Castelli Velo Vest review

A windproof and water resistant gilet that could quite easily become a key addition to your kit, thanks to its lightweight and packable nature

Castelli Velo Vest Best Gilets

Castelli Velo Vest Best Gilets

Cycling Weekly Verdict

All in all, a great go-to gilet that will get you through cool damp days in the saddle or when you need an additional windproof layer. At £60, there are cheaper gilets on the market, but which such versatility and good performance - calculating the cost per wear over a season will make this seem like a bargain

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Versatile

  • +

    Water resistant

  • +

    Lightweight

  • +

    Packable

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Slightly long at the front

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Constructed using Castelli’s ForceField micro ripstop, the Velo Vest claims to also prevent that waterlogged feeling post-downpour.

Testing on a changeable day, it kept me feeling drier in the torso than a standard gilet along with doing a good job of keeping the chill off after a passing shower. The shoulders and back fit exceptionally well, thanks to the three-panelled design and stretchy mesh side panels, and the super-low tail does a great job at keeping road spray at bay.

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Hannah Bussey

Hannah is Cycling Weekly’s longest-serving tech writer, having started with the magazine back in 2011. She has covered all things technical for both print and digital over multiple seasons representing CW at spring Classics, and Grand Tours and all races in between.

Hannah was a successful road and track racer herself, competing in UCI races all over Europe as well as in China, Pakistan and New Zealand.

For fun, she's ridden LEJOG unaided, a lap of Majorca in a day, won a 24-hour mountain bike race and tackled famous mountain passes in the French Alps, Pyrenees, Dolomites and Himalayas. 

She lives just outside the Peak District National Park near Manchester UK with her partner, daughter and a small but beautifully formed bike collection.