Sundried Century Men’s Long Sleeve Cycle Jersey

The Sundried Century Men's Long Sleeve Cycle Jersey gives a good close and comfortable fit, and its thickish fabric breathes well and wicks decently too. The sleeves are very short, though – they barely meet with winter gloves, never mind summer ones.

Sundried's size guide is easy to misread: glancing at 'chest circumference' made me think I absolutely need a medium, but in fact that measurement is of the actual jersey itself. There's a row below telling you what size chest it actually fits, +/- 4cm. It turns out that while I officially can fit a medium, I could also officially fit a large – I'm bang between the sizes with my 100cm chest.

> Buy now: Sundried Century Men’s Long Sleeve Cycle Jersey for £50 from Sundried

I'm telling you all this because, while I actually really liked the fit of the medium in almost every way, I could seriously use the extra 2cm of arm length from the large.

That said, even with another 2cm the sleeves wouldn't sit where I'd like. The cuffs tend to settle around 6-7cm above my wrist, and feel like they'd ride higher if the sleeves themselves weren't so narrow. That leaves a big gap to any summer gloves, and wouldn't even reliably meet with winter ones.

Though the specs say silicone grippers 'prevent the arms from riding up', there's no silicone in the cuffs. They're just elastic. And while we're on the subject of specs, they also say this is 92% polyester and 8% spandex, but inside the collar it says: 100% polyester. "Spandex," as Shakespeare once wrote, "wherefore art thou?"

On the upside, if you're layering this when it's properly cold, the short sleeves could actually be useful, as squeezing multiple cuffs into gloves isn't always easy. Whatever, read the size chart carefully and size up if you're at the top of a range.

Elsewhere, as I said, the fit is very good – it leaves nothing to flap anywhere, but doesn't feel restrictive even the though the fabric is on the thicker side and may or may not contain spandex.

I found it breathes effectively too, even under hard efforts on sustained, steep climbs, and wicks well enough – it's not amazing, but it shifts moisture and lets it evaporate perfectly acceptably for the price and fabric weight. Generally, this top is just right for coolish, overcast days where short sleeves aren't enough but more than one layer is too much.

It's certainly not windproof, but it's thick enough to keep a little bit of the chill off on descents. The body is good and long with an effective drop to the tail, and the grippy grippers grip grippily.

Although it's a little on the dark side for please-don't-kill-me visibility, I personally think it's pretty stylish for a budget top and it does at least have some highlights – the red band down the spine and broad reflective topping to the pockets should help a little.

Talking of pockets, there are three, of about the usual size and depth, and they stretch a bit and hold stuff. They're just fine. The rubbery 3D Sundried logo on the middle one is a nice touch.

Value

At £50 this is at the cheaper end of things – the Rapha Men's Pro Team LS Thermal jersey does a similar sort of thing yet costs £160, for instance, up a tenner since Matt tested it, and frankly it isn't even thermal either.

However, even £50 isn't the cheapest option, with both the Triban Men's Mid-Season Long-Sleeved Road Cycling Jersey RC500 and the dhb Long Sleeve Jersey being £35. Actually, the RC500 is an entire penny less than that, and £5 less than when we reviewed it.

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Note the RC500 is actually fleece lined so a bit warmer than this Sundried, while the dhb is not cut as slim and, if anything, is breezier and cooler (read our review here).

Don't go thinking this is overpriced at £50, though. The Proviz Classic Men's Podium Long Sleeve Cycling Jersey also has a pretty 'budget' feel and is £79.99. I reviewed it last year and it's very comfy and warm, but actually has the opposite problem to the Sundried in that its arms are absurdly long. If you don't mind that and the slightly cheap-feeling finish, though, it's a good contender.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an effective, useful jersey with a comfortable and flap-free fit, and if you ask me it looks more expensive than it is. The arms really are rather short, but if that's not going to bother you it definitely feels worth the asking price.

Verdict

Slim, comfortable and reliably effective, but the very short sleeves might bother you