review of Foxwear Evap Lite jacket

This is a review of a 'custom' jacket made by Fox wear. They are a small company that makes outdoor clothing pretty much one at a time. I heard about them off the icebike web page. If you ever want to read up on crazies who ride their bike in ANY weather, go there, lots of good reviews, and if they like it you know it will probably work for where and when you ride.

I'm a pretty fair weather rider, but wanted to get a warmer jacket for commuting more. Turns out I got the jacket then stopped commuting as much! Anyway, I've got a real short torso so almost all the men's jackets I've tried were way to long and ended up bunching up at the stomach when in riding position. I even tried some women's jackets but they did the same.
Called Foxwear up and talked to them. REALLLY nice people there. He sent me set of color and material swatches to look at and check out for wind/water resistance. He makes jackets with some of that brand new soft shell materials. Like Powershield, which is what those hip outdoor companies are making some jackets costing over $400. It is 98% windproof and breathes a little. Fabrics

He suggested trying to blow through the fabrics and holding them under water, etc. There aren't a whole lot of choices in color for the power shield, but his powder stretch and his regular windproof fleece comes in lots of colors.

I was looking at the Evap Lite jacket that seems really well suited to cycling. It has large under arm panels of venting material as well as the entire back. The arms/front can be any choice of fabric. From lightweight windproof to medium or heavy windproof or the new power-shield. I decided on power shield on front and lightweight power stretch under the arms and back. Cost was like $69 or $79 which is comparable to what you might find a decent jacket on closeout for. Take a look at what retail is on an Assos or high end PI jacket.

I sent my measurements but don't think he really looked at them, he seemed to know what I needed by talking on the phone. He made the jacket and mailed it WITHOUT any $. He said to send a check after I tried it out and was happy with it otherwise send it back.

It arrived in a week I think. Fit was good. Not too long, in fact because of the stretchiness in the back it rode up a little. But so much better than other jackets I've tried.

***Note the white marks are snot***



-construction seemed good, though you can tell that a human with a sewing machine made it and not a robot

-fit was excellent for my body, not long didn't bunch up. The rear was stretchy material and rides up a little though

-zipper works with one hand. Unlike every other jacket/vest I've got where the zipper hangs up and requires two ungloved hands to open. This nice for zipping and unzipping to help control ventilation.

-Works well when temps are 40 or less. Any warmer and it is too warm

-Only time it gets a little chilly is on long extended downhills. The under arm panels let in good ventilation, and if I'm not pedaling on a long downhill I get a little chilly.

-It does not roll up very well, so it won't just stow into a jersey pocket. Either has to be tied around waist or put up in to camel back. The powershield material is much thicker than thinner material laminates.

-It is NOT water proof. You will get soaked if it pours. But it is water resistant so light sprinkles just bead up.

-Feels very nice next to skin. Not like that clammy laminate goretex feel.

-There are no reflective strips or panels on it, and the colors are not exactly bright, so be aware or choose brighter colors.

-It keeps me pretty toasty on road rides, and more often than not it is too warm. Depending on how I layer it could easily go down to the 20's or lower, but for me my hands/feet are more of a problem. I don't usually take it mountain biking, cause I don't want to rip it, and the short grunts around here and being in the trees doesn't seem to require such a warm jacket.

-All in all, a nice option for jackets at a price that is pretty reasonable for such technical material. Comparable jackets from big names would be minumum $200 or more.