Sportful’s Fiandre Pro range of winter kit is designed to provide windproofing and water resistance when it’s not too cold – typical weather for the Spring Classic races in Flanders, after which it’s named.
There’s a whole range of Fiandre kit for men and women, from gloves to bib tights and including the Fiandre Pro 2 jacket, with the Fiandre Pro gilet offering an extra layer of top half protection that’s marginally packable.
Sportful Fiandre Pro gilet features
Chris Teagles
The Sportful Fiandre Pro gilet mixes a Polartec Neoshell front face with a lighter weight polyester rear. The Neoshell front is windproof and 10,000mm waterproof, while retaining breathability and offering a slight stretch.
At the rear, there are three deep pockets, with gussets to increase carrying capacity.
Chris Teagles
At 122g, the Fiandre Pro gilet is relatively lightweight. It’s not the most compact of gilets, although it can be stashed in a jersey pocket at a pinch. As such, it’s better for all-ride use than a piece you might consider removing once you warm up.
The water-resistant treatment does the beading-up trick nicely when box-fresh, but experience suggests that it may be less effective after longer use. Nevertheless, it’s a nice feature to add to the Fiandre Pro’s protection.
Chris Teagles
Sportful describes the fit as Aero, meaning that it’s close, although there’s plenty of stretch, particularly to the rear fabric, so it’s not constrictive.
There’s a good range of sizes, from S to 3XL for men and XS to XXL for women.
Sportful looks to be replacing the Fiandre Pro with an updated design, which uses a different windproof front fabric, but shares the majority of the design’s other features, also adding a two-way front zip. The Fiandre Pro 2 is also cheaper than the original, which is welcome, although there are fewer reflectives.
Wearing the Sportful Fiandre Pro gilet
Chris Teagles
The Sportful Fiandre Pro gilet’s Polartec Neoshell front fabric provides good wind protection, so that I didn’t feel significant windchill even on faster descents. There’s no stormflap to the zip, except at the top to stop irritation at the chin. Nevertheless, I didn’t notice any wind ingress here.
Likewise, the elastic around the armholes keeps these close-fitting and the high, stretchy collar stops air from entering here. When I did heat up, it was easy to drop the zipper and increase airflow.
Chris Teagles
The windproof front panels paired with the lighter weight rear ensured I didn’t get too sweaty either. Although there’s limited stretch to the Polartec front, the rear is much thinner and more stretchy, ensuring a close fit without windflap.
The three rear pockets are a handy size and the bottom gussets allowed me to load up, but without pocket bounce thanks to the stretchiness of the fabric and there’s a long enough tail to ensure rear end coverage.
Sportful Fiandre Pro gilet review verdict
The Fiandre Pro gilet offers a good balance between windproofing and heat dissipation, thanks to the mix of panels. The high collar, paired with a close, stretchy fit helps keep draughts away and the pockets are deep and wide enough to load up. The water resistance adds extra wet weather protection, although it may degrade over time.
Sportful Fiandre Pro gilet details
Price: £140
Weight: 122g (size M)
Sizes: S – 3XL men’s, XS – XXL women’s
Colours: 2