One of the brands that really resonates with me and sticks with the brand and quality expectations is Burton. By only saying that, you know that this jacket is already in good hands. Today I’ll be reviewing my new daily driver all-temp jacket: the Burton Cycle Gore-Tex 2L jacket.
Table of Contents
References for comparison
In order to make sense of how I will be describing this product, here are the previous jackets I’ve used and worn extensively:
- The North Face Freedom Insulated jacket
– insulated, rugged and time-tested, old-trusty, has never let me down
- Volcom L Gore-Tex shell jacket
– cooler (aesthetics), shell jacket, so no insulation, gore-tex
– paired with Volcom Puff puff midlayer
Look and feel
Let’s start with the most obvious details and then we’ll dive deeper.
Style
When it comes to the look and style, this look definitely gets a 10/10 for me. Well, at least for me, I like just solid, bright colours. No patterns, tie-dyes, etc. But then again to each their own. That said, let me give you more actionable insights. Actually, don’t buy this product. Or if you will, don’t buy the light blue. Leave me be and let me be unique LOL.
I like the neck and hood size. Sometimes I feel like Akatsuki heheheh.
Texture
When it comes to texture, it feels rough and secure that if you’re going med-high speed and then a sharp tree branch slaps you, you know that this jacket will just let it slip off. It won’t tear and puncture through. In the mean time, it’s soft enough then you have maneuverability and flex when you need to flail your arms or twist your torso. No constriction assuming you get the right size for you.
Design details
This is probably the designer in me too but I do notice and commend the small details that Burton puts in to their products.
Like, just look at the things:
Look at that. They’ve put the time and effort to highlight and swap colours for that hook loop.
Look at that custom, hardcore looking, fat zipper; and that branding on the waist gaiter.
I do feel the value-add and for the most part, it kind of justifies the price (which I will discuss below). Yes of course I’d prefer cost to be as low as possible and yes I know that the brand is a major part of the price but I’m just saying that it’s high-priced but you can see the proportional effort.
Zippers
Zippers are crunchy and rugged, just like my TNF jacket. Not that it’s a problem but to give you an idea, it’s a crunchy zipper that you’re not going to easily close your jacket from bottom to top in one smooth motion. It’s not a bad thing. I think you’d want it to be rugged because primarily you want your jacket to still be together when you rough and tumble. At the same time you want the seams to be fully taped so no air/water/snow goes in.
Fit
Arm space
First thing I noticed is definitely a lot of arm space, both it’s long enough and thickness-wise, I feel like I have enough space to wear fleece + midlayer if I had to. At the same time though, it’s not like this jacket is oversized at all. Look-wise, it looks proper fit and right size for me.
At the same time, maybe it’s because I’m transitioning from insulated jackets to shells. The space that was used for insulation is gone.
Torso
There’s lots of torso space as well. When I squat or bend over, I don’t feel like the chest area is pushing in your chest (that same feeling when wear a small jacket). I’m very comfortable sitting down in the chairlift. I don’t feel any tightness or constrictions. There’s still a lot of space and comfort even with pockets filled in (see pocket section below).
For guys with tummies, good news! This jacket is tummy-friendly! Well, depends on what gut you’re working with LOL I’m average build but a small bump can occur in a good festive weekend LOL. I’m mentioning this not only because it makes you look good/ok when wearing it, but as far as fit is concerned, I’m trying to communicate that there is enough space in the tummy area for you to do your bending over/squat motions.
It’s definitely tough to do these motions when you have a tummy and/or there isn’t much space lol.
Length
The jacket is longer than regular winter jackets. Of course, it’s a snowboard jacket and it’s designed and intended to be that way so it catches your but when you sit on snow.
Street snowboarders and skaters will probably like this because it’s starting to get to their look.
At the bottom of the jacket there’s a good snug going on. When I wear my midlayer, there’s a comfortable snug fit at the bottom of my jacket. It’s snug enough that it seals and doesn’t let cold air in, but not tight enough that you feel like you’re a sausage.
I do feel the tug though, just ever so slightly. I’m talking about the thing that happens when the jacket is long and it hugs your butt and then it’s snug/tight that when you squat, you feel a constriction on your thighs and then it kinda tugs and pulls your chest/neck back. It then prevents you to bend over / squat easily and it feels like you’re having to fight your jacket just to bend over.
Edit (18-02-2024): Regarding the matter above. You don’t notice that problem as you ride. In fact, you don’t notice it 99% of the time at all. It (long jackets in general) only give me a hard time when I’m sitting on snow and I’m trying to stand up forwards. As described, if I do so, the length of the jacket hugs my butt and it prevents me from curling forward more.
So what I do is that, I just use it as usual 99% of the time and then when I’m sitting on snow, I just raise the bottom of my jacket to waist/above-butt level, and then I can curl up my core however much I want to and I can stand normally and easily 🙂
Going back, it’s not as bad in this jacket though. My Volcom was like that, but it’s mostly because I chose the wrong size. The jacket’s smaller than it should be. So when I squat, you can definitely feel the rope of the bottom of the jacket on my thighs and I can’t properly squat at all.
For this jacket it’s just a 2/10 1/10 inconvenience. Very liveable.
The more I’m thinking about it though, I guess it’s a necessary evil. Again, it’s a nice, comfortable snug. It’s not painfully tight. Any more loose than that or if I want to not feel any of it at all, that means I have an oversized jacket or the bottom has so much room that cold air can/will easily fly in the jacket.
Hood / helmet fit
Much space for hood and helmet as shown below:
Pockets
“It. has. pockets” lol. If you know the women’s dresses meme I’m referring to lol. I’m happy and impressed with their pockets compared to the other two I had before.
Chest pocket
First and foremost, it’s roomy and spacious. I use the chest pocket a lot so that’s the most important one for me. With my previous TNF and Volcom jackets, it has enough space to fit any phone, any size and it’ll sit vertical and snuggly on your chest. The pocket is designed to be not deep and that actually what I need and want(ed).
With this Cyclic jacket though, the chest pocket is deep. It’s both deep in a sense that, if I drop my phone in the chest pocket, the phone actually falls down the pocket. It has lots of space width-wise too that if you drop your phone in it and go about, your phone is going to lie horizontal after a while.
I know there’s a functional reason to this. Burton isn’t just providing a “spacious pocket” but rather this type of big pockets are important and crucial for backcountry (e.g.: for splitboard skins and maps).
I’m just impressed because even for just resort-riding, it’s excellent. My one fear is that I didn’t want a spacious pocket because I fear it’ll just be sloshing around my jacket while I ride, jump, squat, etc. What’s even worse is that I had super loose jackets before where as you ride, it sloshes your phone around and then with incredible luck, the phone orients itself perpendicular to you (so the phone is pointing to you) and then as you squat down and the jacket pulls itself in, you self-impale yourself with a solar-plexus punch LOL. It’s either that or your phone gets oriented in a way that you know it’s getting bent in the worst way inside and it feels like it’ll break.
With this jacket, no problems at all. It is spacious but the phone doesn’t slosh around and I don’t accidentally impale myself. My phone just eventually goes horizontal and it kind of tucks itself around the bottom-ish part of my rib, which is perfect. It’s in an area that’s not supposed to bend anyways so it doesn’t interfere when you squat or sit down. And then it’s sitting horizontal, not vertical in your pocket, where previously you’d feel your phone standing in there as you slouch. It’s really just quiet and tucked in there.
The red box shows where (and the size) of the chest pockets of my previous jackets. The pink/magenta(?) one shows the size and depth of this Cyclic jacket.
The height of the pocket is literally the height of that zipper. As far as the width, it connects to the stitching to the side of your jacket (so the pocket technically is curved inside). It’s pretty big and deep.
Side pockets
There’s definitely lots of space in your side pockets. The opening is also diagonal so you can comfortably put in your hands and rest it there on cold days. I’ve comfortably stashed my insta360 x3 in there and ride. It wasn’t tight or poking on my body at all and I almost forgot it was there.
There is no fleece lining inside so if you’re expecting hand warmers, it doesn’t have it. Remember this is a shell jacket and that’s an insulation feature. It definitely has a smooth interior lining though that its comfortable on the skin and it’s not sticking to your gloves if you dart in your hand in there with gloves.
Shoulder / pass pocket
I like jackets with shoulder locations for pass pockets. With my previous two jackets, the pass pocket was on the forearm area. The TNF one was tough because the pocket was on the inside of the forearm. It definitely makes it easy to get things in and out, but it doesn’t work right with the card sensors. Your forearm’s thick enough that it won’t sense the card so you have to do this weird twist and rub your inner forearm onto the sensor LOL.
For the Volcom one, it’s better. The opening’s on top of your forearm so it’s a compromise and midway for getting/putting things and for the scanner.
With the shoulder one though, I find it’s the easiest. I think it’s in the right height for the sensor and if anything, I will have to lean on the sensor if I want it closer to the scanner…which I don’t mind since it’s a quick rest for me after scooting and skating 😀
There’s enough space in there btw. I feel like you can fit a giant phone in that. The space is definitely way more than a card. I would’ve been ok with a pocket as big as a credit card. With this one though, you can fit a sunglass case in it..ish.
Price
If there’s one challenging detail to this jacket, it’s the price LOL. It is relatively expensive to the other jackets you’d find in your common sports stores. In the Burton tier, this is their “mid-tier” pricing. They definitely have more inexpensive jackets (with proportionally lesser features) and they definitely have other hardcore jackets that are reach $1k CAD lol.
To me, the price is justifiable as I’ve described with all the points above. Some people might argue (and I was in this camp too before) “omg, so expensive and there’s no insulation?!”. I don’t think they offer an insulated version for this jacket. I get that perspective. If that’s the case then just look for a different jacket. I don’t mean that in a snobby way. Burton does have more practical (and practically-priced) jackets too. I definitely understand that’s why my first and old-trusty jacket is an insulated jacket (the TNF jacket).
It takes experience and time but eventually I appreciated the separation of the insulation from the outerwear.
I got mine during American thanksgiving sale, if that helps for your sale planning 😀
Wrap Up
It’s definitely a great jacket to buy! If you’re looking a great quality shell jacket, you can’t go wrong with Burton’s [ak] Cyclic jacket Gore-Tex 2L (or any of the [ak] lineup really). It’s not the most budget-friendly or entry level so let’s not force a Benz to be priced like a Corolla.
