• Sugoi Defiant jacket
• £128
• Sugoi
• 00800 4321 3350

Waterproof jackets fall into a number of categories. You’ve got ultralight not-quite-waterproofs, lightweight mostly waterproofs and heavier properly waterproofs. And then you’ve got those occasional garments that manage to straddle two categories. Sugoi’s Defiant blends different materials with typical Sugoi cut and detailing to deliver a jacket that’ll fit into a jersey pocket but has the performance you’d normally associate with a much heftier garment.

Most of the jacket is made from Sugoi’s Defiant Stretch fabric. As the name suggests, it’s a stretchy fabric bonded to a waterproof laminate. It’s not dissimilar to Karrimor’s Harikiru fabric. The Defiant fabric is used on the front and back of the jacket, while the shoulders and sleeves feature Bosui Vapor, a non-stretchy but very lightweight, waterproof and breathable fabric. Between the two there’s reflective piping.

Cut is classic bike jacket, long at the back with long sleeves. The hem is lightly elasticated across the back and features a neat grippy strip to hang on to the layer beneath and stop the jacket riding up. The cuffs are a superb asymmetric design, short on the palm side and long on top so they sit over your gloves. The fabrics used are very soft and the jacket’s such a joy to wear you could almost forget that the weather’s so grim. The stretchiness lets Sugoi produce a close-fitting jacket without it impeding your movements.

Details include an “inside out” front zipper to improve wind resistance, an internal wind flap and “zipper garage”, a rear pocket, pit zips and a small concealed chest pocket. Performance is excellent, with impressive waterproofing and breathability. Not all the seams are taped, but the key ones are, and there’s no liner but even with hard efforts on the part of the rider we didn’t manage to get unduly clammy.

Positives: Excellent cut (if you like a close-fitting jacket), super-comfy, superb performance, light weight
Negatives: Fairly hefty price

We always seem to end up saying the same thing about Sugoi gear – the Defiant is a wonderful jacket but it’s quite expensive. As per usual, whether it’s worth it depends on how much money you’ve got…

Performance: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 4/5