Sportful Giara Packable Jacket

The Giara Packable sits in Sportful’s gravel range (Giara is Italian for gravel) and the brand has designed it for bikepacking adventures.

The price of £170 / $180 / €170 is lofty, but you get plenty of spec for your outlay, including plenty of pockets, a soft neck inner, slick cuffs and a dropped rear tail.

That ‘Metal Bronze’ material will ensure you’re seen on the roads, but there's a major flaw lurking in the construction.

Sportful Giara Packable specifications and details

It’s disco time with the Sportful Giara Packable jacket – a shiny ‘metal bronze’ number that wouldn’t look out of place on one of Kylie Minogue’s backing dancers.

While eye-catching on the roads, that loud design wasn’t a fit for my more subdued tastes (I’d opt for the black colourway). A women’s option is also available.

The Giara’s £170 price tag is high, but you get a long spec list for a windproof jacket.

There are three rear pockets, a zipped chest pocket, soft and silky cuffs that aid comfort and prevent wind intrusion up the sleeves, and a soft fabric inner around the neck.

You also get a full-length zipper garage to stop chafing while thwarting the wind and rain from sneaking in, and the dropped rear tail is designed to deflect road spray.

Sportful Giara Packable performance

And how does the water-resistant membrane fare in the rain? It beads water efficiently in light showers, but anything heavier and more prolonged will seep in slowly.

Despite the lack of ventilation channels or mesh areas, the Giara’s Italian-made 80 per cent polyester and 20 per cent elastane fabric offers impressive breathability.

The elastane content also has plenty of stretch, making this one of the least restrictive windproofs I’ve tried.

However, don’t make the mistake I did and pack it into the chest pocket, because it’s incredibly hard to get it back out due to the zipper being on the inside.

Happily, it condenses neatly into any of the three rear pockets and its 124g weight (size small) is one of the leanest around.

Sticking with the pockets leads me to the Giara’s fatal flaw.

When I stuffed them with snacks or reached into them at speed, I found the top hem of the pockets could rip away from the main fabric, leaving a gaping set of holes on the rear. I fear this will only get larger the more I use the Giara Packable windproof.

I spoke to Sportful’s UK distributor, Saddleback, about the issue and a representative said they hadn’t encountered any issues with the jacket elsewhere – and that the ripped fabric would be covered under the warranty replacement policy.

A replacement was sent swiftly and the fault hasn’t happened again, but I still have major durability worries with the rear construction and delicate materials of the Giara Packable.

Of course, it’s possible I was unlucky with my initial sample, but the durability issues here arguably make it more disappointing that the Giara Packable sits in Sportful’s gravel range, and that the brand targets it for bikepacking adventures.

I’d certainly be wary of riding near any thorns and beastly branches in something so delicate (and costly) and would stay well clear of using it underneath a hydration backpack.

Sportful Giara Packable bottom line

With quality cuffs and a soft collar, windproofing qualities and an array of pockets, this lightweight cycling jacket has much going for it.

And yet the gravel billing for something that’s proven so delicate (yet pricey) is a surprise, and there remain major durability concerns over the rear pocket composition.