Lusso Classico Short Sleeved Jersey

The Lusso Classico jersey is about as simple as it gets, with only a few frills to set it apart. It makes a good fist of it, though.

I've tested quite a few jerseys of this type: simple construction, with the essentials well taken care of so you know what you're getting when you spend 50 of your hard-earned pounds. It's hard to set it apart from the countless club-style jerseys on the market, but here's the lowdown because Lusso have done it well.

First off, you get a slim cut without being restrictive very much in the 'club' style – this is no aero jersey. Lusso call the polyester blend 'MT.1' fabric but it's almost precisely the same as any other general use jersey fabric available. Think about comparing supermarket own-brand sausages; they're going to be largely the same when you strip back the marketing, and it's the same with the threads used here.

Although it's widely used, the downside is that it snags easily on rough edges. I have it now on my lap, and already I've caught a thread on the wood keyboard drawer in the process of writing this review. This is par for the course with this kind of fabric, but goes to show how easy it would be to catch it on café stop furniture, for example.

Where the Classico outstrips even cheaper jerseys is in the arm cuffs, which take the form of a flat textured gripper instead of a stitched edge. In a jersey such as this, I don't see the aero benefit you might have on a more performance-cut jersey, but it is comfortable if you prefer this kind of cuff. Certainly, it doesn't move anywhere while riding, nor chafe. The cuffs reach down about halfway down the bicep, for the record.

There's plenty of space in the midriff for more relaxed riders, and the jersey can be sized up or down to meet your specific needs. A large is perfect on me, which matches up with other jerseys of 'normal' sizing.

The rear is the only other area where extra machining has gone into the jersey. You'll find three reasonably-sized pockets there, alongside a zipped compartment on the edge of the rightmost pocket. It's not water proof (it's made of the same polyester as the rest of the jersey), but will at least keep your keys safe from spilling out.

A silicone gripper completes the back in tandem with an elasticated band, which helps keep the jersey in place. The full-length zip is decent quality and not likely to fail any time soon. All-in-all, nothing overly positive or negative to say.

The jersey is on offer in two colours, blue and green, with added design flourishes such as stripes on the cuffs, Lusso branding and a button motifs on the rear pockets. And, that's your lot.

Verdict

Decent, comfortable mid-priced jersey