Vulpine Epic Cotton Rain Jacket Review

New brand Vulpine are certainly making big waves in the cycling scene. With a free cycling fete on Monday 4th June and a fascinating array of items being sold in a charity auction they are pulling out all the stops to get noticed. Thinking out of the box in this way is just what we love here at Bikesoup. New brands need a way to get noticed.

The other way to get noticed is to design some fantastic products that everyone wants to review. Vulpine has nailed this aspect with 5 star reviews popping up all over the interweb. They have launched with a small collection of extremely well considered garments fit for the discerning cyclist who wants to look good, on and off the bike.

Being able to wear cycling clothing that performs well but also looks good when you step off the bike and into the pub with your mates is what so many brands are trying to achieve these days. Muxu do a pretty good job of this, I regularly wear their shorts on days where I don’t go anywhere near a bike. The Vulpine Epic Cotton Jacket is quickly becoming another garment that I regularly wear even when I’m not cycling. It looks great, feels great and fits like a well tailored jacket should.

Features

• Epic Cotton â„¢
• Water and stain resistant
• Magnetic neck & pocket closures
• Large rear vents
• Magnetic pull-down splash guard
• Waterproof zip
• Zipped front pockets with contrast lining
• Rear reflective light loop
• Fold-back reflective cuffs
• Adjustable neck, waist and hips
• Contrast lined inner seams
• Flapped arm pocket with key caribiner

The jacket comes in blue and charcoal. Charcoal is what I possess and it looks gorgeous. It has flashes of bright green on the inside and the pull cords and here and there. Much like the Vulpine Cotton High Visibility Gilet we reviewed, it comes in a matching bright green musette. Flashes of bright green… can’t imagine where I’ve seen that before… needless to say we love the colour.

Roll the sleeves over and you’ll discover some reflective banding. This is Vulpine’s measured way of give you safety when you need it – on the bike, without making you look like a Christmas tree in the pub.

The pull cord fasteners for tightening up the jacket in windy conditions are very well thought out with small nicks in so that you can easily do the whole thing with one hand. What amazes me about this jacket is the amount of effort and engineering that has gone in to making the jacket easy to manipulate on the bike. The magnetic fasteners, whilst not being the lightest way to secure a garment, are an absolute joy to engage with whilst on two wheels.

One thing is clear, this highly considered jacket has been designed by cyclists.

Much like the gilet we reviewed, there is a pull down splash guard (I think they should have made this green though). Again, this uses magnets to hold it in place so opening and closing it is trivial.

There are plenty of pockets all over the jacket. Two gratifyingly deep pockets inside the jacket, some very handy pockets on the sleeves with zips and poppers that contain a caribiner for hooking you keys on, and some side pockets with flaps. There are no pockets on the back, but you really don’t need them, and again this makes the jacket look like a normal but stylish jacket.

Other features include reflective taping in subtle areas, a small reflective strap for hooking a light onto, slits in the back for extra breath-ability and of course – the much discussed Epic Cotton. Epic Cotton is basically cotton that has been coated in a microscopic silicon before weaving. Whilst this doesn’t make it waterproof, it is water resistant. It’s important to note that because the jacket is cotton, it is naturally breathable and therefore you don’t get soaked from the inside out like you do with most waterproof jackets!

All in all it’s very comfortable, even in light to moderate showers. Perfect for the British “summer”.

Conclusion

This is probably the most feature packed garment I’ve ever reviewed. It looks fantastic and performs extremely well. If you can afford one – buy one. 5/5

RRP is £195 and can be bought from Vulpine and Stolen Goat