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Craft Performance Tour jersey

7
£45.00

VERDICT:

7
10
Sound summer jersey with a couple of good features – but not as innovative as some products in the Craft range
Weight: 
156g
Contact: 
www.craft.se

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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New to Craft’s lineup for 2010, the Performance Tour is a light and fairly airy jersey that puts in a solid all-round performance.

You know how some fabrics feel cool next to your skin as soon as you put them on? This is one of those. It’s polyester – as the vast majority are – the main panels wicking sweat reasonably well. You also get hugely breathable open-mesh panels reaching from just below your armpits round to the bottom of your shoulder blades, and there’s another in the upper back to help keep the atmosphere fresh. The full-length front zip provides more ventilation; we really do like the option of opening a jersey right up on hot summer climbs.

Cut is slim and performance-orientated, but just shy of tight. There’s certainly no annoying flapping as soon as you hit the descents. The bottom hem is elasticated so there’s no billowing there and silicone print holds it in place well, and the cuffs are elasticated too. The stitching isn’t flat but it’s comfy enough – we didn’t suffer any annoying rubbing.

The three pockets in the lower back are elasticated so all your gubbins is likely to stay put, and you get an extra zipped outer pocket back there for your valuables, complete with a hole for an earphones wire. Look, we’re not advocating it, we’re just reporting it; you’re big enough to make up your own mind as to whether listening to an iPod when you’re riding is a good idea.

The cut around the neck is pretty odd with the collar panel dipping much lower than usual at the front. We found it a little baggy – which isn’t a huge problem on a summer jersey, we guess, although it did stop us sealing out the breeze completely when the temperature dropped.

Oh, and we should mention the price, £45 is not bad at all for what is a fairly sophisticated piece of kit for the money. Also available in white and blue and in a women's cut.

Verdict

Sound summer jersey with a couple of good features – but not as innovative as some products in the Craft range

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Craft Performance Tour jersey

Size tested: L

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Maybe, but doesn't do much to stand out from the crowd

Would you recommend the product to a friend? As above

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 184cm  Weight: 74kg

I usually ride:   My best bike is:

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, mtb,

 

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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