Muxu Ride shirt

Although it doesn’t look cycle-specific to the untrained eye, the Ride shirt is a good choice for scooting around city streets in summer.

It’s cut close to the body so it doesn’t wave about uncontrollably as soon as you hit 10mph, and it doesn’t feel too tight either thanks to a little stretchy elastane in the fabric and an unobtrusive pleat behind each shoulder. These folds actually work really well to give you a bit of extra comfort when you’re stretched out to the bars.

The rear is extended slightly to keep your lower back covered – and that certainly doesn’t look out of place on a collared shirt – while the seams are positioned away from the top of your shoulders so there’s no uncomfortable pressure point up there if you use a courier bag, for example. You get a pocket hidden in the seam on either side of the chest and another zipped one around the back – again disguised in a seam – that comes complete with a hole for plumbing your ipod lead internally. It’ll hold your keys, cash, mobile and other essential gubbins easily enough.

This isn’t a shirt you want to pedal too hard in, though. Apart from the elastane (4%), the fabric is cotton, and although that feels great next to your skin when you’re off the bike or just cruising about slowly, work up any sort of a sweat and it gets damp and doesn’t dry very quickly. Plus, in the blue (shown) and stone (browny grey) colour options, it shows. Dark patches really aren’t a good look.

So, this is a good shirt for its intended purpose – which is riding around town at a sedate pace, maybe to work or to get a coffee, and then wearing for the rest of the day when you’re off the bike too. But anything more strenuous than that and the lack of a technical fabric will leave you uncomfortable. For that reason, it lacks the versatility of Muxu's Ride Stripe Polo Shirt.

Verdict

Some useful bike-specific features but the lack of a technical fabric limits its versatility