Van Rysel Men's Winter Road Cycling Jacket Endurance review: warmth, comfort and great value for money

The Van Rysel Men’s Winter Road Cycling Jacket Endurance is arguably the best value deep-winter jacket you can buy today, priced at £69.99 / €80.

It costs around half as much as its nearest-priced competitor, and while it feels slightly patchwork and bulky in its construction, it does a great job of keeping you warm when it’s cold. It can even shrug off a decent rain shower.

It may be a little too relaxed for those seeking a racier fit, but if you want a protective barrier to the worst weather winter can offer, there’s lots to like here.

Van Rysel Men's Winter Road Cycling Jacket Endurance details and specifications

The Van Rysel Men's Winter Road Cycling Jacket Endurance continues the brand’s penchant for name-stuffing (after the Van Rysel Men's Long-Sleeved Road Cycling Rain Jacket Racer Ultralight), but it’s effectively the brand’s top deep-winter jacket.

It has three kinds of fleece on the inside – a square-textured fabric across the chest, shoulders and front of the arms, a midweight fleece on the back panel and the lower half of the front, and a thinner fabric on the sides.

This combination is claimed to offer warmer insulation where it’s needed most and more breathable insulation where you’re less exposed.

The outer softshell fabric sandwiches a waterproof membrane (albeit there are no claims on how waterproof it is), while the outer-face fabric has a DWR (durable water repellent) treatment to help water bead away.

The jacket is lavished with pockets – there are 10 in total:

• 2 waterproof zipped pockets on the chest panels
• 3 in the traditional place on the lower back
• 1 cargo pocket overlaid on top of these
• 2 zipped pockets outside of that
• 2 more on each flank

The rear features an extendable dropped tail for added coverage and the collar is double thickness to help prevent draughts getting in. The main zip is also waterproof, and has a draught excluder and zip garage.

There are reflective strips on the arms and the Van Rysel branding on the back is also reflective.

The waist hem is broad and elasticated, albeit it misses out on a gripper. The wrist cuffs are low-profile and intended to fit under winter gloves easily.

Overall, the cut is relatively relaxed but suitably slim – testing a size large, I found there was plenty of room inside. Given a size large is said to fit someone with a 98-104cm chest size (mine is around 99-100cm / 39in), some may be best served by sizing down.

The jacket is available in four colour variations and sizes S-2XL.

Van Rysel Men's Winter Road Cycling Jacket Endurance performance

This Van Rysel winter jacket represents great value for money, especially on cold and dry winter days.

At £69.99 / €80, it’s far cheaper than the rivals I tested it alongside, but performs better than the price tag would suggest.

The internal lining is thermal, but not as thick as something such as Gore’s Spinshift Thermo Jacket (£159.99 / $220 / €179.95). It’s warm on cold days, but thin enough to let excess heat escape and prevent you sweating excessively.

The outer fabric feels reasonably windproof and there’s no indication that any of the seams are poor (some might fear construction quality would be an issue in light of the low price tag).

I’ve also been impressed by the DWR treatment, which has continued to perform well in everything short of heavy downpours. On cheaper softshells (the likes of which you might find in a Lidl centre-aisle sale), these can get overwhelmed far more quickly than I’ve seen here.

The pockets add a significant amount of bulk and spare fabric to the construction, although they’re a boon if you like to carry lots with you on a ride, or don’t like carrying luggage on the bike.

I’m not sure whether 10 are necessary, though – once you’ve filled the rear pockets and the two front pockets, it can feel undesirably weighty and saggy.

This can help keep the tail pulled down, given it doesn’t have a gripper, although the elasticated tab does a reasonable job on its own.

That said, the front pockets and main zip have usefully long tabs, so locating them with thick gloves on isn’t a challenge – it's good for key and door pass stashing for commuters, especially.

I found the main zip could bunch quite a lot and this would make it harder to pull the zip up or down with one hand, but that’s the price to pay for the low-cut front.

The tail is dropped, while the extension is handy if you want extra coverage. I didn’t make a point of using it because I ride with mudguards, but if you don’t have any it’s handy to have the extra coverage.

It’s worth noting that if I didn’t use the tail and kept it poppered shut, I could feel it and the pocket seams against my lower back. It's a niggle you don't generally find in other jackets.

Van Rysel Men's Winter Road Cycling Jacket Endurance bottom line

While I think there are better-performing fabrics, and jackets with svelter designs, than the Van Rysel winter road cycling jacket, you have to pay significantly more to own them.

Does the Castelli Alpha Doppio ROS (£350 / $399.99 / €319.95) deliver five times the performance of the Van Rysel, for example? Absolutely not – in terms of value, this jacket makes a mockery of most of the market.

Of course, there are flaws – there are too many pockets and the fit won’t suit everyone, while the construction is sturdy rather than refined. But if bang for your buck is what you’re after, it’s hard to look past this Van Rysel outer layer.

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