Velocio Luxe Merino Jersey review: a short sleeved jersey with added warmth

Based in New England, Velocio has been around since 2013, making a name for itself for high-quality yet subtle and modern-looking products for road, gravel and mountain biking. Velocio is also part of the 1% for the Planet partnership and so donates 1% of annual sales to designated environmental groups.

Much of their extensive clothing collection occupies a kind of mid-ground between road race and gravel adventure; products that could stand up to a week-long off-road epic but also wouldn’t look out of place on the weekly chaingang.

The Luxe Merino jersey is just such a piece.

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Construction

Unsurprisingly, the Luxe Merino Jersey is made mainly from wool. Or at least 71% of it is to be exact, coupled with 18% Polyamide for durability and 11% Elastane for fit. The rear of the jersey uses a lighter, more open weave compared with the heavier-weight main body and sleeve material.

Inside the three rear pockets is a smooth synthetic liner to help them retain structure, and also to aid insertion and removal of gubbins. Cleverley, there is a silicone gripper hidden under the inside lip of each pocket, which helps to prevent items from getting ejected, but doesn’t grab at them on the way in. The silicone gripper around the bottom hem is similarly sticky to keep the jersey from riding up or moving around.

A simple but neat touch is that the scratchy care label is attached to the inside of the jersey by a small tab of soft cloth, so that when you cut the label out (as you need to do with most garments), the stub that remains won’t irritate at all.

The tonal zip has a full-length placket behind it, handy for hirsute riders who don’t relish getting their chest hairs caught, and garages top and bottom too. The collar also drops down low at the front to avoid irritation. A reflective tab on the rear and a couple of reflective logos add a tiny amount of extra visibility, but are more for style than safety.

Six colours are available for men in XS to XXXXL and six for women, in XXS to XXL.

The ride

The Velocio Luxe Merino Jersey is quite minimalist, in a very black kind of way.

Paired with the equally black Luxe Bib shorts, I was barely able to contain my overwhelming desire to perform a badly executed New Zealand Haka every time I put the kit on and looked in a mirror. Five other colours are available, though.

Aside from that, the other immediately obvious feature was that the sleeves are remarkably long. Longer than any other jersey I’ve worn, sitting right in the crook of my elbow. Not an issue, and great for sun protection, warmth and pairing with arm warmers without leaving that unsightly gap when the warmers inevitably migrate downwards.

Aesthetically, the merino lacks the chic raciness of more Lycra-based materials, which might be a good or a bad thing depending on your personal style, and it certainly fits with Velocio’s adventure bias. Fit was pretty much bang on for a size medium, and the soft, stretchy fabric was quite forgiving in terms of cut.

Unsurprisingly, the lightweight merino fabric was still warmer than any other short-sleeved jersey that I’ve come across, and again, this can be viewed both positively and negatively.

It wasn’t entirely ideal for long climbs in Gran Canaria with the temperature in the high twenties (although it coped pretty well), but it was perfect for cool spring rides in the UK - the kind where you start off wearing a gilet or windproof jacket and a pair of arm warmers but slowly disrobe as the ride warms up. The Luxe’s greater insulating properties make it ideal for use as a mid-layer in these circumstances, as it was much warmer than a normal jersey, yet also worked well on its own later in the ride - great for those mid-teens temperatures that always confuse me in terms of what to wear.

I was reasonably impressed with its moisture management - so often the downfall of wool fabrics - with just some dampness around the back of the neck after particularly sweaty efforts. The lighter mesh panel on the back seemed to do a great job of allowing moisture to escape.

The pockets were a good size and depth, and were easy to reach, even with my poor shoulder flexibility.

Value and conclusion

I usually eschew merino as activewear for running or riding; the fabric might be warm when damp, but it stays damp far longer than is comfortable in my experience. However, the Luxe jersey was better than I expected in those terms.

Fit, construction and features were all very good, assuming you are OK with the sleeve length, and it was certainly a comfortable jersey to wear on and off road. Only time will tell whether it succumbs to the loss of shape that can plague wool products, especially if washed as frequently as a cycling jersey should be, but so far, it still looks good.

The other Achilles heel of merino clothing is that the cost is usually higher than synthetic equivalents, but the Luxe doesn’t fare too badly here either. Its retail price in the is £151 / $209, which, whilst hardly bargain basement, is ballpark for a premium brand even without the added sheep tax. However, if you don’t need/want the merino wool element, then there are far less expensive options available.

It certainly makes a handy addition to your wardrobe for the shoulder season days that aren’t quite as warm as you’d like, and it is more adaptable than a long-sleeved jersey like the Pedaled Element, whilst fulfilling a similar purpose when paired with arm warmers. Experience also suggests that it would be great on a multi-day trip, making good use of merino’s natural anti-odour properties to prevent social pariah status by day three.

If you fancy a sleek, fast-feeling race jersey, perhaps look elsewhere - to Velocio’s Concept collection maybe, but if you want a short-sleeved jersey with more warmth and subtlety, then the Luxe is well worth considering.