Podia Merino Long Sleeved Jersey

As the weather slowly but surely warms up, it comes time to put aside the heavy winter jacket or softshell and switch to a lighter weight long-sleeve jersey. This new Podia Merino Long Sleeve Jersey is a really good pick, with a lovely softness to the material backed up by a good, if small, fit and nice understated styling.

• Pros: Comfortable, fits well, looks great, nice details
• Con: Price sets it apart the stiff competition

Podia isn't a name you'll likely be familiar with. It's a brand that started out as a cycling travel blog and grew to produce snazzily designed socks, before developing a small but focused range of clothing. This new long-sleeve jersey has been a while in the works and Podia is proud of what it has achieved. Based on my testing, it has every right to: it's a lovely thing.

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The jersey is made from 165g weight Sportwool, a blend of merino wool (33%) and polyester (67%), the type of which was made hugely popular by Rapha over 10 years ago and has been used by dozens of clothing brands since.

It's a good material for a cycling jersey: luxuriously soft next to the skin and itch-free, odour resistant, wicks sweat and copes with a wide range of temperatures, resisting that horrible clammy feeling when it gets warm.

I tested a medium (it's me in the photos) but the sizing is closer to a small from many other clothing brands, so it's definitely taking the racy Italian approach when ordering. If you're anything but a racing snake you might want to consider sizing up. There is a handy size chart on the website.

Get the size right, as I did, and the cut of the jersey is fantastic. It hugs the torso nicely with no excess fabric to flap in the spring breeze, is well shaped around the shoulders, and the sleeves are a perfect length. Spot on. It's nice when you pull on a new jersey and it just feels right straight away. It makes you want to just get on your bike and ride.

There isn't a huge amount of features, but those there are I really like, such as the angled cuffs to give better coverage when your arms are stretched out in front of you. The tail is dropped as well, and to help the fit and prevent the rear sliding up there's silicone gripper tape lining the rear section of the hem.

Taking care of visibility on late evening rides is a generous amount of reflective tape across the top and bottom of the pockets. I like this very much – too many long-sleeve jerseys don't make enough effort, surprising for a top that is probably going to be worn on evening rides after work.

A high-quality YKK Vislon 4VS Cam-lock zipper (that's quite a mouthful) is smooth and nice to use, the zip puller locking down so it doesn't jangle about, while the zip garage stops it irritating your skin or getting caught in your beard.

Three rear pockets provide all the cargo capacity you need for a day's ride. You can get an inner tube, pump, smartphone and a couple of bars/gels in there quite easily, and a lightweight jacket or gilet if you pack carefully. I like the fact that it also has a zipped pocket for keeping the house/car keys safe.

The jersey's performance is very good. Worn over a short-sleeve baselayer it provides good warmth for chilly early morning rides, and it copes nicely when you turn the heat/intensity up. When you do get a sweat on, the material dries out quickly, making it ideal for mixed tempo or long rides in the hills.

It's really comfortable and, in my opinion, good looking, plus it doesn't need any special care when washing. Durability thus far has been good too.

The only downer is it costs €135 (roughly £117) and that's at the thick end of the merino-based long-sleeve jersey wedge. You can definitely pay a lot less. Then again, it's a lot nicer than many jerseys costing half the price, and really needs to go up against the recently reviewed PEdAL ED Essential Jersey or the Rapha Classic Long Sleeve II jersey, both of which cost about the same and offer similar levels of quality, design and performance.

> Buyer's Guide: 10 of the best long-sleeve cycling jerseys

If you want more colour choice, there's the Rapha Core Long Sleeve jersey for £85 that we've not yet tested, which comes in seven colours. If what you crave is a jersey with more wind protection, the Sportful R&D Strato jacket at £120 is worth a closer look. You basically get a gilet for an extra three quid!

Still, if you can get past the price of the Podia, there's a lot to like. It's stylish, fits well provided you get the right size, has lots of nice features and performs brilliantly on the bike. I can't wait to see what else Podia has up its sleeve.

Verdict

Very nicely designed and comfortable merino-based top, but it's up against some well-established rivals