Chapeau! Club Jersey

The Chapeau! Club Jersey brings together great styling, fit and performance into one reasonably priced package, although it would be nice to have a zip pocket and silicone gripper.

The Club is Chapeau!'s lightweight jersey offering, designed for hot weather rides but also incorporating some aero elements.

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As with all hot weather clothing, the most important element is heat management and wicking. Here the jersey is pretty good: while doing 100km in 28°C heat I found that, although I was certainly sweating, it was wicked away and you could feel a breeze running through the fabric at higher speed. This comes from a good choice of fabrics, with the front and back using a relatively porous (and slightly see-through) material that allows a breeze through without letting in enough sun to burn your skin.

The well-made full-length YKK zipper also came in very useful for additional venting when the heat really began to climb.

This heat management is good for comfort, and other elements in the jersey help here too, with a label-less design meaning there is little to chafe against. Chapeau! hasn't used flatlock stitching, but in the 50+ hours I had this jersey on my back over the review period I didn't notice any discomfort.

It's a close-fitting jersey, more aero than casual – especially the longer sleeves – although it's not what you would traditionally call an aero design. The medium I reviewed sized up well and as I would expect from a British kit manufacturer – I'm large in Italian/performance gear and medium in most others, so this seems about right.

It's a good looking jersey, with the raglan sleeves giving it a strong shape, combined with the retro styling and contrasting sleeve cuffs. There is also a nod to visibility with the 50p sized Chapeau! button on the back made of a reflective material, which helps slightly in low light.

At £69.99 it's a good price for the quality, and about where I would expect it to sit on the scale. Chapeau! has invested well in the materials, but it does lack some modern details you'll find in more expensive jerseys, such as a zip garage at the top of the zip, silicone gripper on the hem, and a zippable pocket in addition to the three already on the rear. None of these really impact on day-to-day use, but they would still be nice to have. With no silicone gripper it rode up a little when nothing was in the pockets, but nothing too major.

> Buyer's Guide: 15 of the best summer jerseys

All in, I really like this jersey. It looks great, wicks moisture well and manages heat adequately thanks to the good choice of material, but to take it to the next level I'd like to see some of those more common modern trappings included.

Verdict

A nice looking jersey, with some good material and design choices from the British company