Gift Advice

[VeloVT]

My bf wants a lightweight wind vest. He got the idea because I wear my Hind Spare-O vest running sometimes when it's cool and windy but not cold enough for a jacket. I have a couple of questions and need advice:

1. Sizing. I'm looking at PI vests right now -- and can't decide whether to order small or medium. He's usually a small in tops, but I took a surreptitious look at the tags of his PI cycling jacket and it's a medium, and seems to fit well. (I'm a small in PI jerseys and shorts but have to buy medium in their jackets, but not sure if men's cuts are at all similar). If you wear a medium in a jacket, would you wear a medium in a vest too???

2. Which one to get... I'm looking at the Optik vest and the Zephyrr vest. I'm leaning towards the Optik because it's more like the HInd vest that I have -- what he really liked about that one was how super light the fabric is. I have an Optik jacket and the fabric is really, really light but still does a pretty good job blocking the wind. The Zephyrr vest looks like it's more substantial, and more "constructed" -- which normally would be good, except, well, it's not as light. Does anyone have opinions on the trade-offs of getting one of these over the other?

3. ???? Other useful advice ????? Other men's vest ideas ????

Shopping for gifts is so hard. Arrgh.

Thanks!

[KnottedYet]

Don't know anything about PI men's sizes, but I know that I wear the same size in both vest and jacket from PI.

I think you're pretty safe ordering him a PI vest that is the same size as the PI jacket he already likes and wears.

[KathiCville]

Hi Liza........ If you haven't already done so, you might poke around a bit online and see if you can find any customer reviews of the two vests you're considering. For example, I recently bought a Mountain Hardwear jacket online that got great reviews, but all of the customers (female) enouraged buyers to buy one size larger than usual. I followed their advice and was very glad I did...I did the same kind of research when I bought an Etxe Ondo jersey on sale for my BF --a quick search for reviews about fit/sizing turned up comments by three guys who love the jersey but warn buyers to buy one size up for a comfortable fit.

You might take a look at www.bikeforums.net, plus a couple of the big bike apparel suppliers (e.g. Performance, or even REI) to see if any useful comments show up.

Maybe you already said this, but the other thing to think about is whether he might want to wear the vest on TOP of a bunch of other clothing sometimes, or only as a light substitute for a jacket. He might appreciate a roomier fit if he'll occasionally wear it over other layers.

Good luck!