My first experiences of Furygan’s Ice Track jacket were on warm and sunny days, where I found the venting adequate once I’d taken the thermal lining out and opened the vents.
The Ice Track jacket was a little too warm in town traffic on my commute, but once I made it to open roads I cooled down again.
Then I noticed Furygan’s description of the Icetrack jacket as “designed to face the cold” so after wearing it for a week or so in summer I hung it up until temperatures began to drop.
Once conditions became chillier I found it a lot easier to judge the effectiveness of the vents when opened. The jacket’s fixed waterproof membrane meant there wasn’t cold breeze flowing easily through to my skin, but I could still feel the area behind the vents cooling down significantly.
When the temperature was around 15°C I rode without the thermal liner, just relying on the outer and a t-shirt underneath, and this kept me at my perfect temperature (personally, I don’t like to feel too warm).
Once the temperature fell below that mark I needed the thermal liner. Riding in temperatures of 10°C, adding the liner meant the jacket kept me warm, again with just a t-shirt underneath.
The waist pockets sit at an ideal height and extend all the way to the main zip, so that’s where I kept most of my stuff. They zip shut and I could feel the contents of them, which I found reassuring. I found it difficult, though, to check whether the zip was closed while riding due to a ridge of fabric around the outside of the zip.
There’s also quite a bit of room around the waist thanks to the fit being very wide and boxy. The sides seem to go straight down, rather than having any shape at the waist, and there’s no waist adjustment either. I found this less of an issue when worn with a fleece or hoodie underneath to fill the jacket out a bit.
The main fit adjustment areas are on the biceps, although the tab to operate it goes over the vent, pulling it closed and stopping the airflow. So tightening the fit closes the vent, and I can’t see why Furygan would design it to do that.
There are adjustment tabs at the lower hem as well, but there isn’t much range so I rarely adjusted them. Also, the stitching around the velcro on the left tab has weakened over time.
There’s a long zipped vent between the shoulder blades, which worked well in the right circumstances, but the riding position on my Yamaha XT660X means my arms are fairly reached out, which pulls the vent shut.
The jacket comes with D3O Ghost armour for the shoulders and knees, which I thought was brilliant. It was as breathable and flexible in this jacket as in the Furygan K11 X Kevlar jeans I wore with it. I can barely feel the armour at all, and even less so while riding. The armour improves comfort and, being D3O, I have confidence it’ll do the job should it be called into action.
As for rain protection from the fixed liner, I found myself out in the rain a few times while wearing it. It protected me against showery rain, but when that became heavy downpours then I experienced some water coming through at the neck and leaving a patch of dampness that covered about six inches down from the collar.
That is what I had expected in terms of rain protection from a casually styled jacket like this. I wouldn’t expect it to be up to touring demands of riding in rain for hours at a time anyway.
I’ve noticed Furygan describe this jacket as having a laminate membrane and I feel this could be confusing. The membrane is made from a laminate of materials, but it is not laminated to the outer shell. This means the jacket does not perform in the same way as jackets with what’s commonly known as a laminated outer.
A more accurate term would be that the jacket has a drop liner, which is designed to protect the body from rainwater that leaks through the outer shell.
Overall, however, I found the Furygan Ice Track jacket to be good looking, comfy (despite the weird fit) and fairly versatile. When combined with denim riding jeans and short boots, it made for a very casual combination that still felt safe for me to wear while riding.
