• Pace 3×3 jacket
• £99.95
• Pace

Waterproof is easy. A bin bag is pretty waterproof. The hard part is making something waterproof that you can ride a bike in without boiling to death. The thing with the bin bag is that it’s waterproof in both directions, so your sweat (or perspiration for the ladies) kind of sticks around and the heat you’re trying to reduce by sweating is trapped. And you become very hot and fall over.

Over the last few years lots of very effective breathable waterproof garments have been produced, but even the best of them can get a bit clammy if you’re working hard. And on a bike you probably are – a lot of breathable fabrics were designed with hiking in mind, which is generally a somewhat lower-output activity. Pace’s new jacket is made from eVent fabric, which is rapidly building a reputation as the most breathable fully-waterproof fabric out there.

It certainly seems to work – for a given effort the inside of this jacket stays drier than anything else we’ve tried. You can overdo it, but that point seems to come significantly later. The high performance of the fabric has let Pace do without a lining to the 3×3 – usually a mesh or other lining is useful to keep something between you and the moisture on the inside of the waterproof fabric, but here there generally isn’t any. Losing the liner saves weight and cost. Pace has also left off pit zips, reasoning that the extra-breathable fabric renders them unnecessary. We didn’t miss them during the test, so they may be on to something…

Simplicity is something of a watchword for the 3×3 jacket. There’s no hood, no fleecy collar (although it’s got a drawcord to stop things dribbling down your neck and a little pocket that the zip pull hides in to keep it from irritating your neck) and no drawstring at the waist, just an elasticated dropped hem at the back. Cuffs have simple Velcro fastenings, the main zip is waterproof with a storm flap behind and there’s a rear pocket, also with a waterproof zipper. Both zippers have neat little silicone Pace pullers. All the seams are taped. And aside from some reflective piping, that’s it.

By leaving all that stuff off Pace has ended up with a very light, very packable jacket. The cut is close without being figure-hugging and the sleeves are long enough. It’s a bit like Pace’s bikes, really – anything you don’t need to get the job done isn’t there. We can’t fault the construction – there are still people riding around in decade-old Pace garments…

Positives: Very breathable, minimal clamminess, waterproof, light, small pack size
Negatives: Some riders will want more features

Pace reckons this is a jacket for spring, autumn and winter – cool enough when it’s warm, warm enough when it’s cold and dry all the time. It’s certainly one of the few jackets that feels as at home as a spring windproof as it does in a wet winter. If you’re only going to have one jacket this is a strong contender…

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