Cycling Fabric Choose

Many cycling jerseys use different fabrics in different areas, such as more breathable mesh under the armpits

Most cycling jerseys are made of some sort of synthetic fabric that’s designed to quickly carry sweat away from your skin so it can evaporate from the outside of the jersey.

This is where cycling jerseys really beat your cotton t-shirt. Cotton soaks up moisture and retains it next to your skin. That water cools down in the breeze and makes you feel chilly unless the weather is very hot. Even then, it can still leave you too cold when you stop riding.

By moving sweat away from your skin, then, jersey fabrics help maintain a constant temperature.

One natural material that works well in cycling jerseys is wool, especially fine Merino wool. Wool is still warm when it’s wet, but surprisingly comfortable in warm weather too. Pong-causing bacteria grows far more slowly on wool than on synthetics, so a wool jersey can be worn multiple times between washes before it gets smelly. That makes wool popular with commuting cyclists who don’t want to have to wash a bunch of cycling jerseys every week.

Synthetic cycling jerseys fabrics deal with the pong problem by coating the fibres so that bacteria can’t take hold. Repeated washing gradually removes this coating, so synthetic cycling jerseys tend to get smellier more quickly as they get older. Eventually their ability to resist getting whiffy will be so poor that your loved ones won’t want you in the house straight after a ride. That’s a clue you need to buy a new cycling jersey.