Sportful Total Comfort Jacket review: top-class winter protection – if it fits you

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The Sportful Total Comfort Jacket will help you shrug off the coldest winter conditions, with a good deal of water resistance thrown in for good measure.

The excellent Polartec Alpha insulating lining features across almost all of the jacket, including the arms, although this means the inner stitching is oddly noticeable.

It’s also expensive at £250 / $299 / €269.90, although those are the only two objective issues I can level at it. Aside from this, it’s an excellent deep-winter jacket.

Sportful Total Comfort Jacket details and specifications

The Sportful Total Comfort Jacket features a Polartec Neoshell outer fabric and the brand’s fluffy Alpha insulation.

Both are well regarded – the former has a 10,000mm water column rating (competent even for a dedicated waterproof jacket), while the latter is the brand’s top-level insulating fabric.

The Alpha insulation spreads down the arms to the cuffs and covers the back of the jacket (except the pockets) for maximum insulation.

This might be contributing to the tall cost – after all, fabrics bought in from the likes of Polartec, Gore and Pertex will usually cost a brand more than sourcing them from lower-profile parties.

The jacket has a tapered collar with a soft fabric lining, while the wrist cuffs are slim-cut – the outer fabric used here doubles back on itself to form the cuff.

There’s no zip garage, but the zip is backed by a draught-excluding strip.

Three main pockets provide storage for your pump and snacks, and a zipped pocket features on the left flank.

The cut is slim, although there are many tighter-fitting jackets out there. That said, it sizes a little smaller than normal T-shirt sizing – I tested a size XL although an L should have fitted my chest perfectly (99-100cm / 39in).

Happily, Sportful offers six sizes (S-3XL), so finding the right size could be a case of buying two and returning the ill-fitting one – something important in the UK now it’s sold direct-to-consumer. There are also three colours: black, 'teal blue' as tested and 'tango red'.

Sportful Total Comfort Jacket performance

The Sportful Total Comfort Jacket is a very good all-round winter jacket.

The fabrics perform as well as their technical claims might suggest – while shy of the best waterproof jackets, the Sportful jacket is impressively waterproof and can easily withstand a heavy rain shower.

Inside, the insulating lining is very effective without adding excess weight to the jacket – it feels light for its overall bulk.

This also helps it breathe well in the dry. My previous experience of jackets employing Polartec Alpha insulation with a technical membrane fabric on the outside has all been positive and that continues here.

That said, the forearms are made of a different outer material, necessitating the use of separate pieces of Alpha lining underneath, which need to be stitched to the lining used on the rest of the arm.

These stitches are quite broad – equally broad as those at the shoulders and down the sides, in fairness, but far more noticeable given they aren’t found at a joint or tucked away.

I was left with the enduring sensation that the sleeve lining had somehow rolled up inside, even though it physically can’t have because it’s stitched down.

That said, the sleeves and cuffs are well tapered and tuck neatly under winter gloves, and the collar is well shaped – I could zip the jacket all the way up without my reasonably broad neck feeling constricted.

The zip is easy to work using one hand thanks to its chunky construction, and although (as a right-hander) I’d have preferred the zip pocket to be situated on the right flank, this is a very minor niggle (not one lefties will struggle with, either).

Overall, the jacket is expensive, but its performance justifies the price tag – especially when jackets such as the Castelli Alpha Doppio ROS (£350 / $399.99 / €319.95) exist. The Assos Mille GT Hashoogi Winter Jacket S11 (£265 / $335 / €300) and Santini Vega+ (£250 / $299 / €269.90) are similarly priced alternatives, albeit both feel a little more figure-hugging in cut.

Sportful Total Comfort Jacket bottom line

The Sportful Total Comfort Jacket is a great outer layer for winter riding.

It’s warm, breathable, decently water resistant (using already highly regarded fabrics) and well cut. However, it sizes smaller than advertised – I had to test one size larger than Sportful suggests.

The sleeve-lining stitching is an issue that impacts on comfort slightly, although you may not be bothered by this.

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