Article by Sam Winebaum
Ciele Athletics FLRJacket-Elite ($400)
Ciele of Montreal, Quebec is well known for its colorful and highly functional run caps and buckets. I have worn their TRL Bucket-Comp shown above (RTR Review) for just about every road and trail run, hike and travel adventure this summer. It is fantastic, the highest performing and most versatile headwear I have ever worn.
Ciele also offers run apparel using the same attention to high performance fabrics and quality assembly. With the FLRJacket-Elite they set out to create a running jacket that is both solidly waterproof and highly breathable, has practical features (fully taped seams, adjustable hood, pockets (jacket stowable), breathable back, and reflectivity) at the lightest possible weight
Features and Specs
-10 denier bluesign® and OekoTex certified, recycled nylon 3-ply fabric.
- 20,000/30,000 waterproof/breathable.
- ©-Fit™ hood adjustment stays put on windy wet runs.
- Fully taped with 9mm tape for the lightest weight construction and added packability and mobility
- COOLmatic.EXP™fabric at back vent to dump heat and regulate temperature.
- quick snap at the chest keeps the jacket in place even with the zipper down.
- 2 inner fuel/glove/etc compartment pockets
- inner zip pocket with mini carabiner stows valuables and can stuff the jacket.
- machine washable.
- reflective black out detailing for night run visibility
- ciele athletics™ million miles guarantee.
- XS,S,M,L,XL
- Weight: 215 grams in the medium tested sample
Features
The feature list above gives the details. I will focus on key highlights. The jacket is “3 ply”. This means there is an outer face fabric, an inner membrane (the waterproof/breathable) part, and a very thin inner “layer” for some standoff from an inner layer.
Sounds like a thick stiff jacket, right? Well 3 ply jackets of this type of construction can be quite stiff and thick but not at all the case here. The jacket is extremely soft and flexible, almost single layer windbreaker like with the outer shell material particularly soft and almost satin like smooth to the touch. When wet the jacket does not cling to inner layers or skin due to its materials and relatively roomy fit.
Yet, we get that 20,000 waterproof / 30,000 breathable rating. In practice, what does this mean? The jacket will for sure stay waterproof in moderate showers and prolonged damp, will be completely windproof and will breathe well. The Elite exceeds the 20K / 20K requirements for UTMB mandatory kit. I was able to test on a run in sustained rain in warm temperatures (69 F / 20 C).
Breathability was excellent during the entire run. The jacket eventually wet through after about 40 minutes in the sustained rain. In my experience, all but heavy ski/mountain shells will hold up longer in such conditions. Nonetheless, I was comfortable throughout the hour-long run and my inner t-shirt did not get overly soaked and there was no sticking to my arms or inner t-shirt, a big plus.
Key features include the front zipper, hood and rear venting. The front zipper is high quality, engages and slides easily enough creating a solid seal.
At the top of the chest is a big snap to connect the two sides for running with the jacket unzipped. The snap is a bit too large and care must be taken to tuck it back while zipping. That said, I generally close such snaps before starting activities so not a big problem.
The hood is elasticized around the face with a decent sized if soft brim. At the rear, is an easy to reach pull cord. Everything can be snugged around the face for complete coverage. Above my snug is a bit “relaxed”. Any hat under the hood is certainly doable, helmets I will need to test for.
The rear is cape-style with a fairly small window of COOLmatic.EXP™ mesh to vent heat, black at center back is shown below with the drop in pockets lower left and zip pocket upper right in the picture below.
The cape vent and mesh lining is not so big so as to impact the waterproof side of things but big enough to vent some heat. It is very effective.
There are no outer pockets or openings beyond the front zipper which, along with the 9mm taped seams, maintains outer weather integrity.
Inside, we have a decent size zip pocket into which the jacket can easily and fully be stuffed.
The pocket also has a mini plastic carabiner to attach the stuffed jacket to a belt or pack and when worn to clip keys.
We also have 2 vertical inner mesh pockets for small items. I wish they were deeper to better hold hats and gloves.
The reflective elements are “light” in my opinion for a jacket developed in, and for, the dark long winters of Quebec, but at least there are some.
We have a round logo dot on the far upper left chest and 2 stripes each side of the lower side back down to the hem.
Fit
The fit is generous in my medium sample, and on the long side, with a small drop tail so the lower back is covered.
I am 5’9” (176cm) and 160 lbs (72kg). I will easily be able to put winter layers under the jacket and have already worn it with a light insulated jacket. No surprise Ciele provides some space for layers as they are from Montreal where the weather is very cold in winter!
I do think the sleeves are on the long side, even with their handy elastic thumb loops. I especially noticed the extra length when the jacket was soaked in a downpour. The plus side of the long sleeves is one can almost completely cover hands with the sleeves but when doing so there is so much length the sleeves do not stay put.
Performance
Not a white screen! Dense wet fog and wind at the Grand St Bernard Pass
I have worn the FLR for trekking with a pack in foggy winter weather in the Swiss Alps, during windy days on the trail, and during the previously mentioned run in a rain storm in warm conditions. That run warm enough that usually I would just run in a short sleeve but was perfectly comfortable the whole run only unzipping some towards the end of the run.
The waterproof side of things has its limits: in the foggy windy cold conditions performance was outstanding, in the heavy rain the jacket did wet through as any such jacket will.
What struck me most was the incredible breathability of the FLR while remaining totally windproof. Any other jacket in the warmish conditions I tested in so far would have come off, not the FLR. The combination of the breathable 30K membrane, relatively roomy fit to let air move, and rear vent worked a charm.
Conclusions
For sure, Ciele can cover more than just your head! Superlight, very stylish in Sable, fully featured and high performing, the FLR is a very versatile, if premium priced at $400, run and do anything multi sport shell. It will be my go to this coming winter for running and nordic skiing. Easy to carry anywhere, with classy looks and room for layers, it will also become my regular everyday on the go rain and winter shell.
Ciele Athletics FLRJacket-Elite
Sam is the Editor and Founder of Road Trail Run. He is in his 60’s with 2025 Sam’s 54th year of running roads and trails. He has a decades old 2:28 marathon PR. These days he runs halves in the just sub 1:43 range if he gets very, very lucky. Sam trains 30-40 miles per week mostly at moderate paces on the roads and trails of New Hampshire and Utah be it on the run, hiking or on nordic skis. He is 5’9” tall and weighs about 160 lbs, if he is not enjoying too many fine New England IPA’s.
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