRace Apex jacket (as used by Madison Genesis team), the Sportive Hi-Viz Waterproof Jacket is made from a waterproof, windproof and breathable fabric, while the cut allows for layering without leaving excessive fabric to flap and catch in the wind.
However, what makes the jacket literally stand out, is the clever Pixel Pot print fabric which coats the shoulders, arms and vast majority of the back. Each small and subtle dot is highly visible and lights up under a vehicle’s headlights or street light. The clever use of this material means, whether you’re in the drops, signalling, or have your back to traffic, you should always be seen.
Russell Whitaker, senior brand manager for Madison Clothing, explains more: “We were asked by our Madison Genesis team riders to create the ultimate winter training jacket, so we set to work in finding the correct fabric and cut for the job. The team have been racing and training in our award winning RoadRace Apex jacket for a couple of seasons, so that formed the basic pattern for the design.
“From there, we had to light the jacket up so the rider can be seen in low light conditions without affecting the breathability. Using regular reflective panels would have been a compromise as they don’t allow sweat to transfer back through the fabric, so the pixel dot fabric was engineered with our mill. After months of testing and tweaking with both our team in the office and our pros out on the road, we’re really happy with the result.”