IceBreaker's Quantum Plus Long Sleeve Hoodie is one of their most popular items. Rejean at the Kitsilano TouchLab, convinced me it was a must have in my athletic wardrobe.

When I'm out ski touring I'm a huge fan of wearing a lot of small, thin layers. I generally run pretty hot and the ability to fine tune my layers, depending on temperature and my output is crucial. This hoodie is a perfect third or fourth layer for me in the winter.

Where I was unconvinced, was how well this piece would work in my mountain bike clothing system. I started wearing the hoodie back in October, if you've spent a lot of time in the Coast Mountains since then, you'll know we've had a huge variety of weather. In fact, that might be an understatement.

The fall is normally my favourite time to ride, and for me it provides some much needed time off. This particular fall saw the usual wet weather as well as a cold snap that put my new layer through it's paces.

I generally wear a very thin soft shell as my mid-layer while biking. I swaped it out for the Quantum Hoodie and took to the bike trails. The first ride was in the rain, relentless Vancouver rain. While riding down or teaching it was the perfect combination of warmth and breathability. Whenever the rain would let up I found myself ditching the shell jacket and just wearing the hoodie. I was given  the sales pitch about how this years hoodie featured the new water repellency coating. Knowing that even Gore-Tex has a breaking point, I didn't put much faith in it. As I started to trust the garment more and more, it became my outer layer during those coastal pitter-patter wet days. After thirty washes it still beads water.