Madison’s new road range is blowing us away with its thought and value. Most of its clothing is designed with the help of the associated Madison-Genesis road racing team. The Madison Road Race Thermal Jacket is a go-to choice for the professionals on cold training rides, and we can see why.

The fit is great, quite slim but with plenty of give. The subtle black design definitely ticks the ‘pro’ box, although it doesn’t make many concessions to visibility. Some reflective panels are in attendance, but this certainly isn’t one for the fluro crowd.

The three pockets at the rear are easily accessible, and the bonus zipped storage was a welcome addition.

The softshell material does a great job of keeping your body heat in, but this isn’t the warmest jacket around, so a supplementary base layer was required any time the temperature dropped to around the five-ish degrees Celsius range.

On the plus side, the material is very manoeuverable, making it a great and comfortable jacket for all-day riding. We really liked the dogtooth pattern on the inside collar too, showing a little splash of style on what is generally quite a plain jacket.

We chose the Madison jacket for the ‘pro’ look and the comfortably snug fit, but if you’re in need of a jacket for the very coldest conditions, look elsewhere.

For more info visit the Madison website.