Sportful’s No-Rain arm and knee warmers are ideal for the British spring. They’re warm, fit like a glove and – now this is where they come into their own on these shores – are water resistant.
We’ve been impressed with Sportful’s No-Rain range in the past – the Italian firm’s Fiandre and Fiandre Light jackets saw us through winter – and the No-Rain arm and knee warmers live up to the same billing now the weather is more clement.
Sportful’s proprietary No-Rain nanotechnology uses silicone particles in the fabric to repel water and it works to good effect. Water quick beads off the surface when riding in light rain and drizzle, or if there’s spray kicking up from the road, and the fabric only becomes saturated during more persistant, heavier rain.
The ability to pair the arm and knee warmers with a water resistant gilet on days where there’s a spot of drizzle in the air, or to see off a short shower, is ideal for this time of year. That combination has allowed me to avoid pulling on a rain jacket for much of the month.
There’s little more annoying than loose arm and knee warmers which constantly need pulling up but, crucially, the fit is superb thanks to a slim, anatomic cut which closely follows the contours of your limbs. Silicone grippers also help lock them in place and other details include reflective tabs and a reflective Sportful logo.
Both the arm and knee warmers are lined with a Roubaix fabric made from a nylon/elastane mix which is both stretchy and breathable. The soft, fleecy lining means they’re fairly warm, good up to, say, temperatures in the mid-teens, when you’ll otherwise look to pull something lighter out of the wardrobe or, dare we say it, ride in short sleeves.
Arm and knee warmers are versatile in their own right but these, with the added water repellancy, are even more so. I’ve pulled the Sportful No-Rain arm and knee warmers from the wardrobe on days when there’s no chance of rain but still a nip in the air, and they then really come into their own when, as is so often the case, there’s rain on the horizon.
The Sportful No-Rain arm warmers cost £26 and the knee warmers are £36. Both are available in four sizes (S-XL) and come in three colours (black, red and white).
Website: Sportful
UK distributor: C3 Products
