Orro Arm Warmers

These Orro Arm Warmers are comfortable, light chill-fighters with some nice extra details, but they do seem to come up slightly small.

Dagnabbit, where did summer go? One day we're sweltering even at 8am and a week later it's cool enough for thermal baselayers – and arm warmers, such as these from Sussex bike brand Orro.

It was 16°C when I set off this morning, and I was glad of a baselayer and these arm warmers, which are made in Italy from a brushed-back 'Roubaix' style Lycra. I was still comfortable in them two hours later even though the sun had come out and my Garmin optimistically read the temperature as 23°C.

They roll up to about the size of a fist, so it's easy to pop them in your jersey pocket when the day warms up. That does mean they don't provide lots of insulation; they keep the chill off, but when it gets down to around 10°C it's definitely going to be time for a proper thick long-sleever.

There's not really much you can add to the basic idea of arm warmers, but Orro has come up with a couple of pleasing details. There are little reflective tabs near the wrist to help with visibility when signalling, and the top cuffs have a pattern of tiny silicone dots to help hold them up.

That wasn't necessary with my size M samples, though, which were very snug. I don't have especially big arms, but I'd probably have been better off with size L, the largest Orro offers. These samples fitted my partner's 17-year-old daughter who's as lean as you'd expect a teenager to be who mostly eats cereals and has just gone through a growth spurt to 178cm.

Those silicone dots are printed on very thin fabric that's a bit of a pain to get in place as it tends to roll over.

A less important niggle is that the labels are quite large and stiff, therefore a bit uncomfortable. You're supposed to cut them off, though, as indicated by the dotted line and scissor symbol, so go right ahead and do that, they'll be a lot comfier for it.

Unlike some, there's no water-repellency here; these arm warmers are just for keeping you warm.

> Buyer’s Guide: 20 of the best arm and leg warmers

You can pay as little as a tenner for arm warmers and as much as £50, so the RRP of the Orro warmers is right in the middle. They're actually £23.99 at the moment from Orro and Wiggle/Chain Reaction. That's a decent price because even if they don't have the water-resistance of spendier arm warmers, they're nicely shaped and the reflective tabs should be more durable than the printed-on reflectives of many rivals.

Who should buy Orro Arm Warmers?

Anyone who's noticed that the mornings are getting too chilly for bare arms but wants to carry on using their favourite short-sleeve jersey for a bit longer.

Verdict

Good arm warmers with reflective tabs, but sized a bit snug