Castelli Prologo jersey

The Castelli Prologo HD jersey is a highly breathable option for the warm weather.

Like most cycling jerseys these days, the Prologo is made from polyester but the Stratus fabric is a little unusual in that it's highly textured. It's a closed mesh and only the raised sections on the inner face actually touch your skin, the recessed bits being held off the surface slightly.

The idea is that this improves the fabric's wicking performance when you sweat, the moisture getting drawn away from your skin and spread on the outer layer of the fabric where it can evaporate away.

Castelli have also given the fabric a Prosecco treatment – no, don't be daft, not the sparkling wine, it's a hydrophilic technology that's soaked into the fabric at production. It's intended to pull water off your skin and distribute it over a large area to dry faster.

Castelli reckon the treatment will last about two years based on average use and typical storage. I've taken a long time to get my review done but not two years so I couldn't tell you how accurate this is. I used this jersey towards the end of last summer and at the start of this one and it's still performing well. You also get a mesh insert across the back of the shoulders and down the middle of your back, full of tiny perforations, to help further with breathability.

In use, it's impossible to tell which aspect of the design is doing what, but the Prologo jersey certainly shifts sweat well. Even when you do get it wet as you lay down the law on a steep climb, it doesn't cling like some. Rather than sticking to you, it moves about and that helps it dry quickly.

The 35cm long zip is a bonus in the warm weather performance too. It reaches down to about midway between the sternum and navel on me, allowing lots of ventilation. The zip puller is only small but, this being very much a summer jersey, you're unlikely to use it with full finger gloves so that isn't going to be an issue.

The fabrics are stretchy, especially widthwise, so a close fit doesn't result in any discomfort while the seams are standard rather than flatlock-stitched. You'd have to be a pretty sensitive soul to be particularly bothered by them, though. Elasticated binding holds the hem in, and although there's no gripper inside there, I didn't have any problems with it riding up.

As well as the three usual rear pockets you get an additional zipped one for valuables – keys, phone and whatnot – and a little reflective tab back there to help with evening visibility.

Castelli reckon this jersey is suitable for temperatures of 15-30°C. I'll go with that... not that it has been 30°C around these parts so far this year, and it's not likely to, but that seems a reasonable range.

Verdict

Highly breathable jersey for keeping you comfortable on hot summer rides.