With the environmentally driven demise of Gore-Tex Shakedry products, cyclists have lost one of the best, most effective waterproof and hugely breathable fabrics available. It had some issues—high price, no stretch, low durability, and lack of colour choice—but many riders could overlook them for its incredible performance. I mention this by way of an introduction as it is inevitable that as brands introduce alternative performance rain jackets, they will be judged against the benchmark set by Shakedry.
Castelli isn’t short of outerwear options, but their new Squall Shell Jacket looks like a potential replacement for how I use my original Shakedry waterproof, which is to say as a windproof/waterproof layer that I carry on every ride that the forecast is less than glorious for. It sits towards the lower end of their waterproof range price-wise, which is no bad thing as cycling gear gets ever more expensive. There are lots of options from other brands on the market too, so how does the Squall Shell stack up?
