Spidi Hard Track 3 jacket in sand / black

The Spidi Hard Track 3 is the latest iteration of a jacket that has long sat at the heart of Spidi's adventure offering.

 

The Hard Track is a jacket with a removable waterproof inner which means that, in our world, this is what would be termed a proper 'adventure' jacket, in the way that a jacket with a fixed membrane can never be. And that's because if you're adventuring somewhere exotically warm, or if you're working your socks off away from the beaten track the last thing you want anywhere near your body is a waterproof membrane. You'll boil in the bag like a serving of Uncle Ben's basmati rice.

 

The Hard Track, obviously, is all about layering. Layering is not for everybody, but we would contend that for many people, particularly those who like to tour in warmer climes, it's the best, and certainly the most flexible, way to go.

 

The outer jacket is remarkable for two things. Its wearability. And its features; particularly its venting. 

 

It's comfortable, of course; and that's partly because it can be worn without its waterproof membrane. This means it moulds to the body like your favourite anorak. And in this it's aided by large, highly-breathable, stretch panels under the arms, down the sleeves, across the shoulders and in the neck. 

 

Sometimes comfort comes at the expense of protection, but the Hard Track is rated AA for abrasion resistance, and comes fitted as standard with Level 2 armour in the elbows and shoulders. It's large armour too. It's shaped and very pliable. The jacket does not come, as standard, with a back protector. We actually wouldn't fit a Spidi one; our choice would be a Velcro-equipped D3O protector.

 

As we have suggested, the absence of a membrane is what, in our book, denotes an adventure jacket, but it's the quality of the venting that singles out a good one. And the Hard Track is as well vented as pretty much any such jacket we have come across. What looks like large pockets on the chest are actually unzippable vents. And these vents are huge. On a hot day, or when you're working up a good sweat, these vents are going to allow a lot of air to reach the body. To complete the package, you get a similar arrangement in the back, but here the vent is even huger, if that's a word. (I've checked; it actually is)! You also get long zipped vents that run all the way from the neck down to the elbows. 

 

Not that that's the end of the features you get on the Hard Track, so let's run through them.

 

At the neck you get a clever neck adjuster system for a better fit. But if it's all about getting air in, the left part of the neck collar can be pinned back so that it stays open.

 

There are volume adjusters under the arms, at the natural waist, on the biceps and forearms. You get zips and Velcro flaps at the ends of the sleeves, and a gusset zip at the hem to allow the jacket to splay a little when you're sat on the bike. Obviously these adjusters serve to improve the way the jacket fits. And what we all know is that a jacket that fits well is a jacket that's comfortable to ride in.

 

On both the right and the left sides of the jacket, below the chest vents, are large pockets. The right one is a traditional, flap pocket. The left one is a top-loading, mesh pocket. Both pockets come with zips that allow them to become side-entry, hand-warmer pockets. At the back of the jacket you get a largish, map pocket, on the outside of which there's a mesh one.

 

At the hem there's a drawstring to gather the jacket in. There's a fair amount of reflective panelling for better nighttime visibility. And you get a zip to enable you to connect to a Spidi trouser. Bear in mind that we can create zip conversions to allow any brand of jacket to be connected to any brand of trouser.

 

The Hard Track comes with removable thermal and waterproof liners. And the truth is that they will do a job.

 

The jacket is filled with 100g/sq.m of some kind of hollow- form fibre. It can be clipped into the outer jacket or worn independently. It will easily pass muster as a destination jacket. Now when sold independently this jacket costs about £70, so whilst it will serve to take the chill out of a cooler day, you should not expect too much of it. A jacket like this makes a lot of sense in Italy, but won't be quite so appropriate here in the UK, especially in the winter.

 

You also, of course, get a removable, waterproof liner that, according to Spidi, can be worn on the inside or the outside of the main jacket. Whether you wear it on the inside or the outside will depend on the circumstances, how heavy the rain is, and how long you reckon you'll be subjected to it. In lighter rain, or when you're only going to be subjected to it for, say, an hour or two you would leave the waterproof liner clipped to the inside of the jacket. But if you're facing a real deluge, or if you're going to be riding in the rain for many hours you would wear it on the outside of the Hard Track. And in so doing you will prevent what we know as 'wetting out', where the jacket has soaked up so much water that you risk losing body temperature. 

 

We have decided to match the Hard Track jacket with the 4 Season pant. There is in existence a Hard Track pant, and it's almost identical to the 4 Season pant, but the Hard Track does not come in a short leg, and for us here in the UK that's quite important.