Drawing inspiration from within: Albion insulated jacket 2.0 review

Saturday 29 May 2021. While the Giro moves over the San Bernardino and Splügen Passes to Alpe Motta, we’re somewhere nearby in Switzerland on the Julier having just come over a snow-lined, car-free Albula. A thousand miles away in London, Charlie Stewart - one of the founders of Albion - is, on the same day, in a densely populated city, creating kit already well known for its versatility, quality, and manufacture from carefully-sourced materials.

Ironically and unlike many of his competitors, it’s not from idyllic scenes - the Splügen, the Albula, and others that dominate cycling narratives - from which Stewart and his team gather inspiration. Rather, they are committed to writing briefs where gritty, wet, unforgiving UK roads feature - conditions for which construction must be prioritized ahead of most other things.

For Stewart and Albion, their trajectory mimics UK cycling’s own which began in 2010, owing to Tour wins, big, aesthetically focused brands, and finally, a passion for riding that’s been nurtured ever since. Early in their careers, they were captivated by multi-layered scenes, first in Grand Tours and then in a broader cycling context.

Heritage-led brands carried less relevance in his mind, however. Along with his partners, Stewart saw room to create a brand cultivated from a domestic pallette.

Telling the story of British cycling Which brands tell the story of British cycling? The hill climb challenges, long rides on farm roads, the weather - the vastness of the domestic scene?

The earliest known name for the island of Britain used by ancient Greek geographers was in fact, Albion. Eventually the Romans explained it as referring to the cliffs at Dover, and it’s from here that the company took its name when they launched in 2016, initially with a collection consisting of a long sleeve jersey, a buff, a waterproof case, and a cap.

Not seen here: any product from Albion. Just a shot from the same test weekend on the Klausen pass. All walls. No cars.

“We had zero experience building a cycling brand, but all the passion to push through the complications and challenges of starting a brand from scratch,” he recalls over a Hangout. “The reality is that even now we’re still small, but there’s a graduation that needs to take place. We’re now a known brand with some room to grow.”

As the lines between kit and clothing blur across cycling, Albion appears to be positioned at a crossroads. The company sees itself as an outdoor brand first, motivated by exploration, adventure, and big days out. Relatable contexts that cyclists can see themselves within. What they are not is a brand obsessed with segments, racing, and a glorification of “a kind of cycling” that adheres rigidly to rules and norms.

Grahame Reaburn - the former lead designer at Rapha for over a decade - joined the company in May - a move Stewart expects will give the company added opportunity and credibility within the cycling community. More importantly, however, is that the kit becomes multi-dimensional. Not something that is singularly worn to do one thing, but capable of transitioning from bike to anything.

“We want people to wake up in the morning with Albion as a brand who gets you out the door, for the rides where you’re gonna go big. Where you know you’re going to come up against a certain amount of harshness.”

Insulated jacket 2.0 review You can always tailor products to specific cycling types. A windbreaker to descend for road riders. An insulated jacket for brevet-style rides and mountain biking. Segmentation for segmentation’s sake. But what if you could simplify that offering, limiting it to only versatile pieces best defined by users, not designers?

Albion sees itself within this context, anxious to push the usability of its products so that they are cycling-specific but not out of place off the bike, too.

To validate the concepts we discussed with Stewart, we had a chance to try Albion’s insulated jacket 2.0 in several different environments - first in the Swiss and French Alps, primarily worn during road descents in late spring and in cool weather, then locally, as a stashed piece of kit on a couple of mountain bike rides.

Making friends with the insulated jacket 2.0 on the Albula pass before a car-free descent. Tailored fit. Very warm. Exceptionally well made and littered with details.

Stewart is proud of it this jacket; it packs up so small and is so lightweight, there’s little reason to take anything else in most cases. The combination of warmth and weightlessness speaks for itself.

The fabric is sourced from a small mill in Japan, owned by carmaker Toyota; the insulation comes from the UK’s Clo, named Eco Vivo - a mill specializing in high-quality insulation from recycled content. “When you’re a small brand, you can confidently identify suppliers who are as focused on their product as we were on ours,” Stewart says about the jacket’s construction.

The jacket’s parts have clearly been cherry-picked. The fit - we’re 76kg and 185cm and wear an M - is tailored but not tight with an easy range of motion to descend in the drops while still staying in place and being exceptionally comfortable. Dual chest pockets, both zippered, carry gels, gloves, and keys, and a two-way zipper offers extra venting when needed.

What’s better than spending all day on your bike? This is one of the last things Stewart says to me during our conversation. An obsessive statement in a sport catering to obsessives. I can’t help but laugh.

While we cannot comment on the breadth of the entire Albion range - their road kit and other bits - if you are looking for one brevet, road, mtb layer to cut wind, keep you warm, look good and last a while, the insulated jacket 2.0 might be it. As a comparison, we’d liken its construction, quality, and aesthetic to another we reach for often: Search and State’s S1-J riding jacket - a “do anything” performer that is almost without peer. Almost.

We are supremely impressed with this piece. As you will be too. It carries the sense of quality that was once synonymous with British manufacturing - a torch carried by brands like Velobici, and now, Albion.