Morvélo Daze womens jersey

Female cyclists are a picky and notoriously fickle bunch to please. They don’t seem to be able to agree on whether they want to look gnarly or cute on a bike; whether they want to draw attention to their gender or be treated as one of the boys. They don’t even know if they want to be called women, girls, ladies, or something else entirely, but the one thing that’s certain is that women who ride bikes, don’t like pink kit – apart from those that do like pink kit…

You can therefore see why I’m going to skip straight past the aesthetics of this jersey – which I happen to rather like, by the way, despite it including not one but two shades of pink among other summery, ice-cream shades – and move straight to the technical detail. If you’re anything like the girls I ride with, then you’ll look at the picture, decide you love or hate it and that will be that (though it’s probably worth noting that if you don’t like this one, there are two other designs to pass judgement on). If, however, you’re as interested in the technical details and performance of a garment as you are in its appearance then read on, because although this is Morvélo’s first foray into women’s riding gear it’s pretty much right first time.

The fit is lovely, with some nice details that make all the difference. A couple of inches of reflective material along the lower edge of the pockets, subtle but placed to be visible even if you’re wearing a pack; a properly tall collar that hugs neatly against the back of your neck. The hem has neither gripper nor elastic to catch on your shorts and the shape’s not so nipped-in that it looks dumb with baggies either. There’s enough length in the sleeves to give plenty of protection for upper arms/match up neatly with arm warmers and enough in the torso to keep tummies covered.

The matte finish fabric is tidy enough, though it’s picked up a few bramble snags in the places you’d expect. I can’t really vouch for the claimed BioActive treatment that’s been applied to the polyester – the jersey doesn’t stink despite being in heavy rotation but then I wash my jerseys every time I wear them (apparently this isn’t necessarily common practice among those who ride bikes) so nasty microbes don’t really get chance to make themselves at home…

Lastly, Morvélo’s designer wins extra love for not scrimping on the pockets and sewing in a nice, deep, evenly-spaced three across the back. Girls like pocket equilibrium too and you just can’t get things hanging straight with only two. There’s a discrete fourth zip pocket for your house keys/cake money, too – and while we’re on the subject of zips I’m really, really looking forward for it to be warm enough to make proper use of the full-length zip. There’s nothing quite like tackling a long climb with your jersey fluttering around your ribs to make you feel both gnarly and cute at the same time. Now that’s a tall order.

Overall: Superb cut and features make this one of my favourite jerseys. Now all we need is a summer to go with it.

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