Rivelo Mens Felcott Jersey

Warm and comfortable for steady winter miles, the Rivelo Felcott long-sleeve jersey is a decent option even at RRP. To spend £100 you need to be sure of its credentials, so I'll cover the positives first, of which there are plenty...

The jersey is lined with a thermofleece interior throughout, with a lightly water resistant (if not windproof) polyester on the outside. It's warm, bordering on toasty if you wear it as part of a layered wardrobe, and is very capable of insulating you from the cold.

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The fit is relaxed – slim in nature, but flexible enough just in case you're carrying a little extra timber, the result of a more docile winter training programme perhaps, or just Christmas excess – with plenty of space in the sleeves and stretch in the fabric to cater for genuinely bigger riders too. It's very comfortable over long rides – some four hours plus during my test rides – as well as being a useful commuter jersey.

The jersey takes Rivelo's purple and red colourway to its heart, with a very stylish design throughout. In fact, when teamed with Rivelo's Headley 3/4 bib tights, I got one or two admiring questions from fellow riders about the brand and the quality of the kit, signifying the premium look it emits. Extra design flourishes include a right shoulder logo, as well as a reflective tab on the rear pocket for extra visibility in dank conditions. 

Other positive features? It's got three rear pockets, a useful fourth pocket on the hip, plus a zipped key compartment, and a silicone gripper at the rear to hold the jersey in place, which is just as well considering the slightly relaxed nature of the slim cut.

The left and right rear pockets are a touch narrow, though, which makes reaching into them – especially with fingered gloves – a touch tricky at times. The offset of this is the extra capacity in the middle pocket, but that's slightly more difficult to reach anyway due to its location. I'd prefer to see capacity more evenly distributed across the back.

Still, this is a minor quibble, and the jersey lives up to Rivelo's usual good standards of quality and sturdy reliability. Through my usual 40-degree delicate wash it returns perfectly, and the fleece remains as soft as when first worn. It's also resilient against snaggy wooden garden furniture, and the zips and flatlock seams are well made all-round.

> Buyer's Guide: The best winter cycling jerseys

Weaknesses other than the small things already mentioned? Just one of note: even though Rivelo calls them 'stretch cuffs', they weren't elasticated – strange in a garment that has so much stretch – which means the sleeves tend not to retain their position over the course of a ride, especially when teamed up with a jacket over the top.

And that's your lot with the Felcott jersey. An all-round very good effort from the British company, though not without some small flaws. It looks like a £100 jersey and behaves like one for the vast majority of the time.

Verdict

A very good all-rounder that'll keep you warm from autumn through to spring