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Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey

8
£99.99

VERDICT:

8
10
A great addition to your cycling wardrobe thanks to excellent temperature control
Weight: 
278g
Contact: 

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The Merino Long Sleeve Jersey from Manchester-based Lusso has just the right amount of weight to the fabric to suit those chilly autumn days right through to the really cold winter ones when used as part of a layering system. It's warm, comfortable and excellently made.

  • Pros: Top quality craftsmanship, highly breathable
  • Cons: Only available in black, and could do with a few extra reflectives

In the autumn or spring, temperatures can change quite a bit throughout a ride especially if you head off early in the morning when the frost is clinging to the cars before the sun arrives to melt it away. It's these kind of conditions where the Lusso is absolutely spot on.

> Buy this online here

Lusso has added merino to the mix – it makes up 35 per cent of the material's blend to be precise – and it's a wool that is well known for its insulating properties as well as offering great breathability.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - back.jpg

Heading out the door with the thermometer nudging -1°C and a thin summer baselayer on underneath, I wouldn't say I was exactly toasty but I was much warmer than I really should have been considering just how thin this jersey is.

After a few minutes of riding, the fleece-backed fabric seemed to be trapping my bodyheat and I was very comfortable indeed. The material seems to do a good job of keeping the windchill out too.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - riding.jpg

As the sunshine started to warm things up to about 12°C, I certainly noticed the shift in temperature but never got overly sweaty unless really pushing the pace. In fact I was perfectly comfortable up until about 15°C before I found things a little hot. The heat is more pronounced on very sunny days because of the jacket being black.

At the other end of the scale, you could easily wear this jersey below freezing by adding a thicker winter baselayer or wearing it under a jacket, especially as it's of such little bulk. It all depends how well your body deals with the elements.

> Buyer's Guide: 12 of the best winter cycling jerseys

The latest designs we've seen coming in from Lusso are very much performance orientated, offering a close fit and cut very much to suit a rider leaning forward in the drops. That's not to say you need to be a racer to benefit. I've always found Lusso's sizing to be very realistic and quite flattering too, if you aren't the slimmest.

Starting at the top, you get a reasonably high neck to stop draughts and there is also a housing for the full zip to tuck into, keeping it away from your neck.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - chest.jpg

You get plenty of length in the sleeves which is good as there is nothing more irritating than finding a 1cm gap of exposed skin between your cuff and glove. The cuff itself is slightly elasticated to keep it in position.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - cuff.jpg

The hem is held in place by an elasticated gripper with added silicone dots and it works very well. I never had it ride up and the tail is nicely dropped to give your lower back plenty of coverage.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - gripper.jpg

At the rear you get three traditional pockets which are a nice size. You can easily fit a large phone in there and the material is pretty taut as well, so you don't get much sag when they are loaded up.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - pockets.jpg

On the back of the right hand pocket there is also a zipped valuables one, ideal for keys, cash and a debit card for instance, and next to it on the right of the jersey you'll find a smaller fifth pocket, which is ideal for an energy bar or gel.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - pocket zipped.jpg

I know from reading previous comments on clothing reviews that a lot of you like to have a bit of colour, especially on kit designed for use through the winter, so the fact that the Merino Long Sleeve is only available in black might put some of you off. For me it's not a major concern because if it's overcast or dull I tend to be using lights on the bike anyway.

If you do ride in the dark, there are a few reflective details: a strip running vertically from the collar to the bottom of the shoulders, one on the chest, and another at the side on the fifth pocket.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - reflective 2.jpg

The Lusso logos are also reflective. It's better than most of the token offerings we see on a lot of jerseys, but personally I wouldn't have minded a bit more on or below the rear pockets similar to Lusso's excellent Repel Corsa Jersey V2.

Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey - reflective 1.jpg

When it comes to pricing, against its rivals I'd say £100 is a pretty good deal. The merino-based PEdAL ED Essential jersey is £105, and the Podia Merino long-sleeved jersey is £117.

They're both very nice jerseys, but then so is the Lusso. The quality of the fabric is very good, it's warm and comfortable, plus the attention to detail and manufacturing is neat and tidy.

If you can cope with wearing black in the winter then you'll certainly get a lot of use out of the Lusso.

Verdict

A great addition to your cycling wardrobe thanks to excellent temperature control

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Lusso Merino Long Sleeve Jersey

Size tested: Medium

Tell us what the product is for

Lusso says, "The Lusso Merino Jersey has been designed to be a close fitting garment that still retains its breathability, featuring odour resistance and high wickability so you don't overheat even on the hardest rides.

This Merino/Polyester mix retains its shape and prevents sagging, combining the best of what both nature and science have to offer.

Its Super soft and comfortable against the skin

Designed, cut, sewn and packaged in Manchester"

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

35% Merino / 65% Polyester

4 Rear Pockets ( 1 zipped)

Full Front Zip

High Wicking

Breathable

Odour Resistant

Mid-Weight Fabric

Classic Styling

SC9 Hem Gripper

Reflective Element at Rear

Zip Flap

Flat Lock and Over Lock Stitching

Made in Manchester

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for fit:
 
8/10
Rate the product for sizing:
 
8/10

Absolutely spot on with Lusso's size guide.

Rate the product for weight:
 
8/10
Rate the product for comfort:
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

Sometimes you need to be a little careful with washing merino based items because of shrinkage, but I had no such issues here.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Really good at regulating your body temperature, which makes it ideal for a lot of different conditions.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Great fit and the fabric is very good at its job.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Some people will like more colour options.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

It's competitive against a lot of rivals – less than PEdAL ED and Podia's merino offerings.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

Not cheap but a decent price compared with rivals, and offers excellent performance: overall I'd say it's very good, and that's an 8.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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5 comments

Avatar
StraelGuy | 5 years ago
1 like

I think it is largely related to customer demographics, you're spot on. An awful lot of cyclists seem to be comfortably off middle aged men and companies aren't daft. They see this and market accordingly.

Avatar
StraelGuy | 5 years ago
0 likes

Hmm... My long sleeved Rapha finest grade merino underlayer was only £80, £100 for largely synthetic .

Avatar
Dingaling | 5 years ago
1 like

I won't be buying it. 100 quid for 65% plastic! No thanks. I will stick to my Smartwool NTS jerseys -100% merino wool, machine washable and they stand up to the dryer.

Avatar
Eton Rifle replied to Dingaling | 5 years ago
0 likes
Dingaling wrote:

I won't be buying it. 100 quid for 65% plastic! No thanks. I will stick to my Smartwool NTS jerseys -100% merino wool, machine washable and they stand up to the dryer.

Yeah, looks like another example of the pricing by sector strategy that so many sellers use.  Goretex is another example.  The same jacket will be marketed at hill walkers at £200, cyclists at £300 and fly fishermen at £400 (note the prevalence of middle-aged men with too much money in the latter two groups). 

I'm really struggling to see what I'm paying £100 for for a garment with only 35% Merino; I've recently bought a 100% Merino base layer top (Dhb) for £24.

Avatar
Freddy56 | 5 years ago
0 likes

Even the BJH (black jersey haters) unmoved by this?

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