£130.00 / AU$199.00
Contact: www.adavde.co.uk www.avade.com.au
Standing on top of Welsh mountain last month for the first (and sadly last) day of Brechfa Rally was about as cold as I have ever been in the UK. Stupidly not bringing anything other than wafer thin MX gloves I lost all feeling in my hands before we even had the bikes unloaded… Suitable test conditions then for the heated shirt from Australian company Avade. We had heard about them some time ago and when the UK importer offered us a couple to test we jumped at the chance.
The idea is simplicity itself – add some heated elements to a base layer shirt – but it needs to be well executed to be comfortable and reliable while riding. The USP here being this is a shirt that doesn’t require wiring to your bike’s power outlet. This is a self-contained unit with a small rechargeable battery sitting in a pocket on the shirt. There are three heat settings, which are adjusted in seconds by an LED button on the right hand cuff that glows green, amber and red to let you know which level you have selected. It is a slightly weird sensation the first time you use it but you get used to it very quickly.
After a quick test run on the road on its lowest setting, I was intrigued to see how it would fare off-road with the variation in body temperature through more technical sections when the body is creating its own heat. At the Brechfa it was a lifesaver (quite literally) when standing around, on the road sections and faster flowing forest roads (where full heat was the call). Entering the woods for the more nadgery bits I knocked it back to the lowest setting… simples. Now if you are doing a competitive event you might think you won’t want to waste time fiddling with buttons, but honestly it’s so quick you will be doing it on the move after the first few times. How long did the battery last, on this occasion a full six hours of the competition. The battery is good for 500 recharges and replacement is just £25. And given the Siberian weather of late it could even be a positive performance enhancer. Oh, and it’s ‘water safe’ so if you do get drenched, no, you won’t be electrocuted.
In all, a great functional piece of kit that just works, backed-up by a 12 month warranty. Ideal for a day on the trails, on the road, pretty much anywhere. My only complaint – there weren’t a matching set of heated gloves! Alex Waters
