Lusso Rivington Jacket Review

 

Rivington is Lusso’s range of performance range, inspired by cycling in the North West. Sheep House Lane, a famous climb in the Rivington area has featured in the Tour of Britain, was the crunch point in the Chorley GP and is part of the gruelling Ironman Bolton route.

The Rivington jacket is designed to bring race performance to training rides. It’s slightly heavier than a long sleeve jersey and features highly breathable and waterproof fabric from eVent, plus two front zipped vents to aid breathability.


It’s clever stuff, that eVent fabric. The critical difference between eVent technology and traditional waterproof/breathable fabrics is the billions of microscopic pores built in to the proprietary membrane that work instantly to vent water vapour (sweat) that builds up inside your jacket when you ride.

They call this Direct Venting™ technology, and unlike other technologies, it doesn't need to get wet to work. It’s a 'dry system' that allows eVent fabrics to be fully waterproof and fully breathable. Direct Venting™ technology is engineered to keep you in the ‘dry zone’ – a steady state of temperature and humidity that reduces the wild swings our bodies go through to stay in balance during physical exertion. The result is that you’ll spend more time performing at your best and less time fussing with your gear. And when conditions are bad, this can make all the difference.


I wore my Rivington on a 31 mile ride in February, a cloudy but dry afternoon, with the temperature of 3 degrees Celsius. I wore winter bib tights and a merino long sleeve base layer under the jacket and, as it is still lockdown and nothing is open, I rode straight through, only stopping for a few obligatory photos. I am pleased to report that I didn’t feel cold, BUT I didn’t feel too hot or sticky. Now, I do own another similar piece of kit, I won’t name the brand, which I get really clammy and hot in, especially when I put some effort in.

I love the three cargo pockets at the back, they are drainable (but as it wasn’t raining, I didn’t get the chance to test that feature…thank goodness). Three pockets are really useful: 1. Phone 2. Gels etc 3. Keys. The Rivington also features a zipped pocket at the back, which I used to store my Bluetooth remote for taking photos. Now, I must tell you about my favourite feature of this zipped pocket. The zip pull is bigger than normal zip pulls, and this is fantastic! I absolutely loved to be able to open the zipped pocket with my gloves still on, which is normally not possible as most brands make the pull tiny, so you can only get hold of it with bare fingertips. Well done, Lusso. It’s a superb feature, making life so much more comfortable, especially if it’s cold.


Another thing that I absolutely love is the longer tail at the back. Not only does it look stylish, but makes winter riding very comfy, protecting your back from the elements, like the wind of any water that splashes up from the road surface!

The fit of this jacket is excellent, comfortable and figure hugging with no baggy areas of fabric when you're riding. I ordered a size S and it fits me perfectly. It has longer sleeves, which is another great feature for someone like me. I am 178 cm tall (5 ft 10) and it’s nice to see that Lusso don’t assume that tall doesn’t necessarily mean broad. I could comfortably stretch my arms along the handlebars, without pulling on the rest of the jacket and making it ride up.

The last feature I would like to write about are the colours. I chose the Multi colour version of the Rivington and it really looks so much better in real life than it does on the website. The colours are vibrant and happy, but superbly coordinated. The sides of the jacket, which on the website look black, are actually a beautiful plum purple with small grey circles as a pattern running thoughout. This is only visible at a closer look, but gives the jacket a glistening appearance from the distance. The collar is soft and high up, which protected my neck from the wind, without suffocating me. Another great feature are the reflective stripes running along the seams at the back, which made me visible on the road.


To sum up, I loved riding in the Rivington. It was comfortable, stylish (looks great in photos) and very visible on the road due to its colours and reflective safely features, which made me feel safe. The weather gods must’ve loved it too, as, contrary to the forecast, even the sun came out and shone on me for my whole ride!

Key Features

·         Close aero fit

·         3 rear cargo pockets with drainage

·         4th waterproof essentials zipped pocket

·         Exterior storm flap YKK zip

·         2 front zipped vents

·         Water resistant and windproof eVent outer fabric

·         Reflective trim

·         Longer dropped tail

·         Breathability: 30,000 g/m2 (3x more than windtex)

·         Water Column: 10,000 mm

·         Air Permeability: 0.2 cfm

·         0ºc -14ºc

·         340g

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