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If you’re heading out early doors for a long ride at the weekend when the temperature is going to rise later in the day, then a packable gilet is an essential piece of kit, and the dhb Classic Windproof gilet ticks all the boxes for such a piece of kit.
As you’d hope from it’s name, the front of the dhb Classic Windproof gilet is made from a highly windproof material that does a great job of keeping the cold of your chest on chilly mornings and evenings. This is complemented by the strip of fabric located behind the zip that stops any cold winds from penetrating through there.
Round the back, and you get a very different fabric that is perforated with holes, which means that it is very hard to find yourself overheating in this gilet, so you won’t get cold from the wind hitting your front, but you won’t get too hot if you’re climbing or putting in hard efforts, with heat escaping out of the back of the gilet.
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But perhaps the most impressive things about the dhb Classic Windproof gilet are its packability and weight. Take it off when the temperature starts to heat up, and it stuffs down more than small enough to fit into a rear jersey pocket, and once it’s in there you won’t notice its weight pulling down at your jersey as it hits the scales at just 105g.
However, the dhb Classic Windproof gilet certainly isn’t a race gilet. The sizing is generous so that I found that, unlike size mediums in dhb’s Professional ASV range, the medium version of this gilet flapped quite a bit in the wind. Not to the point that I ever found it annoying, but if you’ve shelled out your hard-earned cash for other aero kit, then you might not want this flapping gilet undermining it.
I also wasn’t sure of the need to give the dhb Classic Windproof gilet two rather large rear pockets. This is a piece of clothing that is meant to be worn for an hour or two then taken off and put in a jersey pocket, so you don’t want to have to remove stuff from the gilet pockets when you take it off. For me, they feel surplus to requirements, and perhaps taking them away could make the packability even better.
Given the price though, I’m willing to forgive dhb for these sins. £35 seems like a very reasonable price to pay for a piece of clothing that will see quite a bit of use through spring, autumn, and probably summer too.
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Henry Robertshaw began his time at Cycling Weekly working with the tech team, writing reviews, buying guides and appearing in videos advising on how to dress for the seasons. He later moved over to the news team, where his work focused on the professional peloton as well as legislation and provision for cycling. He's since moved his career in a new direction, with a role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
