Sugoi Roadstar review

Among the very best winter jerseys we’ve used, Sugoi’s Roadstar ticks all the boxes. It’s warm, wind-resistant, well-made, warm, pocket-equipped and warm.

Did we mention it’s warm? In fact, it was right on the ‘too warm’ borderline for most of the Sydney winter where we tested it and we found ourselves considering heading to the mountains to find appropriate conditions. Fortunately a cold snap hit and early morning temperatures hit low single figures. Just to be sure we tried it in the first cold snap of the British winter too. Yep, it’s still toasty.

The Roadstar was perfect, its FireWall windblock front fending off the chill and its light fleece lining comfortable against the skin – and it was plenty warm enough with just an undershirt as a bottom layer. The back is a more open-weave fleece that still keeps you warm but lets out some of the sweat

As well as the fabrics doing their job well, they’re constructed intelligently. The fit is roomy – Sugoi calls it ‘semi-fitted’ – so you can get an extra layer or too underneath. The neck is high to keep the breeze out and there’s a baffle behind the full-length zip. The waist is very lightly elasticated and a silicone gripper keeps it in place. Heavily elasticated waists just ride up – this one sits still and keeps your lower back covered.

Rounding out the package are decently long sleeves that provide plenty of overlap for your gloves and three rear pockets with the outer two angled slightly to ease entry by fumbling gloved fingers. On of our UK testers reckoned that some riders might find the semi-fitted cut more comfortable if combined with a base-layer, but it would need to be pretty cold for that.

Our only gripe is with the colour scheme. That swoosh is going to look horribly ‘2007’ in a couple of years time (as well as looking like a minor superhero costume right now) and this is a jersey you’ll want to get many years of use from.