Jackets

Ale Wind Nordik Winter Jacket – review

Excellent outer layer, offering an ideal blend of breathability and weatherproof protection for the coldest conditions

The Ale Wind Nordik Winter Jacket is a versatile outer layer, with simple looks that hide its functional capabilities. The Nordik is an excellent cold weather jacket, offering a great blend of breathability and protection against the elements.

Built from a stretchy, fleece-lined windproof fabric, the jacket offers excellent warmth, while key fit features enhance the cold weather protection. The neck, for example, is particularly high, with an extended cuff protecting against the wind.

While out riding, I found I was warm and well-protected for around 2-3 hours of medium-paced effort; even at lower intensity the jacket had enough to keep me comfortable.

Ale’s Nordik winter jacket does an excellent job keeping you warm on the bike (Pic: Jim Clarkson/Factory Media)

In fact, the jacket is surprisingly warm, and key to that is the micro-fleece interior totally windproof exterior. It’s perfect on cold, dry days and, in fact, only the most steady and prolonged showers saw water breach its defences and seep through. Hitting it with sudden puddle sprays or a quick downpour just makes water bead and run off.

Specification
Price: £220
Sizes: M-XXL
Sizes tested: M
Colours: Black-green-fluo; black-metal-grey; black-yellow-fluo; black-blue; black-red
Website: Ale Cycling

With the fit of the jacket being close it minimises any areas of loose material – keeping warmth in and also reducing pockets of moisture build-up.

To help with this, the underarms feature small holes that allow rapid transit of moisture.

The fit, for me, was good and true to the medium size I tested; the arms were long enough with good glove and cuff overlap.

Additionally, the dropped hem was great on the bike, providing the extra coverage required, and a thermo-taped silicone waist hem kept everything well placed when the pockets were loaded.

Talking of pockets, there are three good-sized rear pockets, and an additional, waterproof, zippered pocket on top of the central rear pocket. The waterproof lining is essential, as the pocket is directly in line with tyre spray if you don’t use mudguards.

The pockets are elasticated at the top, and there is a headphone port from the waterproof pocket if required. However, this could be a potential leakage point in heavy rain.

Other features include a full-length zip, which allowed faster cooling on higher-intensity rides, and large and effective reflective graphics on both the front and rear – a nice touch on a predominantly black jacket. The version I tested featured additional fluoro elements, too.

Extended cuffs and a high neck work well to keep the warmth in (Pic: Jim Clarkson/Factory Media)

Conclusion

The Ale Nordik Jacket is an excellent outer layer, which worked well in the coldest conditions I’ve ridden in this winter. One of my rides was at -2 degrees, and with a long sleeve base layer I felt plenty warm enough. Of course, that’s dependent on your effort level and tolerance, but the windproofing and thermal fleece are very effective at keeping warmth in – which is only enhanced by the long cuffs and high neck.