Well, the group buy stuff Paramount and I ordered came in today. Unfortunately the box was short one pair of knickers he ordered, which was kind of a bummer, but Muriel at swrve agreed to ship them straight to him, which was pretty cool.
Anyway, I have wanted a Milwaukee hoodie for a while and was very glad to have a chance to buy one at such a discount. I went for the Softshell 3000 version. Here’s what it looks like.
Initial impressions:
The hoodie took up most of the room it the box. This thing is heavy. The fabric also feels substantial though. It’s stiffer than I expected, but cut well, so it never felt overly bunchy. The soft fleecy lining is nice too. In the drizzle I rode home in water beaded up nicely on it, and I never felt like the wind was cutting into me. Finally, it just looks damn nice.
The fit:
At 6’2" and 180 lbs the large is just about a perfect fit, with enough room for a few thin layers underneath. On the bike the sleeves feel a little on the short side, but I have pretty long arms. There was sometimes a gap between the sleeves and my gloves, but nothing serious. It is plenty long in the torso. The small of my back was always covered, even when in the drops, and it never felt constricting around the neck.
Cool features:
I like the big pockets the back. There is a ton of room in there. If you really didn’t want to be burdened with a bag you could easily throw a few tools and flat fixing supplies and head out the door. There’s a mesh inside pocket, the sleeves are longer on top to provide better coverage when riding, and there’s a good sized backing behind the zipper to provide extra wind protection.
Stuff that could be better.
My one major complaint is the lack of serious pit venting. It breathes pretty well because of the fabric, but with heavy exertion a few little grommets aren’t going to do much. Either mesh panels at the pits or pit zips would have been much better.
The hood - As a piece of casual clothing the hood is cool, but it’s too bulky to fit under a helmet and not large enough to fit over one. It’s fine off the bike I guess, and if you go for the helmetless urban jihadist look you might like it. I just don’t see the point. Also, it would have been nice if it came with cordlocks for the drawstring.
The front pockets are almost tiny enough to be useless, and there are no zippers. You’d be lucky to get your hands in them if you had bulky gloves on. I wouldn’t trust carrying stuff in these pockets walking, much less riding a bike.
Thumbholes and a front cell pocket would be nice touches without cluttering it up with “features”.
Overall, I like it a lot. It is already in the running for favorite piece of clothing. For what I paid with group buy pricing I am very happy.
