www.rapha.cc
A utopia mix of form, fit, and function, the Rapha Windproof shirt is ideally suited to the urban cyclist who wants a high-tech medium-weight shell that doesn’t cast the impression that his life is only about biking. The smooth-to-the-touch stretchy poly has been treated with DWR to fend off light bursts of rain, and remains 100 percent impervious to bone-chilling gusts and squalls, ideal for fall and spring morning or evening rides, and suitable as a mid-layer for when the mercury dips into the lower double-digits. On a long trail ride in the mid 50s the shirt,provided the perfect degree of warmth and wind protection when paired with a thin merino layer.

But the little details are where the shirt really shines. We love the fashion-forward tailoring, with the button-down collar, zip and button central closures, and longer sleeves and a drop tail for ample coverage while pedaling. Other cycle-friendly details include wide, glove-friendly loop grabs to access the chest pocket, central zipper, and the small back-right pocket. The front buttons aren’t as glove friendly, however, and the batch of reflective fabric running parallel to the zipper on the back pocket could be a touch too cycle-geek-obvious to casual eye.

Inside you find loving elements like an upper liner decorated with a sly chain link print and pink piping at the collar seam for a pop of color. But perhaps nothing speaks the forward-thinking aesthetic of the shirt (and British-based boutique cycling brand Rapha) than the graphic on the left inner flap: a black-and-white illustration of a heart, with TNT stenciled across it. Below the drawing, a quote worth reprinting in its entirety: “Do you know how we keep going? Look, this is cocaine, chloroform, too. And pills? You want to see pills? Here are three boxes… In short, we run on dynamite.” –Francis Pellisier in Le Petit Parisien July

On sale now at www.rapha.cc for $115