Q36.5 AIR windproof gilet

The Q36.5 Air is the windproof gilet you take along when the ride might turn cool: a dawn start, a summer pass, a sky that can't make up its mind. It weighs 69 g in M.

At the front, a high-density woven fabric stops the wind and, with its water-repellent treatment, shrugs off a light shower. At the back, a mesh lets your body breathe; thanks to it, the gilet packs small enough for a jersey pocket.

It earns its place on the descent. In the standard atmosphere, air loses 6.5 °C per kilometre: at the top of a pass 1,500 m above a valley at 20 °C, it is around 10 °C, and descending at 60 km/h gives a wind chill of 5 °C on bare skin, with your jersey still damp from the climb. Put it on at the top before you cool down, zipped up to the collar, and put it away at the foot of the next climb, rolled tight in the centre pocket. Between two sizes, take the closer-fitting one: it is close to the body that it doesn't flap. In rain that sets in, switch to the Rain Shell jacket.

Q36.5 makes it in Italy, with reflective inserts for the tunnels on mountain pass roads. We chose it for the back pocket on rides where the weather can turn.