Dutch clothing brand Agu has certainly upped its game over recent years, with its partnership with Lotto Jumbo in the pro tour and an expanding range of well thought out clothing and great prices.
What caught our eye over here at the Taipei Show won’t arrive until the autumn, but we’re pretty excited to see how it shapes up. The new Deep Winter Essential jacket looks at first glance to be another warm padded winter jacket in the style of Rapha’s Transfer or Endura’s Pro SL Primaloft. But alongside its warm padding design it also features integrated heating on the chest and back.
This is all powered by a rechargeable battery unit with three heat settings, which are all controlled by the AGU logo/button on the chest. The jacket we were shown is a development piece but AGU is getting close to having the final version, with a few small mods to the reflective detailing and locking down the special battery pocket on the rear — at the moment it’s a simple pocket near the hem, which isn't ideal for riding, but fine for testing the concept we guess.
AGU tell us that there are three settings so you can regulate your temperature during a ride; use it for warming up pre-race or just so you don’t get a chill straight after a coffee stop.
The jacket uses its own stretch fabric that’s highly water-repellent and totally windproof on the front with a thermal stretch material on the back.
Detailing on this early version looks good, with three decent sized rear pockets, a full length waterproof lock-down zip on the front and plenty of subtle reflective print. We think this one has plenty of potential to be a go-to jacket for the coldest days on the bike and have already got our order in to get one on test come winter.
The Deep Winter Essential jacket is confirmed to be priced at £169.99 including the battery pack — as comparison, Rapha’s Transfer costs £190 / £295 / AU$310 and Endura’s Pro SL Primaloft £130 / $195.
