• Gore Bike Wear Complete jacket
• £109.99
• www.gorebikewear.com

The Complete is Gore Bike Wear’s Windstopper Softshell jersey. It’s designed to cope with a range of conditions, which makes it well suited to UK weather. That’s not all though, as it has its ace card hidden up its removeable sleeves, niftily transforming it into a gilet.

Softshell fabric is made up of a Windstopper membrane sandwiched between a water resistant outer layer and a thin fleece inner liner. With this approach you get the benefits of Windstopper fabric but with added rainproofing, enough for most downpours, plus extra warmth and general cosiness from the fleece liner. It also means you can get away with fewer layers underneath, making you feel less like a deep sea diver.

As we’ve come to expect from Gore Bike Wear, the jacket is really well designed. They’ve obviously thought carefully about how the jacket will fit as it’s tailored in all the right places making it snug and streamlined around the body, but retaining space for extra layers underneath if it’s particularly cold. We’ve also come to expect plenty of features from Gore, and the Complete doesn’t disappoint. A high collar, full length zip with locking tab and a flap of material to cover it, a chest pocket, three pockets around the back with one zipped, elasticated tape on the hem and finally the regulatory long tail complete the package.

But the USP of the this jersey is its removable sleeves. Four zips transform the jersey into a gilet (kind of – there are some vestigial sleeves under the long ones), which is surprisingly handy on more than a few occasions. Useful especially if you suffer from hot arms, or the weather takes an expected turn for the better. The downside is remembering when you set out to save pocket space for stashing the expended sleeves.

Available in a huge range of colours – red, orange, white, blue, purple and grey. We’d tend to steer clear of the white for off-road use, though…

Ups and downs

Positives: Very comfortable, good in different conditions, removable sleeves add versatility

Negatives: Need to put the sleeves somewhere once you’ve detached them

Verdict

We’re fans of Softshell jackets: they mean we can get away with wearing less, and they’re incredibly comfortable to wear. This one’s also warm and waterproof enough for most conditions at this time of year. The Complete is packed with user-friendly features, and the removeable sleeves add a huge amount of flexibility – it’s essentially a long-sleeve jersey and gilet for the price of one garment. Recommended.

Ratings

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