Patagonia Nano-Air Jacket review

Patagonia’s Nano-Air Jacket is a good option for riders who prefer to layer up in the cold.

It’s an excellent mid-layer, worn under an outer shell in sub-zero conditions, thanks to a combination of stretchy insulation and the soft microtexture fabric.

The Nano-Air enables exceptional freedom of movement on the bike, but the price is high and it'll suffer in colder temperatures when worn on its own.

Patagonia Nano-Air Jacket details and specifications

The Nano-Air jacket features two hidden, easy-to-access, zippered hand warmer pockets and a left chest pocket that doubles as a stuff sack.

The ‘relaxed’ style has a close fit, finished with an elasticated dropped hem and low-profile cuffs with stretch knit to enable you to pull the sleeves up.

The central front zipper has a small garage at the chin. When fully zipped, the insulated collar fits closely around the neck.

The PFC-free DWR coating is claimed to shed snow and light precipitation. A 60g layer of FullRange insulation, exclusive to Patagonia and the Nano-Air range, is designed to give ‘outstanding mechanical stretch’.

Patagonia Nano-Air Jacket performance

The ‘microtexture’ lining and facing fabrics give the jacket a super-soft, tactile quality, which is enhanced by an ergonomic pattern of construction.

It’s stitched using ‘closed seams’, which are by nature softer and more flexible than the thicker ‘bound’ or ‘overlocked’ seams found on softshell and single-layer cycling jackets.

Riding is therefore unrestricted, making it a great choice for teaming with a hardshell. This is where the Nano-Air excels.

Worn alone over a baselayer in temperatures of 0 to 3°C, I warmed up quickly on climbs without overheating.

However, once reaching speeds of 15kmph and above, the through-flow of cold air left me uncomfortably cold at the bottom of trails.

Layering with Patagonia’s wind-resistant Dirt Roamer Jacket solved this issue and, with the added bonus of being water resistant, proved a good choice to pair with the Nano-Air.

Layering up also meant I was comfortable in much lower temperatures.

Considering the excellent wind protection of the other jackets in close competition with the Nano-Air, this could be viewed as an inconvenience.

However, when the mercury drops into minus figures, as it did during testing, you will have to call on a good layering system to get the most from the Nano-Air.

Patagonia Nano-Air Jacket bottom line

Patagonia’s Nano-Air Jacket uses a high-quality selection of fabrics and tailoring, giving it the versatility to be worn across multiple sports and general day-to-day use.

Breathability is outstanding and takes priority over wind resistance, making wearing an additional windproof shell for mountain biking a necessity when travelling at speed in the cold.