“This month I have been reviewing the Liv / Giant breathable women’s specific jacket and the ¾ length lycra pant.
I decided to head to Wales to test out my latest bits of kit from Giant, after all what better place than the side of a mountain to try out functional clothing!
The jacket is cut to suit a women’s body shape and fits really well giving you enough room to manoeuvre your bike without feeling like your clothes are restricting or getting in the way. The colour is a dusky pink which looks great and has reflective piping and panels for extra visibility when out at night. The extra features, which I feel really make this the best cycling jacket I own are, the wet suit like cuffs which stop any drafts, the fact its so light you feel like you have nothing on and yet have good wind blocking properties and the two sides and back pocket which give enough space for all your biking accessories to be stored.
The jacket is a real asset to any girls biking wardrobe. It fits easily inside a biking bag, taking up no room when the sun did shine and then when it was windy it worked brilliantly at keeping me warm but without that sticky back feeling you get with some jackets once you have them on under a biking bag. The jacket was also light enough that when it did rain it didn’t feel uncomfortable and with my body heat dried really quickly.
I fell in love from the moment I sat on my saddle with the ¾ length pant the padding was incredible and made even the rockiest of single track descents bearable on my hardtail. The design really suits women, as the front is cut into a ‘v’ shape, which sits under your belly button, this is far more comfortable than an ordinary waist band which can cut in and feel uncomfortable on long rides. The ¾ length is something I hadn’t tried for biking before and I found this to be really handy as in shorts I often get cold when I stop, the longer length kept me warm, but also were not stifling when riding as long bottoms can sometimes be. When not riding my bike these are also comfy to walk in and don’t restrict your movement even though the padding is quite thick, which is great!
My only concern would be the wear and tear I wore these for a couple of hours with kneepads over the top and found they plucked and rubbed, which was a shame. However this is only a minor issue and would be easily solved by not wearing kneepads!
I found both items to be very high quality both in design and functionality, and would recommend them to all ladies out there.”