Rapha Pro Team Softshell Jacket

At home in the mud and muck of winter. Photo courtesy Rapha​

High-end apparel maker Rapha has just released a new - and reportedly improved - take on its popular cold-weather softshell jacket. Dubbed the Pro Team Softshell Jacket ($295), the new top traces lineage to Rapha's racing roots.

In the final stages of a 14-month product-testing cycle, Rapha developers traveled to Iceland with former Rapha-Condor pro team rider Jimmy McCallum to dial in the final details of a jacket that went through six fabrics, countless tailoring revisions, and hundreds of hours of on-bike testing.

The final version uses a fabric comprised of three layers: a performance fabric 'face' and back, divided by a polyurethane membrane. The end result is what Rapha claims is its most advanced and versatile outer layer. The made-in-Portugal piece comes in sizes from XS to XXL in grey or red. Construction is 70 percent polyamide, 16 percent PU, and 14 percent Elastane, while the collar facing is 100 percent polyester.

Rapha Pro Team Softshell Jacket

Features include laser-cut micro-holes designed to improve temperature regulation. Photo courtesy Rapha​

Features include laser-cut micro-holes designed to improve temperature regulation, but are positioned under the sleeve to protect them from rain and road spray. Seams are taped internally and externally to resist rain and road spray, and to overcome the limitations inherent in printed DWR treatments, Rapha's development team worked with a Swiss textile specialist to develop a 'DWR bath', a technique that infuses the fabric with the treatment, instead of just coating it.

The cut and tailoring are designed so that the fabric works best in close contact with the skin, where a tight fit prevents the watt-sapping ballooning and bunching of material. The jacket's warmth can be tailored to the conditions through a rider's choice of base layer, from a light and breathable to an insulating and protective.

More info at rapha.cc