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Alpha Jacket: Superb winter jacket

The Alpha brings innovation to winter jackets, and plenty of style. Stretchy Windstopper 150 fabric creates the windproof, water resistant shell but, rather than a conventional softshell material, Castelli has detached the insulation, and only added it where necessary. The back has a mesh panel and ventilation flap and most of the sleeves have a warm waffle pattern fabric, as does the zip-up waistcoat that insulates the chest. It’s fixed at both sides, but if you overheat, the Alpha allows you to open the main zip to expel moisture without chilling your core. All the insulation moves independently of the shell, giving great freedom, and Castelli’s raw edge cuffs and waistband seal perfectly, lying totally flat for excellent glove-like fit and no draughts. Even the articulated collar is super snug. Practicalities are taken care of by three drop pockets and two zipped, one rear and one on the waist. This article was originally published on BikeRadar and in Cycling Plus magazine. Sweet, take me to the Alpha products, click here >>

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Free Jacket, excellent for keeping you warm in cold weather

The Gabba might have grabbed the headlines over the past few years, but Castelli have an impressive range of other jackets to cater for every meteorological scenario. The Castelli Free jacket is designed  to keep the cold out on dry, winter days, and does a good job with a garment that is close-fitting in all the right areas to keep the wind at bay. The Castelli Free jacket is an impressive piece of kit that will keep you warm on all but the coldest of days. At MSRP €189,95 (£175) the Castelli Free jacket sits bang in the middle of the Italian brand’s range of windproof jackets and is designed for temperatures of between zero and 10ºC. In reality though,  you can extend this range depending on what other pieces of clothing you choose to pair it with. The main body of the jacket is made from Gore Windstopper X-Fast 2 fabric, which, as the name suggests, does an excellent job of stopping the wind. What’s more the inside is light fleece material, meaning that we were comfortable riding in temperatures up to 15ºC with only a base layer underneath. But the highlights of the Castelli Free jacket are in the ...

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