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Pactimo Storm Hybrid Jacket – review

Pactimo's answer to the Gabba performs well, fits well and impresses all over

Bad weather jerseys have become all the rage over the last few years, inspired by the fervour surrounding Castelli’s Gabba, so it makes sense that Pactimo have come up with an answer of their own in the form of the Storm Hybrid jacket. 

Now the first thing to know about this jacket is that it’s really more of a jersey. The material is fleece lined on the inside, which is a helpful layer of insulation, and wind/water resistant on the front. The fabric is called Aerowind, made by an Italian manufacturer and it highly wind and water repellant.

One of the best things doubt it is the stretch in the fabric. A lot of clothing designed to be protective from the elements ends up being quite tough and rigid, meaning that there’s little movement to match your body as your shift around, and it can all end up rather uncomfortable. This jacket offers much better stretch, especially across the back, so even when you shift lower down to get in the drops then it moves with your back rather than restricting movement. So far so good.

The material has an excellent amount of stretch considering its weather-beating properties and that makes for a comfortable, adaptable fit in all positions on the bike

The fabric also has a DWR treatment (durable water repellant) that Pactimo reckon can withstand forty washes before effectiveness drops down to 80 percent. It definitely works, and keeps out light to moderate rain very well, but as with almost all jerseys/jackets of this type heavy rain will find its way through.

  • Specification

  • Price: £145
  • Size tested: M
  • Sizes available: S, M, L, XL, XXL
  • Website: Pactimo
  • UK Distributor: Dig Deep Coaching

The cut of the sleeves is good as well, because they’re cut long. Whether or not you like your sleeve to meet your elbows, it works nicely on a bad weather jersey because it means more coverage. The sleeves themselves have no grippers although the ends are elasticated, so they stay in place well provided your arms are the right size. That might sound silly, but you don’t want sleeves flapping around on a jersey like this since that’ll mean wind and rain have an easy way in.

Coverage on your lower arms is from the supplied arm warmers. Just like Endura with their classics jersey, Pactimo have decided that a jacket/warmers combo is better than a long sleeved version. It sort of makes this two jerseys in one, and means you have to option to ditch the arm warmers when the conditions allow. The arm warmers are made from the same material as the jersey, and give a little more protection than your standard set, being just as water repellant.

The one criticism of the fit is that while the arm warmers fit very well around the upper arms, they’re a little loose at the wrists meaning they let more cold air in that you’d ideally like

The one thing I would take issue with is the fit of the arm warmers. Our test set were a medium and although the fitted me very nicely around the upper arms, they were a little loose at the wrists. The hem at that end is a standard stitched seam, but honestly they could do with something a little better elasticated as that gap could only be closed by pulling my gloves up over in, and on gloveless rides made things a little chilly.

On the back of the jacket there three standard sized pockets, all made from waterproof material. Over the top of the pocket openings there’s a flap to stop rain getting in, and while it works very well it also has the effect of making it pretty hard to get items out. The pockets don’t have drainage holes either so, for example, if you’re out on a rainy ride and decide to prop open one of the pockets to make your gels easier to access, you’ll soon find yourself with a little puddle pooling at the bottom of the pocket.

A nice little extra is the fact that all of the details on the jersey are hyper reflective, like those on Pactimo’s RFLX range. The jersey is pretty much all black, and those little extras really make a difference when it comes to visibility.

The rear pockets are covered by this flap, which keeps water out but can make it difficult to access anything in them on the move

 

Conclusion

Pactimo are fast becoming one of our favourite clothing manufacturers are RCUK, and the Storm Hybrid Jacket is another very nicely thought out piece of kit from the Colorado brand. It provides surprisingly good protection from the elements despite being quite thin material, it’s comfortable to wear and comes with arm warmers which makes it both long sleeve and short sleeve all in one. Plus the reflective details are a very nice final touch. There are a couple of small details we’d like to see improved, but overall it’s a really smart piece of bad weather kit.

Pros 

– Very good protection from the elements
– Having optional arm warmers makes it a versatile piece of kit
– Hyper reflective detailing makes up for the all-black design

Cons

– Fit of the arm warmers could be improved
– Flap over the pockets makes them difficult to access

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