GORE Winter Clothing: Winter Wear Review

GORE Winter Clothing: Winter Wear Review- by Grannygear.

Editor’s Note: Winter is upon us but that doesn’t mean we have to stop cycling. Our Riding Gravel contributors, Grannygear and MG will be giving us the lowdown on some gear we have been sent that will allow you to stay warm and meet your Winter gravel riding needs. Next up in our Winter Wear Review is another post from Grannygear.

We have two garments from Gore Wear that we have been pressing into use over this Fall-Winter, including some riding in the high mountains south of LA.  Between the Castelli wear we debuted earlier , I have been busy getting night rides and cool daytime rides in all this to see what we have.

GORE C3 Windstopper Jacket
GORE C3 Windstopper Jacket


C3 Gore Windstopper JacketFrom the website:
A light and packable jacket that can travel with you for when you need it. GORE® WINDSTOPPER® material breathes well while preventing windchill or soak through when you’re riding. Get on with your activity and let the jacket do the hard work.

  • Front zip pocket
  • Seam-free side to increase range of motion
  • Reflective logo and print
  • Rear side entry zipped pocket
  • High collar with brushed fabric for extra warmth and comfort
  • Reflective, elastic binding at cuff and waist seam
  • Fully taped seams for increased protection
  • Soft and versatile GORE® WINDSTOPPER® Product: windproof, water repellent and highly breathable
Grannygear demonstrates the security pocket in the back of the jacket
Security pocket in back.

We have this in a high viz green and black color, which is nice for the kind of weather this would be used in.  It is thin with no insulation or fuzziness inside. There are only two pockets, one a zipped, small one at the right backside, and one bigger zipped chest (Napoleon) pocket on the left breast.


I have the LG size and after the shrink wrap fit of the Castelli Perfetto jersey, I am pleased to present this as a much more agreeable fit for most of us in this part of the world.  Where the Perfetto was a jersey with privileges, the C3 Windstopper is really a true jacket.  For one thing, it has no pockets like a jersey would.  You can’t get much but cash or ID or keys in the rear zipped pocket and the front one, while bigger (my iPhone 6 fits in there), sags if you put much weight in it…like that iPhone 6.  It also has enough room under it for a base layer and a thermal long sleeved jersey where the Perfetto is not able to do that.


However the fit stops short of being flappy in the wind.  The sleeves are long and the collar is nicely high if you batten the hatches.  The tail is long for wheel spray and wind is just denied any entrance at all.  


It is just a bit too big to stuff into a typical jersey pocket, so this is not a gossamer garment.  You had better plan on wearing this all day or have some bike storage for it of some kind.  


So far this has been a very impressive piece of kit.  I have worn it from the low forties into the high fifties temps wise, typically with just a long sleeved base under it.  It does not quite breath as well as the Perfetto, but it is still very good and I often would finish a brisk ride with a dry base shirt if I had a long enough cool down before I stopped riding.  Could it use more ventilation like a side zip vent? Maybe.  But it also is ultimately warmer than the Perfetto. There is room for more layers under it and the fuller cut allows for more ‘dead air’ space that insulates from the cold outside.


More on this and more when we report back, but this one is quite good and I already could recommend it, although it’s not perfect, mainly at night where it could use more reflective bits and the black back section is not the best for visibility either.  
Suggested retail is $199.99.

Grannygear wearing the Gore C7 Pro Bib Windstopper Tights
GORE C7 Windstopper Pro Bib Tights


GORE C7 Windstopper Pro Bib tights

When you’re faced with a long training session in terrible weather, your clothing needs to step up and fill the gap where your motivation left off. These GORE® WINDSTOPPER® tights provide ultimate rain and wind protection.

  • Mesh back for better ventilation
  • EXPERT ROAD seat insert with GORE® WINDSTOPPER® Cup
  • Zipper at side of lower leg
  • Reflective logo and print
  • Flat mesh bib straps
  • GORE® WINDSTOPPER® Cup Technology: highly breathable,preformed windproof front for optimum comfort
  • Soft and versatile GORE® WINDSTOPPER® Product: windproof, water repellent and highly breathable

This one has vexed me a good bit.

Grannygear in the jacket and tights
Grannygear with the full outfit.


After the Castelli stuff where I had to up-size to get anything to fit me well, I might have made an error when I arranged these tights.  I asked for a LG, which really is not that much of a stretch as I can either wear a MD or LG in many lycra shorts or tights, etc.  With a 32/33 waist and pretty slim, muscular, but not wraith like build, it really depends on how the garment is cut and what it is made of.  And here is the rub…any tight I have used that was made from a ‘soft shell’ type of material has been a very difficult garment to fit well and this one does not change that. (Editor’s Note: We are checking in with our other contributors to see if we can find a better fit here, and get the review done. Stay tuned….)


More on that in the wrap up, but basically that type of material that is found in parts of the C7 Windstopper Pro Bib tight does not like to be pushed very far in ‘give’.  You better get the fit exactly right, and standing in these feels like the tight is a size too big from the crotch up, yet the legs are very tight, very snug, especially at the knees.  Once I move into a seated position, much of that pooch at the butt goes away but it then transfers to the front panels at the lower waist.  However the legs remain correctly, if not too much so, snug, especially when pedaling.  Moving to a Medium sure seems like a recipe for legs that would then be too tight for comfort.

Granny gear wearing both pieces. A rear view here.


Now that that is out there, the actual performance of the garment is pretty nice in that wind just sheds off it like it don’t care.  Water splashed from snow melt beads up and falls away.  The shoulder straps are not at all like the medieval torture devices that the Castelli ones have.  Although there is a seam sewn into the tight that is right behind and above the back of the knee, that has been annoying enough to make me think twice about slipping into them for a ride.


See what I mean?  Vexed.


 NOTE: The GORE C7 Windstopper Pro Bib Tights and GORE were sent to RidingGravel.com for test and review at no charge. We were not bribed nor paid for this review and we strive to give our honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

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Resolute

About The Author: Grannygear hails from SoCal and spent most of his cycling days as a mountain biker from the formative years of mountain biking all the way up to the present day. His day job is in the tech sector, but he has spent time writing about off road 4X4’s, 29″ mountain bikes, and cycling in general. Grannygear and Guitar Ted have worked off and on together since 2009 after a chance meeting at Interbike. With gravel cycling on the rise, Grannygear has been exploring how this genre’ works in SoCal and now does guest pieces for RidingGravel.com in his spare time.

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Author: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted hails from Iowa. Home of over 70,000 miles of gravel and back roads. An inaugural member of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame and Co-creator of Trans Iowa in late 2004- Guitar Ted has been at the forefront of the growth of gravel events and riding since then. Creator of Gravel Grinder News in 2008, he produced the premier calendar of gravel and back road events. GT joined forces with Riding Gravel in late 2014.

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