Bontrager Race Hooded Long Sleeve Jersey

Bontrager’s clothing line has been expanding somewhat in recent years to include a wide variety of different and functional apparel pieces. In addition to race and sport gear, the range has expanded to include commuting specific garments with a touch of style and flair. And this has also now fed back into the sporty stuff as well. Here we take a look at one such garment, the rather catchy named Race Hooded Long Sleeve Jersey.

Essentially a long-sleeve hooded base layer with a three-quarter zip, it doesn’t look like much at first. It’s made from a light thermal fabric and can be worn as either a long sleeve jersey or as a base layer. The design is fairly minimal coming in "any colour as long as it’s black", and there’s a small, screen-printed, red Bonty ‘B’ on the chest; that’s your lot.

The very long sleeves feature thumb holes which stop them riding up and giving you drafty wrists on particularly cold days, and we found them perfectly comfortable even with gloves over the top, although if you’re gloves are a little tight you might struggle. The sleeves cover most of the palm and the back of your hand and you may even find you’re happy to ride gloveless as a result.

The Hood when down is very compact and doesn’t get in the way, even when wearing offroad with a hydration pack. When it’s up it’s more of a built in balaclava, covering the ears, cheeks and chin comfortably and it doesn’t interfere with the fit of a helmet.

The most impressive thing about the Race Hooded Jersey is the cut. It has a fit and tailored feel that belies its modest £45 price tag and it’s genuinely lovely to wear. The longer dropped hem cut make it feel more flattering to wear for those who are normally somewhat lycra self-conscious. And the hood seems to add to this flattering effect somewhat too. The lightweight thermal fabric is warm and soft on the inside and there’s no nasty scratchy or uncomfortable seams. It’s a fitted garment and the sizing came up good with the medium fitting this normally medium wearing tester perfectly.

It’s a versatile garment, and despite being ‘thermal’ it’s not overly thick and warm meaning you’ll most likely get use out of it all year round. In the cold of winter it’s a great first layer to build upon and with the hood down it’s a bit like wearing a Buff around your neck. On crisp spring days where the sky is bright but it’s still cool, it’s a great long-sleeve jersey as a single layer. And in the summer it’s great for cheeky, dusty night rides in the cool of the dark woods - or humming along county lanes in the dead of night on the road bike of course.

It’s pretty breathable as long as you get your layering right, although it can sweat up quite badly if you do get it wrong. It’s pretty resilient though having survived a few off road tumbles and at least one jersey-to-tree interface.

There’s a lot to like about the Bontrager Race Hooded Jersey, it looks good and feels even better to wear, and it’s got plenty of applications throughout the year given its weight and cut. At £45 it’s a total bargain given the quality of fit and you can easily pay a lot more for a poorer fitting, short-sleeve jersey. The hood and thumb holes are a nice touch and it’s not often you can spend this amount of money on a piece of technical cycle-wear and feel special in it. Nice job Bontrager!