Castelli

Squall Shell Jacket - Men's

Cuts the wind

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

I was looking for an improvement over my Castelli Superleggera which I felt was a bit porous. The Squall jacket fits exactly like the Superlegerra did (same sizing, IMO), and it definitely blocks the wind. I have to assume it would block the rain as well, but I generally avoid wet rides. And given this jacket really blocks the wind, I find it's a bit warmer than my previous one, and that's probably because it doesn't breathe as much, which means I sweat a bit more under the Squall. But it does the job! And the fabric is very stretchy. I'm 6 feet tall, 64.6kg, with long arms, so sleeve length on this jacket was important. With the Medium, I have about 1.5-2in of extra fabric at my wrists and the arms are a bit flappy. With the Small, the sleeves are still just long enough and more form fitting, as is the chest, letting in less wind at the wrists and neck. Packs up really small. I've used the Medium a few times now and it works really well albeit it's a bit loose at the chest and down the sleeves. Easily fits over stuffed jersey pockets. I also ended-up with a Small. I'm not sure the Small would stretch enough to fit over 3 jersey pockets stock full of bars/gels/phone/spares/etc for a really long ride, but it's fine for shorter rides with pockets that aren't so full (maybe 3 bars and 3 gels, and a few accessories), and it's slimmer at the chest and down the sleeves, which is is nice when facing the wind. "True to [Castelli] size"...