The long, dark days of winter are nearly here, but don’t panic — HOY Vulpine has put the finishing touches to its new autumn/winter clothing range. It’s designed to be modular and adaptable, so road cyclists in more temperate climes can see out the next six months in style.
Perfect for road riding in Britain, then. Let's take a look at the highlights.
- Winter clothing for cycling
- Buyer's guide to layering up for winter cycling
- Buyer's guide to waterproof jackets for mountain biking
The HOY Vulpine autumn/winter range
The range focuses on lettering garments that can cope with changeable conditions: so there’s a lightweight long-sleeved Senko jersey (£110) for warmer autumn evenings, which can be paired with the packable Signal Gilet (£110) for extra warmth on chilly mornings.
Once the weather starts to get nastier, there’s the aptly named Fortress jersey (£140). It's made from a thicker weight of water resistant fabric and comes with arm warmers, and according to HOY Vulpine is designed for “fast riding in bad conditions”,
There’s also a thicker weight long-sleeved Roubaix jersey (£90), made from a soft, warm fleece for even colder temperatures, which can be paired with the thermal Roubaix bib tights (£125) and Randa softshell jacket (£140) for when the wind whips up.
The final piece of the puzzle is the Beacon waterproof jacket (£160), made from bright, high-vis and tough ripstop fabric, with lots of reflective detailing. It’s designed to protect the wearer from the worst of the British winter, and includes a large vent on the rear, plus a chest pocket for essentials.
Worrying levels of obsession
“A lot of autumn weather riding is about adaptability,” says Nick Hussey, founder of Vulpine. “It may be a cold start, warming up, with rain showers, wind, the lot. So we created further outfitting modules such as our gorgeous Fortress Jersey, which come with arm warmers as standard. This is also covered in reflectivity, in case the skies fall in. We thought about, discussed, tested and re-tested this to worrying levels of obsession.”
These new lines of clothing join existing garments, such as the very cosy looking merino baselayer (pictured above) and winter gloves and caps, in making winter just that little bit warmer.
The entire range was shot on location on the Col de la Bonette, in the French Alps — one of the highest mountain roads in Europe at 2,715m high, chosen by Vulpine as it can deliver some of the most challenging riding conditions found anywhere in Europe. We’ll be getting this clothing in for review soon, to report back on whether it can cope with your commute too.
International pricing was unavailable at the time of writing.