Well, it took me the better part of fall-winter

to put this jersey review up because I have been plagued with mechanical issues on both of my bikes that have taken the better part of the last two months to fix. I have learned a lot from the humbling experience of coming home every night and trying to work on my bike and having it break on the way to work the next day. I will have some more posts that have come out of the humbling experience soon enough, but right now let’s talk about wool, sexy, soft merino wool—

I tried two merino wool jerseys this year, an Earth Wind and Rider Chicago Bike Polo Jersey and the Cutter Classic Merino Wool Jersey. I ordered both from Bonktown. I have one winter riding jersey and thought I’d get something that was more commuter-friendly, less racy, and most certainly, wool. So here is how is my verdict on each.

The Cutter Classic Merino Wool Jersey came to me first.

It felt like a baby’s bottom right out of the package and the color is like slate skies reflected off postmodern buildings. Reflective piping on the forearms help with visibility; I am positive these have helped cars see me, so nice work Cutter! The green accents are delicious and the full-length zipper is smooth, a well thought out compliment to the material and workmanship. The zip allows you to not only vent after you have worked up a lather, but you can wear this jersey over an undershirt or base-layer for minimal warmth, get to work, unzip, and get your work shirt on in a snap instead of forcibly peeling yourself out of a typical jersey or sweating to death in your gym shirt. It is very lightweight and stows easily in a bag; it fits in the front pocket of my L.L. Bean Continental Rucksack. It is not as warm as some winter jerseys and it is already pilling at common friction points but it is eye-catching, comforting, versatile, and practical with good pockets, (including one that zips). Like most good merino wool it doesn’t hold stink so it does not require frequent washings. I washed it by hand once when it soaked up a bit of knuckle blood and the blood came out with gentle hand-washing. I’ll buy any garment that resists human-bloodstains. The sizing was not too Euro-trim and since I am way-too-fat for anything remotely Euro-fitting, except maybe the Chunnel, I felt like the fit was good. RealCyclist.com carries them, they are currently on sale, and you can find them here:

Next I tried the elegant, hand-stitched Earth Wind & Rider Chicago Bike Polo Jersey, also from Bonktown.

This jersey is insanely gorgeous, but the wool felt a tiny bit itchy, though the garment was breathtaking to behold. The stitching is a work of art in itself; I felt that this jersey belonged in a case, not being pulled over my bloody knuckles so I could go see District 9 on a rainy Saturday. It was much warmer than the Cutter Classic jersey with classy wood buttons to boot, but in the end I sent it back because I felt like I was wearing the jersey equivalent of spinners on a Lincoln Navigator. That jersey was SO blingy that I felt slightly embarrassed. It basically had way to much fine workmanship and color for me to feel at all normal cruising to the market to buy oranges or riding to a movie. This jersey looks, feels, and is expensive. If you ride a classic frame with original parts, you will want this jersey. If you are fat and going to see a movie, like me, pass on it and get something with street cred so at least so the 12 year olds on BMX’s don’t kick your ass for being such a fancy pants.

In the end I kept the Cutter Classic. It didn’t yell out, “I just spent one hundred bucks on this shirt” and it feels so good against skin that I wear it for training rides on my road bike now as well, ditching some of my stinky performance fabric. If I wasn’t so fat right now, I’d try a pair of the Cutter knickers too; they look equally amazing and everyday-go-to worthy but I doubt they make them in my size. I am surprised that Dickies even have pants in my size right now. Maybe next week I’ll do a review of all the different brands of boutique bacon I ate in 2009 as a way of explaining what happened this year.

Stay tuned and before I forget, I need to give credit to the two guys who helped me fix my bikes: Barum of The Bikestand in Santa Barbara, and this guy, to whom I owe many, many coffees. Alex, I promise that I will buy you many, many coffees once I don’t need to buy bike parts every single week. (If you commute and aren’t a master mechanic, this is where you go when you need to know how to fix something just to help you get home or to a shop. Please support him!)