'SHIELD' Extreme Weather Winter Jacket #shield

The good people at Hogwarts, sorry Spatz, have done it again by producing this ‘magic’ jacket which almost seems too insignificant to produce the thermal, wind and rain proof qualities that the jacket exhibits. BUT it does! To be honest, it’s really cast a spell on me!

The cut is very clever with the short at the front, perfect on the bike, and longer at the back cut to catch the spray. As you’d expect from Spatz, clearly a lot of thought has gone into the design.

I wore the jacket on a ride more suited to the HEATR2 (not wet and horrible enough for the Shield!) and I swear the fabric was actually offended and I could hear it chuckling away as I rode my favourite 30 miler. Tbf, it’s possible that was just the end of my fever after a dose of ‘man flu’ (I’d been hitting the *Lemsip hard!), but I wouldn’t put it past the good people at Hogwarts, sorry Spatz, to incorporate mischievous demons into the fabric.

I went for the stealthy black. Just makes you want to get out and ride!

I’m 173cm tall, 70kg’s, chest 93cm and the size small is perfect with a base layer, or two underneath.

Recommend this jacket.

As an aside, having bought loads of Spatz gear so far this year, I’ve contacted James at Spatzwear twice and the customer interaction is first rate. There was a small issue with one of my orders and I was really pleased with the way and the spied the issue was resolved. Top marks!

Keep up the good work Spatz!

*other cold remedies are available.

The first duty of any winter cycling garment is to keep you warm and dry. The second duty (in my opinion) is to keep you seen and safe. The Shield passes both tests. Pushed hard and long enough in adverse conditions all garments fail eventually but I suspect the Shield would take longer than most to get there. I gave this jacket three rides before committing to writing a review. I picked the right week I think. Took delivery Tuesday. -4 Wednesday. -6 Thursday (down the Chevin) +1/2 Saturday. First ride I decided to just wear the Shield with my Spatz winter base. It was ok at -3/4 but not super toasty. Second ride I learnt the Spatz layering lesson and wore the Burnr gilet on top of the base under the jacket in -6 temps and was very warm indeed. Third ride was toasty with just the jacket down to 1 degree. Others will be fine in all temps with just a base layer, but I’m in my 60s and feel the cold more than most. I felt very safe in the Shield. I’ve got the orange version and it’s super bright. I feel “seen” from 100s of meters away and that’s important. I got a large (6ft 1 and 73kgs) and would probably got away with a medium but that’s ok. The jackets fits great in the body even if the arms are a little long. I love that all the pockets are accessible with gloves on and the high collar is welcome indeed. Another winner from Spatz.

Superb jacket. Below zero temps? No problem. Rain? No problem. High effort ride? Keeps you dry. Excellent deign and quality which supports the price. Certainly supplants other high performance jackets in the priority list. Great pocket provision and the deep dropped tail makes a difference. Hi viz orange is handy in the poor light and reflective panels helpful in the dark.

It’s awesome, end of review 👌🏻

No seriously I cannot recommend the Shield jacket enough. Forget about the price if you want to stay warm and dry in the winter.

I got the orange version for visibility, and I’m so glad I did as the first ride was over 3hrs in heavy rain, so I was easy to spot by drivers. The jacket performed perfectly in the rain, and cold 15mph wind. I stayed dry, and warm without overheating or sweating, something most other winter jackets fail with.

With the temperature being between feels like -2 and 0, I paired the Shield with the new Basez Extreme winter base layer, and the new Bibz winter tights with their awesome built in gilet. The 3 layers were perfect together, keeping my nice and warm when others were cold. The fit was perfect with no flapping around in the wind.

It’s great to see Spatz have thought about storage with plenty of pockets for food and gear, a zip pocket for money and key, and best of all a breast pocket which I used for my next gel or bar. The drop rear flap was a god send keeping my butt dry from the road spray.

The best jacket in my arsenal bar non, over taking several Assos jackets as my favourite 🤩

This jacket is just fantastic every thing about it just makes sense drop tail chest pocket