Merino wicks moisture from your skin, keeps your body at a good temperature and stops you from smelling bad after a long bike bike.
It’s no wonder that it is such a buzzword amongst cyclists and it is a popular fabric choice in high end cycling clothing brands.
What is there to love about Merino?
- Merino is well suited to the UK weather. As anyone who has cycled in a soaking wet t-shirt and pair of jeans will tell you, it’s not a pleasant experience. Merino clothing It is designed to repel water on the outside. Whilst you can’t exactly call it “waterproof” it is certainly water resistant and enough to see you though a short bike ride in the rain.
- The odour resistant properties of Merino makes Merino tops excellent for meeting up with your friends at the cinema, pub, cafe or anywhere else where you can’t jump in to the shower after a long bike ride.
- Merino clothes are even flame retardant. Not that you should go out of your way to test this out by standing too close to a fireplace but it’s good to know!
- Perhaps the final big advantage of Merino is that it doesn’t look any different to every day clothing. This is good for those of us who prefer avoiding the lycra look where possible.
Merino tops for men
At the entry level, the EDZ Merino range is an excellent starting point for cyclists. A couple of these tops will mean that you’ll look good, smell good and feel comfortable on your next bike ride.
Similarly priced is the range by DHB sold on Wiggle. Their light weight tops offer excellent, slim fitting comfort and make good year round tops.
Of course, if you’ve been following London Cyclist you’ll have seen reviews of the Merino offerings by Vulpine. We’ve reviewed both the short sleeve Merino and the Merino t-shirt. These are more expensive at £70 and £55 respectively. This is a fair bump from the EDZ Merino range.
Rapha is another brand competing for your attention in this area, their Merino base layers cost around £60.
Merino Tops For Women
Fortunately, this is one of the areas where women are catered for just as much as male cyclists.
Here on London Cyclist we’ve reviewed offerings by Rapha and Merino tops sold on Velovixen. We loved the style of these tops, as well as the carefully thought out details. If you’ve got a little extra to spend then these are excellent options.
Fortunately, there are also more affordable options by DHB and EDZ that offer pretty much all of the advantages. The DHZ ladies Merino in particular, costs around £30 and offers good comfort, water resistance and sweat wicking properties.
Merino tops for cyclists are the perfect combination of fashion and practicality. The prices range from around £30 up to £70 or more. Take your pick and you’ll find that with a couple of these tops in your draw, you’ll be reaching for them more often than not.
You can’t leave out Howies, for a long time they’ve had merino layers. I’m a massive fan of their NBL long-sleeved base layer and Waffler mid-layer for mountain biking, and plan on buying a Vail merino tee for longer casual cycling.
Good tip Ross – you are right, I’ve come across their gear a few times and always been impressed. Thanks for adding that in for us 🙂
Another plug for the Howies tops – I’m wearing one of the zip-neck NBLs today. They’re great for going straight from the bike to the office without having to change, as they wick sweat well, don’t stink, and don’t look like cycling gear. I also like to layer them under a jersey for days when it’s not warm enough for one layer, but a coat would get too sweaty. If you keep an eye on the Howies website and SportPursuit you can usually pick them up for around £30 in the sales.
Top tip and happy coincidence if you’re a woman looking for Icebreaker merino bargains – we’ve just reduced all our tops and cycling jerseys by 25-50%, literally today. http://www.velovixen.com/brands/icebreaker
I have two Smartwool shirts one long sleeve the other short both well cut and slighlty longer in the body. Bonus is that they are currently 50% off at Go Outdoors
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mens/clothing/baselayers/tops/smartwool
I bought some Ladies Helly Hanson long sleeved Merino tops during their sale in January-time, they are longer than the standard HH base layers and in the sale a set of top and trousers cost £30 (reduced from £100!), I have worn the tops since then and they are amazing- and a couple of times in the snow the trousers were a nice added boost of warmth. Something to look out for next winter!
I’ve got items from Planet-x also. good price and look good also (good enough to wear as general leisure wear – not just for cycling)
I have some edz leggings i use in winter and they are good quality even if they are made for motorcyclists
have to add that it annoys me that icebreaker don’t make larger women’s sizes .. they are general a small persons label
Torm.cc is worth a look: great sportswool jerseys, good price. Still look & feel great after year-round regular use.
Being a cheapskate I use Marks & Spencers merino tops. They fit my rather large size – think rugby prop forward – and they cover my bum. A lot cheaper than ‘proper’ cycling kit. Only downside is lack of colour choice. But who cares, it’s not a fashion show!