Now in its 10th model year as part of the Italian brand’s winter apparel range, the Castelli Gabba RoS jersey was revised for a fourth time for AW19. The Castelli Gabba has undergone some substantial changes to further refine a design that has been right on the money from the very start after being introduced way back in 2009.
Perversely, in some ways starting from such a high baseline can hamstring the popularity of a product over the long term. A brand could understandably adopt an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ stance, say, but that risks ceding ground to competitors who get ‘inspired’ to bring out something similar.
Equally, the brand could make running changes in an attempt to stay contemporary, but to the detriment of the product.
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The unusually mild winter we’ve had this year has given me plenty of opportunities to spend time riding in the Castelli Gabba RoS jersey, so I can say with some confidence that while Castelli has taken the latter approach, the latest revisions to the already-accomplished garment – while they have changed it noticeably – have done nothing to harm its performance.
The alterations have seen the Gabba gain an ‘RoS’ moniker, which stands for ‘Rain or Shine’, to reflect its improved dry weather performance alongside the near-waterproof protection it has offered since its inception.
Body fabric
Cyclist
Nonetheless, Castelli has exclusive rights to use the Infinium fabric outside of Gore itself, which is a testament to the high regard in which Castelli is held for garment development.
Buy the Castelli Gabba RoS now from Chain Reaction Cycles
The front of the Gabba RoS uses Infinium 205, a heavier variant of the fabric which Castelli says is waterproof and lightly fleeced, while the back uses Infinium 203. It isn’t insulated, but still water-repellant and crucially very stretchy.
I found this balance of fabrics works really well. The bulkier Infinium 205, being situated over the rider’s chest and down the fronts of the upper arms, bears the brunt of the weather conditions. It effectively blocks wind and repels water while the lighter, stretchier Infinium 203 at the rear allowed for plenty of ventilation in warmer conditions and helps create the Gabba’s famous racy fit.
Taped seams
Visually the most noticeable update to the Gabba RoS is the contrast piping at the shoulders. Castelli says these seams have been taped just far enough to prevent 90% of water ingress but still keep the garment from becoming rigid and bulky.
On balance I’d say the taped seams are a worthwhile update; the addition does have an effect on fit at the shoulder but the garment certainly didn’t feel a lot less flexible than previous iterations in this area.
Plus it effectively negated water ingress - previous Gabbas I have used in wet weather used to leak slightly at the seam junction between front, back and shoulder fabric panels, evident by small patches of wetness on the shoulders of a base layer. Castelli has now solved this issue in the Gabba RoS, which extends its range of comfortable use into even wetter weather.
Refined features
The broader updates to the Gabba RoS are ably supported by a host of smaller ones. Castelli has shifted from a traditional three-pocket layout to a double pocket in the Gabba RoS, and the pockets now feature a reflective strip at their base, spanning their width.
It is another astute update in my opinion - the bigger pockets are easier to access with gloved hands while riding and there is a slim compartment at the left side of the right pocket to keep a mini-pump upright. The reflectivity is a welcome boost to safety by improving visibility in grotty conditions - the most likely conditions you’ll be using the garment in.
The bottom 20% of the fabric covering the Gabba RoS’s YKK zipper has been removed. It makes sense because this portion is hidden by the stomach, hips and legs of the rider in an on-bike position. Less fabric means less opportunity for it to bunch, a fact that was born out in use - I found the Gabba RoS was not prone to bunching and folding in this area.
Price
Buy the Castelli Gabba RoS now from Chain Reaction Cycles
The Castelli Gabba RoS boasts a broad combination of technical features but the performance those features create does have an associated cost. Admittedly at first glance, the Gabba RoS’s £175 price tag does seem unusually high. £175 for a jersey?
However, I believe the price is justified due to the jersey’s versatility.
The Castelli Gabba RoS can be dressed up with arm warmers and a fleece base layer to cope with wet conditions in mid-single-digit temperatures. Equally, it can be dressed down with a sleeveless base layer and no warmers to suit dry weather in the mid-teens.
The jersey’s comfortable range of use is equivalent to two or three more specific garments in my opinion. The price also compares favourably to its competitor garments too - Assos’s Equipe RS jersey is £250, Sportful’s Fiandre Pro jacket is £190, and Rapha’s Pro Team Shadow jersey is £240.
For those reasons I’d say the Castelli Gabba RoS remains as invaluable a purchase as it always has been. A rider, particularly one who does most of their riding in Britain, needs a weather protective top in their cycling wardrobe. In choosing a Castelli Gabba RoS that rider is guaranteed not to go too far wrong.
Click through to page two for more on the development of the latest Castelli Gabba
Castelli launches updated Gabba and Perfetto jersey
For AW19 Castelli has updated its famous Gabba jersey, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The garment was released in 2009 and underwent a lengthy period of development with the Castelli-sponsored Cervélo Test Team, but remained a low profile addition to the Castelli catalogue until the rain-soaked 2013 edition of Milan-San Remo.
Aware of the jersey’s attributes and wary of the weather, pro riders who were not sponsored by Castelli used their own money to buy the jersey in a bid to keep themselves and their teams protected in the torrential conditions.
The jersey offered partial weather protection in a breathable, racey fit - a combination of features that no other kit manufacturer offered at the time.
The Castelli logos were covered over with permanent marker yet the uniform, plain black jerseys were unmistakable, worn as they were over several teams’ comparatively gaudy sponsored kit.
Since then the Gabba has been a perennial best seller for Castelli, and this latest revision sees it gain the ‘Rain or Shine’, or ‘RoS’, moniker to reflect its improved dry weather performance alongside the near-waterproof protection it has offered since its inception.
‘We introduced the RoS concept last season in our Alpha jackets,’ says Rich Mardle, Castelli brand director at its UK distributor Saddleback. ‘A garment with the RoS name means the rider only has to concern themselves with dressing to temperature, because the kit can cope with any weather conditions.’
The RoS has been rolled out across the Perfetto range, in which the Gabba falls.
‘Across the Perfetto family we’ve introduced little updates to every garment, which have added up to big net improvements,’ says Mardle. ‘As well as going through our in-house development team, we've taken the Perfetto garments to the wind tunnel, worked with pros and even the fabric producers themselves.
'Due to our reputation for garment innovation, Castelli tends to get preference from fabric companies - often they’ll approach us to work with them, as opposed to the other way around.’
One such example is the move to Gore-Tex Infinium from Gore Windstopper. Castelli has exclusive use of the updated fabrics outside of Gore itself.
The Perfetto Longsleeve RoS and Gabba RoS are essentially the long- and short-sleeve version of the same garment. They now use Infinium 205 on the front of the garment and shoulders, which is a waterproof and lightly fleeced version of the Gore-Tex variant.
At the rear the garments use Infinium 203, which isn’t insulated, but still water-repellant and crucially very stretchy, so the Perfetto Longsleeve and Gabba still fit closely.
Both garments have contrast seam detailing at the shoulder. Mardle says these seams have been taped just far enough to prevent 90% of water ingress but still keep the garment from becoming rigid and bulky.
The distinctive dropped tail and reflective panel remain from the last iteration, but the back pockets have been changed. The jersey now has two larger pockets, which Castelli says are easier to reach into with gloved hands, but to prevent things from becoming disorganised there is a pump-sleeve stitched into the left side of the right pocket.
The Perfetto Longsleeve Convertible jersey has incorporated all of these changes as well and its detachable arms have undergone a revision. The zips now sit just above the elbow, surrounding three-quarters of the arm, and have neatly integrated overlaps of fabric to add protection and hide the join.
The Perfetto RoS Light garment steps down from full weather protection to partial - it uses the uninsulated, lighter-weight and stretchy Infinium 203 for its front panels and doesn’t have taped seams. It uses Castelli’s own Nanoflex fabric on the back, which Castelli says is even lighter weight the the Infinium 203, providing high levels of breathability with a touch of water repellency.
Castelli’s new Perfetto RoS range is available now.
