Paramo Velez Jacket – Performance

Paramo seems to divide opinion and it’s easy to see why. For starters, a measured 600g for a medium isn’t ‘lightweight’ by any conventional measure, but it’s ‘light for Paramo’. On top of that the added Analogy liner adds extra warmth, which means if you run remotely warm, it works best in cool to cold conditions.

The new Jacket, which follows on the from the Velez Smock is intended as a lighter, multi-sport sort of contender. Which is why it’s cut slightly short with a drop-tail and features Paramo’s perforated liner to save weight. The idea is that you can use it for running, biking, lightweight walking and even climbing thanks to a helmet hood.

Hot, Hot, Hot…

We’ve had an early Velez Jacket to play with for around six months or so, but we found it too warm in spring / summer conditions at least at any sort of speed, so it’s only been useable for us as winter starts to creep in.

The fit is neat enough, but not super tailored. There’s enough space for an additional layer inside and the cut is quite short so it doesn’t interfere with your balletic climbing moves or high-kicking running action.

One thing, if you’ve used more conventional Paramo, is that the combination of the lightweight inner and outer panels means that it doesn’t feel as a reassuringly substantial as something like an Enduro Jacket.

The Good Stuff

In practice though, it seems to do all the good stuff that Paramo is known for: keeps water out, is soft and comfortable and wicks well with minimal condensation inside. It is still warm. On a mountain bike night ride in autumnal single-figure temperatures, we roasted.

‘It’s also nice not to be accompanied by the snap, crackle and pop soundtrack of some noisier fabrics.’

And that’s despite the handy double pocket vents and sleeve vents too being fully open. You can roll the cuffs up too. And even undo the main zip from the bottom – that would work better with a press-stud to hold the hem together though. The same was true with running in similar conditions, though not as much as an issue with lower tempo stuff like walking.

It’s all very personal and depends a bit on just how warm you run. But the extensive venting options do help particularly worn over a mesh-type base layer like the Brynje of Norway stuff.

And The Rest

We can also tell you that the pockets, accessed through the vents, are secure thanks to an additional zip, the hood works well on a bare head but also takes a climbing helmet. And though it doesn’t fold away, with careful adjustment, isn’t a major annoyance on the run.

It’s also nice not to be accompanied by the snap, crackle and pop soundtrack of some noisier fabrics. And on top of that, there’s the satisfaction of knowing that the brand is one of the most committed to sustainability out there.

Downsides? Apart from the warmth, the weight and the moderate packability, we’d cite that missing press-stud at the base of the zip – other Paramo jacket have poppers all the way up the storm-flap for venting – and the cut which could be slightly more fitted for us.