The Joy of Wool

Yesterday I acquired a "Merino cycling jersey" from Aldi, as worn by someone far more attractive than me (taken from Spazzetta's website. Props where it's due). I was hoping for an Autumn jersey, somewhere between a short sleeved jersey with arm-warmers and a short sleeved jersey with undershirt.

The Unboxing
The jersey's made by Crane. Not sure who they are but the name crops up at Aldi. I've had their shorts, gloves and shoes in the past (and currently) and they are serviceable, if not special. But then it's Aldi. Functional and yet inexpensive.
The first thing I noticed was the styling. Being the fashion icon that I am, I quite like the white panel. Quite retro looking against the black. the collar is classically cycling, with a plastic fastener but no back pockets. That's not a good start. It does have the Cane logoed grippers on the back at the bottom, which is a nice touch. The jersey is only 25% merino/polyester. I'd have expected 50% on a decent Shutt Velo Rapide jersey.

As I put it on it felt a little itchier than I'd hoped. I'm not a fan of manmade fibres off the bike. The fit is also a little loose. I'm a 42" and the large, market 42" to 44" is a little generous.

The next thing I noticed was that the weave is quite open. Much more so than aforementioned Shutt Velo Rapide's "Sport Wool". I could see this was going to be an issue.
The Test Drive
This morning I teamed up the jersey with Decathlon bib shorts, Crane gloves and shoes. Nothing but Tier One labels for me and headed out into the teeth of a 20knot Westerly headwind for my 10 mile commute.

Normally, I only keep a tissue in my back pocket. You can keep your tissueless exhausting, than you. Without pockets on this jersey I resorted to the 15 year old girl "tissue up the sleeve", which wasn't too bad. I cycle a bumbag (get over it, I just don't care!)

For the warmup 15 minutes I wasn't that warm. The wind cut in through my arms and torso. Without the bib shorts my tummy would have have got quite chilly. As I warmed up, my arms weren't as warm as I had been in armwarmers previously and my torso was just slightly uncomfortably cold. Without the wind I'm sure it wouldn't have been so bad. Getting into work I'm not sweating as much as in my Shutt Velo Velocast jersey, probably a little more than my Giant Velocity jersey with armwarmers, and with a little tummy chill

Giant Velocity

Pros

• Inexpensive (at £15 it's a win)
• It's Merino wool
• It's not Rapha

Cons

• No pockets
• Open weave
• Not enough Merino wool
• A little loose fitting

This jersey falls between two stools. I can imagine wearing it out more than I'd wear it as a strictly cycling top. The joy of soft merino wool is to wear it next to the skin (does that make me a pervert?) but it's a little itchy (may go with washing) so I'd probably wear some undervest.

Rapha have marketed themselves in the same way as Stella Artois' "reassuringly expensive" used to (before being the cheapest beer in Tesco and universally known as "wifebeater"). Rapha now says "worn by cocks". This is a decent jersey and your friends won't think you're a ringpiece as you wear it for gentle pottering down a towpath to a pub in the late spring or early winter. And for that it's a win.

On the basis of this, if you want to send me free shit to review, let me know.