The Pike Bonded Fleece is the best soft shell & mid-layer I have had since they were brought to the market years ago. It is awesome that Ride has introduced a soft shell that in it's first year beats anything to be found beside it on the racks!

First thing I noticed is that it is not cut too skinny or too baggy to inhibit proper fitting as a mid-layer. It fits well under an outerwear piece, especially the Classic Longs of the Ride jackets. The long cut of this fleece allows it to stay low and not ride up above the waistline when strapping in at the lift or styling the arms out on airs/grabs on cold & stormy days. The attached hood has three piece cut which allows it to keep a stylish shape but still be big enough to pull over a helmet on the worst of weather days.

The tech starts with a good base of 3K water resistant rating. This makes it great for being an outer layer on early season, spring and summer camp glacier days as well as extra protection when the weather really sets in mid-winter and begins to beat thru even your best outer layers. One-handed drawcords hidden safe in the waist pockets allows the bottom hem to be cinched-in without fuss. Another cool feature is the simple headphone wire insert in the left waist pocket that allows you to stash the music in the fleece, keep the wires under the layers and not get exposed or flap around while riding. It all zips together (literally) with a well resourced YKK zipper.

The Pike has become my instant favorite among my mid-layers and on-the-town cool temperature jackets. It is built well, super soft, coffee/drink splash resistant, stylish and has proved it's worthiness just this week with the 3 days of riding slopes/bc and 110 miles I spent on the snowmobile, all in heavy duty Tahoe winter weather!