Troy Lee Designs Crestline jacket review

The Crestline jacket from Troy Lee Designs is aimed at mountain bikers looking to stay warm on the bike during the colder months of the year.

There’s a decent amount of PrimaLoft Gold insulation to keep you snug, a number of handy pockets and a cut that's tailored in all the right places but still baggy enough to look casual.

On chilly rides, the Crestline does as advertised and helps keep the cold out. It isn’t cheap, though and some kind of additional venting would help to dump heat quickly when you work up a sweat.

Troy Lee Designs Crestline jacket details and specifications

The Crestline is made from a polyester micro ripstop fabric, which should help prevent any snags or tears from spreading too wide.

Taking care of keeping you warm is the PrimaLoft Gold insulation, which features just about everywhere.

The only place it isn’t present are the two strip panels (around 100mm wide) that run down either side of the body.

A high collar with a micro-fleece lining is designed to fit close to the neck, keeping cold draughts out. Similarly, the elastic cuffs help to maintain a tighter fit (as well as ensuring you don’t look like a wizard).

There’s a dropped hem at the rear to offer a bit more coverage over your lower back, though no drawcord to cinch it in.

Troy Lee Designs (TLD) has included two zipped hand pockets at the front of the jacket, while the rear features a pocket that spans the jacket’s entire width.

This long, uninterrupted pocket has a zip at either side to aid access while on the move. There’s also a water-resistant coating, which is handy.

Troy Lee Designs Crestline jacket performance

My size-small jacket fitted true to size. There’s decent length through the torso and arms, and at no point on or off the bike did I feel my top half wasn’t covered up properly.

While it’s not as tight as some jackets, it’s still a close enough fit to ensure it’s not flapping about while you ride.

There is, however, sufficient room underneath to layer up on really cold days, meaning it’s baggy enough to wear off the bike if you want to use it for double duties.

On the bike, when sat down and climbing, my lower back remained well covered and I didn’t once miss having a drawcord around the hem.

The fit felt good enough that the Crestline just seemed to stay where it needed to be.

On blustery days, I really appreciated the high, close-fitting collar. Zip the jacket up fully and it does a great job of keeping cold draughts from coming in through the neck.

The fact it’s fleece-lined is a nice bonus and adds to that warm feeling you crave when out in the elements on a cold day.

When the temperature drops, paired with a baselayer and MTB jersey, the Crestline blocks wind out well, even when descending open stretches of hillside at speed.

Get working hard on the uphills and you’ll be surprised just how much effort you can put in before you start getting overly warm.

I even wore it out running on a number of occasions because it doesn’t feel as stifling as some waterproof jackets can.

However, unless you’re riding in close to freezing temperatures, you will get warm eventually. At this point, the only real way to dump heat is to unzip the Crestline partially or completely.

While I’m not necessarily convinced by costly and sometimes unsightly additional vents being added on, I wouldn’t say no to the inclusion of a two-way main zip.

It feels like a reasonable request on a jacket that costs this much.

This might sound like an unnecessary addition, but they’re popular on road cycling jackets for a reason. Unzipping from the bottom of the jacket up lets you ditch heat and helps keep the jacket securely tethered around your neck and over your shoulders. It shouldn’t add much to the cost, either.

The main zip could also do with a longer zip pull, as featured on all four pockets. This would make it a little easier to find and use with winter gloves on.

The water-resistant coating will help keep the odd shower and puddle splash away from the kit underneath, but don’t expect the Crestline to keep you dry during a downpour. On that note, it dries quickly, which is handy.

Finally, if you do need to whip it off during a ride, it can be balled up (to about the size of a honeydew melon) and stashed in a pack without it weighing you down too much.

Troy Lee Designs Crestline jacket bottom line

The Crestline jacket from TLD is a great addition to the kit bag for combatting cold-weather rides.

It’s not cheap, but it works well on and off the bike. Yes, you will get sweaty on milder days when working hard, but it’s less stifling than a number of similar jackets I’ve tried.