A Fresh Look at Spring Cycling Gear
Whether you’re a fairweather biker or a year-round enthusiast, spring is one of the most anticipated seasons for getting out on two wheels.
There’s a specific feeling that comes back every spring. The group chat wakes up again, the Tuesday night ride returns to the calendar, and the anticipation returns as the sun stays out longer. After we’ve spent months enduring the cold and dreariness (or spending time on the trainer indoors), the season has a way of pulling people back toward each other. The miles feel easier when there’s a wheel to follow and somewhere to be afterward.
Getting back into a rhythm after winter means thinking about what you’re riding in, maybe for the first time in a while. Sure, there’s some carryover gear, but spring means finally losing that third layer and reaching for a thinner jacket. It’s the natural moment to reassess. To build a kit that fits the riding you’re actually doing, with the people you’re actually riding with.
Castelli Perfetto RoS 3 Jacket
Castelli’s newest edition of its flagship midweight jacket might be the most perfectly balanced piece of the season. The top is draped in Polartec Aircore, an air-permeable fabric that has a wide temperature rating of 4°C to 14°C and a suitable level of water repellence for surprise spring showers. In practice, that means you can actually wear this jacket on a hard climb without peeling it off halfway up. Castelli also built three rear pockets with integrated drain holes for days when the forecast lied. This is the jacket you reach for every ambiguous spring morning, and you stop second-guessing it fast.
Ornot has always been for the understated rider who prefers not to be a walking billboard. The brand builds functional, long-lasting pieces that have just a tasteful touch of labelling with generally neutral colours. The Alpha Sweater comes from Ornot’s Special Projects line, a limited run of deadstock products that are made once and will become gems in any cyclist’s rotating collection on the road or on gravel. It’s also casual enough to feel okay in a coffee shop midway through a long day out.
Fjällräven Hoja Expandable Hip Pack
The Hoja hip pack provides the flexibility of a full vessel without the bulk of a frame bag or the bloated energy of an overstuffed jersey. Combining G-1000 HeavyDuty Eco fabric, an expandable main compartment that scales with what you’re actually carrying, and a profile slim enough to wear over a jersey without adding meaningful drag, it’s a practical piece of gear that your riding companions will wish they had.
Spring riding usually includes some combination of winter potholes, shoulder debris, frost residue, and the paved road that deteriorated since last summer. The Terra Adventure range is built for all of those surfaces and more: dual-compound tread for grip on mixed surfaces, BlackChili compound to keep rolling resistance honest on clean roads, and tubeless-ready construction (which is almost a nonstarter for gravel these days).
At the foundation of any riding kit is a reliable bib short, and Rapha’s Core shorts have earned their reputation as an honest, well-executed, everyday option. Featuring trickle-down technologies from higher-end Rapha models, the Core shorts use high-density woven fabrics, flatlock seams, and Rapha’s signature single-density chamois, the same pad as in the brand’s Classic range. The high-stretch bib straps feature a rear cut-out for added breathability—a detail that matters as the season inches toward summer. Recommended for mild-to-warm conditions, these are the shorts you want when the forecast finally cooperates.
Spring light is low, variable, and deceptive: sun through bare trees one minute, flat grey overcast the next, blinding afternoon glare off wet pavement after that. The Centennial handles it with Zeal’s polarized Ellume lenses, which cut glare without flattening contrast, so you can actually read the road surface. These lightweight frames are stable enough that you forget you’re wearing them until you take them off for a quick, midride cleaning.
POC’s Cytal is a mainstay: technology trusted by pros and with the right amount of style for the rider in the know. But what matters most about a helmet is safety. This helmet earned the top Virginia Tech safety rating for bike helmets (essentially the most lauded rating in the industry) while still delivering good airflow and aerodynamics. Helmet tech has come a long way, and there’s no excuse to not ride with anything that doesn’t have integrated MIPS technology these days.
Pearl’s new lightweight collection is best for those days when the early spring heat begins to peak. Lightweight, SPF 30- and 50-rated fabrics are the name of the game here, in bright colours and feather-like fits. The collection comes in both men’s and women’s styles and will certainly be a fan favourite among those who want to go fast when temps start to rise.
