Fellow mbr tester Mick Kirkman rightly raved about the 7Mesh Chilco jacket after I tipped him off about its miraculous weather-beating warmth. For most of my high energy riding the thicker WTV300 fabric is too hot though, which made me really excited about the news of a lighter WTV200 material. I’m hoping the new Spruce jacket will deliver that perfect sweet spot of minimum sweat with meaningful protection, something plenty of brands have tried and failed at.

7Mesh’s new Spruce uses a lighter weight fabric than its previous jackets, making it ideal for anything up to double digit temperatures… also, how buff does Guy ‘Sixpack’ Kesteven look these days?!

Design and specifications

WTV (Wind, Thermal, Ventilation) is proprietary to 7Mesh but it’s basically a closed weave face with a pile fleece back. That’s nothing new overall, some of the best mountain bike jackets use the same approach, but the face fabric here is particularly tightly woven, but still stretchy, quiet and soft to the touch. The millimetre square cubes of fleece backer on the WTV200 textile are much smaller and lower volume than the ‘flattened fur’ tufts of WTV300. That means the Spruce jacket is a lot more packable and 70g lighter than the 7Mesh Chilco Thermal Anorak. It’s also £40 cheaper and the 92% recycled PFC and PFAS-free material spec doesn’t cost the planet much either.

A wraparound back pocket can take a heck of a lot of gear, plus it’s a double layer of insulation for the small of your back

The Spruce jacket is slim cut but with generous length sleeves and body, meaning a size small wraps my 180cm runt-of-the-litter build really well. A full length, puller cord zip makes venting and dressing easy, while a mid height collar keeps draughts out. The shoulder, yoke, flank cut gives me traumatic memories of origami crafting in primary school but it fits superbly. The two side zippered pockets on the back go right across too, so they can swallow a lot more than you expect. There are two single handed cord locks to tighten the hem as well, but as I only just noticed them while writing this up they’re clearly not essential for a good fit.

The Men’s Spruce jacket comes in XS to XXL in black and raisin colour choices. The women’s version also comes in XS to XXL but with black and ‘trail mix’ two tone colour options. There are also hoodie options for £20 more if you want a built in hat and hand warmer rather than back pockets.

7Mesh’s secret source includes these little lofted squares of fluff, which insulate heat and wick sweat too

Performance

Given how many people I know rave about the Chilco and other WTV300 gear, the Spruce and WTV200 had a lot to live up to. There’s definitely a leap of faith involved in heading out into truly grim coat weather in such a thin, jersey-weight top. As a result I had a couple of rides where you wear too much underneath and roast yourself.

If I’m brave one the first few minutes of a ride though and I quickly come to realise just how well the WTV200 retains warmth. It’s not seam taped and like every other current eco friendly DWR coating it doesn’t take long for the outer face to wet out. But unlike a less permeable waterproof or showerproof shell, I’m not steaming up and then condensing cooling sweat on the less breathable inside face. So while I might be slightly wetter in the short term, I’m a lot warmer and drier in the long term, especially on the mixed weather days that typify our lovely UK weather most of the year round now.

7Mesh makes the Spruce Jacket in multiple sizes, so you don’t have to go full roadie if you want to layer up underneath it

As a result I’ve worn it on hypothermic-inducing sleet storms high in the Dales where the Spruce has got me back to the pub with a dry, warm base layer, while pals in heavyweight shells and twice the layers underneath have still been wet and cold. Yet it’s breathable enough to be comfortably sweat free on long sunny climbs and not too bulky to pack away if it gets really warm. It feels more windproof, better in the wet and much more breathable than 7Mesh’s own Airmap jackets at twice the price too.

Quality zips and fastenings, low weight and warm when wet make the Spruce very… spruce

Cut and fit are absolutely excellent for more athletic rather than adipose riders that the fabric will work best for too. The back pockets definitely give it a more XC / gravel vibe though. The vertical side zips are also less secure than traditional top loading pockets if you forget to pull them closed.

While I’ve only got a couple of pulled threads from being shanked by trees, my mate Ollie holed the sleeve on his hoodie straight away, which suggests it’s not as tough as the thicker Chilco. Gutted turned to grinning when I pointed out that 7Mesh offers free damage replacement in the first 30 days of ownership, plus a really generous ongoing warranty/repair scheme.

Designed in Squamish, you’d expect the Spruce to excel in wet weather