Are all non-stretch shell jackets always going to be "poofy" to some extent? I'm a little on the fence on keeping a jacket I just bought.

I have a hardshell jacket from castelli, and the chest always has a little bit of "poof room" it seems when I am in the drops for example. The softshell seems to stretch with me, just like a jersey would. I'm pretty sure the size is correct, it seems to be a matter of cut/fabric.

Most shell-type jackets I've tried on in varying cuts seem to be similar in this way too.

Whats your experience?

A Castelli's are typically cut pretty euro (slim). I have a very narrow chest and I have a couple of Castelli soft shells that fit fine. My heavy Castelli winter jacket does have some room in the chest, but it's not "poofy". It may be the "non-Assos" issue of all other garments not being cut as well wrt position on the bike itself.

I'm looking at the World Cycling Production catalogue I received in the mail today and it has a lot of Assos, Castelli, Craft, and De Marchi stuff, and the only thing I see that looks "poofy" is the Craft Elite winter jacket (and, of course, a couple of the models).

I think a little bit of chest slack in a 'hard'-shell jacket is natural in certain positions - namely in the drops.

If the jacket was completely tight over your chest while in the drops, you wouldn't be able to extend your arms fully out to the sides while upright.

I have a Showers Pass Elite 2.0 jacket, and while it fits perfectly, there is a little slack in the chest area while down in the drops. If I have too much stuff in the chest pocket, it will bounce off my thigh when I'm really low and hammering. Other than that, I never notice it and don't consider it an issue.

On the other hand, my Castelli partial jacket is a soft shell and is generally quite tight on the chest. Euro sizing is perfect for us 135lbs types!

This is why companies are using stretchable wind-blocking materials like Assos airBlock and Gore Windstopper X-Fast and X-Lite. They're nice.

The plusses of loose, non elastic hardshells are lower prices (older technology) and versatility in layering underneath for wide-ranging temperature variations. If you have a large wardrobe budget for diffierent conditions, including multiple jackets, get the new-tech elastic stuff, and a poofy old-tech GTX or eVent hardshell to wear 2-3 layers underneath for frigid conditions (if you're up for this kind of riding).

No single jacker--or any other piece of kit--will handle all conditions optimally, but you can always assemble something that works satisfactorily for the conditions in which you ride.

Basically, your greatest variety of choices is for 60-degree plus riding, this is what 90% of apparel out there is designed for. For 45-60, you can add arm and leg warmers to spring-fall kit, or go with light jackets or some thicker long-sleeve jerseys. Below that, go to tights. Look for Roubaix and windblocking panels. Get a windblocking jacket. Below freezing, you can either get very expensive cyclewear (where choices are limited because ridership plummets and with it the market for apparel), or look at alpine sports gear. There's a good range of body-hugging stretchy windblocking softshells in this category. Generally go down a size from your cyclewear--if you wear Italian kit, maybe two sizes.

A lot of online retailers have mfrs' size charts. If you do your homework, you can find mfr size charts for everything out there.

For rainwear, stretchy GTX has been under development, I don't know if anything is on the market yet.