Santini Adapt Shell - Short Sleeve Jacket + arm warmers

At the heart of the Santini Adapt Shell – Short Sleeve Jacket + arm warmers is an excellent short-sleeve jacket to rival the likes of the Castelli Gabba, but the arm warmers have a disappointing fit and the £230 price might put some riders off.

> Buy now: Santini Adapt Shell – Short Sleeve Jacket + arm warmers for €250 from Santini

Looking for a new top? Our best winter cycling jackets buyer's guide covers numerous top-notch tops from £60 to £300.

The Castelli Gabba has long been the go-to short-sleeve jersey for cyclists looking for the greatest protection from the elements during the shoulder seasons – and the Adapt from fellow Italian brand Santini looks to be setting its sights on the same market.

The main selling point of the Adapt Shell is its weather resistance, with the Polartec NeoShell fabric used throughout proving both windproof and waterproof. I wore this for some wet and windy winter rides and found it worked really well in both respects, keeping out everything that the British weather could throw at me.

Waterproofing is a claimed 10,000 mm, which I couldn't test as the road.cc science lab is currently being used to test the next phase of L-shaped cranks. However, I have no reason to believe this is inaccurate, as the waterproofing proved consistently impressive. This is further bolstered by taped seams, which also kept the elements firmly at bay, as did the waterproof full-length two-way zip.

It's not just the waterproofing either, as the windproofing proved equally impressive, with the material letting through no cold air whatsoever, thanks to the material combining with those taped seams and zip.

This is just as well, as there isn't much insulation to speak of beyond the material being slightly thicker than you'll find on other shells. But this level of wind protection means you can wear just a short-sleeve base layer underneath it to increase your comfort on colder days.

Despite being designed to keep out the wind and rain, the Adapt was also very breathable. I found I could comfortably wear this for climbing or other intense efforts without any accompanying boil-in-the-bag sensation. The zip's large ring pull helps here, allowing you to adjust it even when you're wearing full-finger gloves.

Santini refers to the fit of the jacket as 'slim', which isn't quite figure-hugging, and the material itself has a bit of give to adjust to your body shape.

The elasticated hem, long arms and high neck all help to keep out the wind and rain.

The jacket has three good-sized rear pockets, with a zipped rear pocket on the left.

These work well, though while the central pocket has a drainage hole, the others don't.

Santini rates this jacket's night-time visibility as 4/5, which is down to the large reflective patch on the front of the left shoulder and a large hi-vis logo down the left side of your rib cage.

This would work rather better in Italy – in the UK these are effectively facing away both from cars passing you from behind and those approaching you. They're not going to be entirely without effect, but they're less useful than if they'd been on the right.

The jacket is only available in black, which doesn't exactly help matters either.

The jacket also comes with a set of arm warmers that are made of the same material, but with what feels like a faux-leather material running down the elbows.

The arm warmers work well at keeping out the elements, but I think the material is all wrong, as they don't sit properly on your arms.

Value

The £230 price is expensive, though is comparable to others on the market.

The Castelli Gabba, which is the original short-sleeve jacket, actually comes in slightly less expensive than the Santini at £210 in its newest Rosso Corsa incarnation.

You can also pick up the Sportful Fiandre Pro Jacket, which has similar qualities in terms of weather protection and at £245 the price is pretty similar too. Stu rated it highly for its performance in rubbish weather.

Conclusion

I like the bones of this jacket, which sounds like a little odd to say about an item of clothing – but the basics of the jacket and the performance are excellent. Breathability, waterproofing and weatherproofing are all superb – and these are the things that you're looking for when you're buying a cycling jacket.

Some of the other things that are less successful don't prevent this from being a good jacket – reflectives on the wrong side don't mean you're invisible; the arm warmers aren't as well considered as the jacket; and the pockets' lack of drainage holes isn't going to drown you.

Overall, this is a fundamentally solid piece of cycling kit that did what I wanted it to when I needed it.

Verdict

A short-sleeve jacket that does the fundamentals so well you can look past its quirks