Giro New Road Crew Pockets SS Jersey

When I was a boy, New Road was the biggest climb in my village, a vertiginous 1.2km averaging 5% that left the younger, feebler me reaching for my inhaler by the top. By the time you'd conquered the hill, fully 60 metres or so higher than when you started, you had passed most of the largest and most expensive houses in the village - this was very much the posh end of the village. It seems apt to me, then, that Giro is using the New Road designation for its collection of high-end casual cycling gear. You wouldn't catch those of us from the other end of town paying £70 for a posh t-shirt.

The New Road range was launched at Eurobike last year, aimed at those who want to ride a bike in comfort while looking casual. Available in a mix of muted colours with the odd bright orange or red piece thrown in, the range includes shorts, gilets, jackets and some merino-mix t-shirts, sorry, jerseys like this one. It's a pale "China" blue with grey sections, and is also available in black, also with grey sections. I like the black colourway better, but both are pretty muted, with the subtlest of branding - just a tiny red tag on the left hip.

As you'll know by now, merino wool is a popular choice for its combination of comfort, warmth and its ability to wick moisture away from the skin. It's also commonly considered to have anti-bacterial properties which allow it to remain odour-free for longer, when compared to purely man-made fibres. Merino gear tends to be more expensive than man-made, and some merino costs more than others - it is available in different grades at different price points. Here a fairly modest 21% of merino is used with the remainder being polyester, but the resultant fabric is soft and very comfortable. In fact I found this was a great pyjama top; you just have to remember to take the spare inner tube and used gel wrappers out of the pockets first.

The three pockets at the rear are of a decent size and with elasticated openings. Giro has taken out a trademark on its Skeletal Pocket Construction, a system designed to help stabilise the contents of the pockets. This is a good idea as the merino/polyester fabric is loose-fitting and quite stretchy. The SPC™ incorporates a clear and less-stretchy plastic tape in the seams that run up the back of the jersey and those between the pockets. You can't see it unless you peer closely at the seams inside the jersey or the insides of the pockets. The idea is that this helps spread the weight of whatever you've stashed in the pockets up to your shoulders.

When riding with the pockets loaded I had the impression that the system works - you don't feel too much bouncing around at the back, even with the loose fit. That said, this is cut longer than most jerseys, so when I paired it with the insulated vest from the same Giro range (review coming soon), the loaded up jersey pockets were well below the bottom of the gilet, which doesn't look very good. If you want something that looks less like a t-shirt, Giro's Ride Jersey is an option: more fitted, with a full-length zip and a higher merino content (and a higher price).

I found the Crew Pockets jersey was really comfortable on and off the bike, and it's sufficiently casual that I was happy to wear it all day long even if I wasn't riding. The wicking properties of merino are present and correct; it remains comfortable against the skin even when you're going hard enough to work up a sweat. It's warmer than most short-sleeve jerseys, so works well for nipping into town on a sunny autumn day. The seams are flatlocked, which helps with comfort particularly if you're carrying a bag. If you're carrying a bag, though, do you really need those pockets? Just a thought.

Giro say that the more casual pieces from the New Road collection are aimed at cyclists who want bike-friendly gear that feels great on a bike without the lycra looks. They maintain that it's for more than just a short commute, that the New Road range can be used for longer rides where you're wanting to look casual rather than get there as fast as possible. There's certainly a market for premium-priced casual cycling wear, as Vulpine and Rapha have proved in recent years. I wouldn't wear this jersey on a club run though, whatever Giro say.

There are plenty of race-cut technical short-sleeve jerseys for £70 or even quite a lot more, so this is a long way from being the most expensive jersey you can buy. I think for some, it will be the fact that it looks more like a t-shirt that will prove a bigger obstacle. Really good jerseys can justify their price because a lot of work has gone into making them fit perfectly, and because some real effort has gone into a stylish design. In my head, at least, a £70 jersey is a treat and a £70 t-shirt is a mockery. On the styling front, there's not a lot to get excited about here either. Giro makes some really excellent technical kit - its shoes and helmets are top-drawer - and has made a real effort to take on the likes of Rapha and Vulpine in the casual cycling gear market. Some of its range hit the target - I think the lace-up shoes look brilliant - but a jersey that looks like a t-shirt just doesn't really work for me, especially at this price.

Verdict

Very comfortable loose-cut merino tee with pockets, but pricey