Review – dhb Professional Long Sleeve Jersey

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If you are an Aldi cycle clothing fan you might wonder what on earth goes into making this dhb jersey so pricey at £64.99.  Then again, when you clock the whole range of cycle jerseys on offer these days, you realise it’s not that pricey.  In fact it is fairly mid range in terms of the cost.

Wiggle have kindly sent this jersey to review.  Notwithstanding this I am going to tell you what I genuinely think about this jersey. Please bear in mind I have tested this in March – often a month of chilly, cold winds and so I can’t really comment on the ability to handle high summer temperatures.

Description

As you can see, it’s a long sleeve cycling jersey.  It is from dhb’s professional range and this means it uses upmarket performance fabrics, has a leaner fit and a few other nice touches (see below).  The blurb on the website says it is from the professional range, so it’s exactly the same as the official Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling Team apparel.  The graphics and appearance are a matter of personal taste.

I got the medium size and it only weighs 192 grams, so pretty light.  First impressions are that it’s a fairly thin fabric so I wasn’t sure about warmth until I’d tried it out.  The jersey features a full length zip at the front and three drop pockets across the back, plus one additional zipped pocket.

Fabric

The fabric is manufactured by Tessport, an Italian company with only a basic website (but at least it’s stylish website).  The actual fabric is HydroFit which is described as being soft and light and having good wicking properties.

It is nice and smooth to the touch and quite stretchy, with a good amount of ‘give’ in all directions.  This makes it comfortable to wear and has some discreet flat seams inside.  It seems to be the same thickness all over and the design is printed on.

Importantly the fabric has an anti-bacterial treatment and I can tell you, this is a really important feature, at least in our house.  Anyone who uses technical fabrics will know how they develop a certain odour after a while which tends to linger even after being washed.  Well the anti-bacterial treatment does seem to help minimise the ‘smelly-helly’ effect but I think it’ll still benefit from being washed in the appropriate detergent (we recommend Halo).

The fit

This is where it starts to get interesting and I gave some thought before saying I would go for a medium size.  You need to clock this – the cut is designed for an athletic figure.  If you are particularly muscular or have a heavy build, probably best to go up from your usual size.  You need to bear this in mind if you’re carrying a spare tyre i.e. some extra weight around your midriff.  Even so this is designed to be a fairly close fit and this is important to make the most from the wicking abilities of the fabric.

I have already mentioned it has a certain amount of stretch and ‘give’ which could be welcome for anyone who is looking to lose a little weight.  When you’re wearing this without any base layer and it’s skin tight, it will reveal all the features of your physique and any adornments – I guess some of my readers will absolutely love this!  If you are more modest, you might like to go up a size.  Nevertheless, take care to get this right – avoid anything overly tight and certainly avoid a size which flaps around in the breeze.  This is simply not cool for a serious cyclist.

Helpfully the sleeves are quite long.  This is a really essential part of a cycling jersey and sadly some manufacturers skip this.  Likewise the tail is a little longer, also useful.  These features are just what you need when you’re leaning over the drops at speed.

Around the waist there are some little blobs of silicone type material that helps keep it in place and (mostly) stops the fabric from rolling up.  How much it might / might not roll up also depends on your body shape.  The wrists have a subtly elasticated band to keep the sleeves in place.

Construction, features

There is a full length YKK zip at the front which is almost hidden and neatly folds down at the top for comfort (i.e. so you’re not jabbing your throat with the top of the zip).  It’s not a bulky zip, so it won’t detract from the figure-hugging qualities of the jersey.

Pockets are really important and there are three, side by side, across the back.  With these you’ll have enough room for a handful of energy gels, kits, spare tube and so on.  On the outside of the middle pocket there is an additional pocket which is zipped (for extra security) and also has a water proof liner.  This is brilliant for keeping any papers, cash or your phone secure AND dry.  One word of advice, make sure you empty the pockets when you have it washed and you’ll need to dry inside the waterproof pocket with a small cloth.

There is a token gesture of some reflective bits but these are too subtle to make any difference.  This is a shame, I don’t think it would hurt to have a reflective band across the back, maybe just above the hem.

Performance, in use

I’ve already mentioned I have been trying this out in March. Although it’s a cycling jersey I used it for a 95 minute run today.  At 5 degrees it was fairly cool I didn’t wear anything underneath and thankfully I judged this about right.  Although it is a thin fabric, it kept me warm enough, even though my hands were really cold (wish I’d worn gloves!).  On the bike at this temperature I would normally have a couple of layers, so bear this in mind.  Likewise in the summer, you can probably just wear this on it’s own.

As my run was 12 miles I was out long enough to get properly warmed up and enough to build up a bit of a sweat.  The wicking performance was fine.

Overall

Overall I liked it.  The company dbh have a decent range of cycle specific clothing, pitched at different levels and I’ve had their stuff before without any complaints.

I was quite impressed by the design and performance and the look.  It is contemporary design and yet I don’t think it will look particularly dated over the next few years, not that I could care less about this anyway.  It’s bold but not too flashy.  Whether you like the look or not is simply a matter of personal taste I guess.  As mentioned above, some reflective bits wouldn’t go amiss.

At £64.99 it’s not cheap and yet being realistic, it is actually a mid-priced jersey.  There’s some nice touches (especially the good pockets) and the overall shape and design.  If you have a slim, lean figure, this jersey will look great on you.

Want a closer look? Click here for the relevant Wiggle page