Top 5 Scottish Trail Centres

The Women’s Sugoi Icon All-mountain Riding Jacket is nice, but doesn’t quite take the (after ride) cake.

Features

– Stretchy soft waterproof fabric.

– Reflective magnetic storm flap.

– Detachable hood.

– Lots of pockets.

– Angled pit zips.

– Flattering semi-fit cut.

First impressions

The Sugoi Icon jacket material is intriguing. It’s very soft and stretchy, doesn’t feel like your typical parachute Gore-tex as far as waterproof fabric goes. But the lining on the inside is a bit plastic-y, which makes putting it on bare arms a bit icky feeling.

Style

It’s got a space age commuter thing going on, appropriately tech-y and not a hint of pink or flowers anywhere.

The storm panel has a giant reflective Sugoi written on it. Sugoi in Japanese means “Amazing” or “Big”. I dunno about you, but my bum is pretty Sugoi. Plus 1.

The Fit

The Sugoi Icon jacket is somewhere between a slim fit and a relaxed fit; Sugoi calls it a semi-fit. I found it to be not too tight or too loose, but juuust right. It has a really comfortable stretch, with delicately soft fabric on the outside. You could wear base layers or a lightweight sweater underneath, but a sweatshirt would make you look a little bit Michelin Man.

They say it’ll pack down into a pocket – I don’t know what kind of pockets Sugoi have, but it definitely couldn’t pack up into a jersey pocket.

Vive la Water resistance!

Waterproof taped seams line the entire jacket. According to Sugoi, “The Majik Shell 2.5 layer knit laminate shell claims a 10,000 mm waterproof rating.” Tested this in some London rain and yes, it was definitely waterproof.

My one complaint is that the plastic-y inside stays cold in the rain against bare skin, so I would wear something long sleeved underneath.

Detachable hood

This is a great feature if you want to take hood off to make wearing helmet more comfortable. It also fits under a helmet but won’t go over, in case you’re wondering. The hood attaches easily with Velcro dots, and features a clever tucked in design on the collar to hide the Velcro.

There’s toggles to make sure the dang thing doesn’t fly off when you’re riding at speed. And if you pull the toggles so that the hood is cradling your face, you can turn your head and the hood doesn’t block your vision.

The One-handed Tests

I’m happy to report that all the zippers on theSugoi Icon jacket can open and close with one hand. There are four outer pockets, all zippered and sealed: One on the back, one on the upper left arm, as well as the standard hand pockets. The right hand pocket has an internal hole for your earphone cable to route through internally, and two internal stash pockets.

There are also two angled pit zips, which make for easy one-handed opening and closing while on the bike. No mesh here either, it’s totally open with a single ribbon across that prevents it from opening too wide.

The verdict: 4 stars out of 5

It’s a practical, ever so slightly sexy jacket. The lack of reflective bits stop me from giving it a complete 5 star rating.

Price: £126.39 (RRP £159.99), available from Wiggle.