Castelli Perfetto Light review

Following the success of the Gabba, Castelli has expanded the range with the Perfetto, meaning 'perfect' in Italian. The Castelli Perfetto comes in a long-sleeve and a convertible guise in addition to the Light version we have here. So what is the Castelli Perfetto Light and how is it different from a Castelli Gabba?

The Perfetto Light is a slightly thinner, lighter version of the Gabba, made from a lighter-gauge Windstopper fabric. To be specific, the Gabba uses Windstopper X-Lite Plus fabric while for the Perfetto Light it's Windstopper 150 , which is about 25 per cent lighter and stretches slightly differently.

Despite the fabric change, the Castelli Perfetto still retains the slim race fit of the Gabba and it is also designed for mixed weather, but being lighter it is designed to perform best in a slightly warmer temperature range than the Gabba.

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Recently we have seen other products similar to this and would compare the Castelli Perfetto to the Rapha Shadow jersey and Gore Power jersey.

In use we found the Castelli Perfetto fitted pretty well across the chest and arms. However, I did find the dropped tail had a tendency to ride up in the size medium I tested.

Like the Gabba it is water resistant, but for for prolonged rain you will want a dedicated rain jacket. The durable water resistant coating appears to be the same as the Gabba's too, and has worn off with washes over a period of time. It can be reinvigorated with special products, though. Although more expensive, the Rapha Shadow is slightly better in this respect.

The back of the Castelli Perfetto features a nano light fabric, which is thinner and designed to offer greater breathability and ventilation. This works well and you certainly get less warm than in the Gabba when doing hard efforts or riding long climbs. The pockets are a good size and easily accessible.