Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
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RaceFace Aquanot Jacket Winter 2003
Being in the market for a proper waterproof breathable jacket to replace my aging Fox ‘Cagoule’ type jacket meant entering expensive jacket territory. I drew up a shortlist including the Gill Freedom, the Altura Nevis and the Raceface Aquanot and passed it on to the girlfriend to hawk around friends and family for an idea for a Christmas present. Not an ideal way to choose your new waterproof, arguably the most important piece of ride clothing you can buy, but it was the only way I could afford one.
As luck would have it, it seems their choice of the Aquanot was a success as six months down the line, and some pretty hard testing later, it seems to be holding up very well. Made of a high performance, breathable but lightweight material, it is as comfortable as it is waterproof. The jacket certainly feels quite substantial, as it should for the high price tag (£109) but still very supple and well proportioned for ease of movement on those long winter rides.
The addition of more zipped pockets and vents than on a 80’s Goth Rocker’s Sunday Best means that there is plenty of room for bits of kit like cameras and energy bars plus the bonus of industry leading 21cm under-arm vents – but be sure to have them zipped tight shut in wet weather as water will seep in if they are even slightly open. The two best features of this jacket compared to my previous one though, are the fleeced turn-up collar that stays turned-up and the big Velcro shut sleeves that mean you can get the jacket on and off without having to remove your winter gloves.
As I said above, the jacket has had some hard testing including one very bad crash just two days after I got it. A crash that cracked my helmet clean in two and the jacket was unmarked, even though I took much of the impact on my arm and shoulder. A testament to the rip-stop fabric on this model perhaps?
Saying that, the jacket does have some flaws. The jacket often feels damp on the inside even when it isn’t, I assume due to an amount of trapped moisture or the way the material conducts the ambient temperature though to the wearer, but it initially caused me to think it wasn’t actually waterproof. Additionally, the drop back style means that I sometimes hook the bottom of the jacket on my saddle when dismounting, although pulling the drawstrings tighter if you wished could alleviate this.
Overall I think it is a great jacket, it is warm, comfortable and hardwearing and it has held up to many washes whilst retaining its waterproof qualities. But that slightly clammy feeling is a definite negative that stops me from giving it a higher score.
Looks/styling :: 9/10
Design features/materials :: 9/10
Performance :: 7/10
Value :: 8/10
Fany fact
If you are in pain after a big crash, that is good, it means you are still alive.