Nalini Malosco Jersey

The Nalini Malosco has the makings of a decent jersey, but is really let down by some basic flaws.

The first thing you notice is that the Nalini Malosco is considerably heavier than others in a similar price and temperature range. For instance, the Rapha Long Sleeve Pro Team Jersey is a full 30% lighter and designed to be worn in similar conditions.

The material used is also thick, which can be good on cold days, but does affect the jersey's moisture wicking ability when you're really pushing up a hill. Combined with the relaxed fit this makes it feel a bit like wearing a jumper rather than a cycling jersey.

The fabric has a polyester outer layer with a fleecy inner, which makes it warm and comfortable to wear on short or low intensity rides. It is not particularly stretchable throughout, which makes the cut of the jersey look almost baggy in places. On the cuffs and collar the material has more elasticity and feels almost like cotton. One of the issues that I had with these is that after only one or two rides, the material started to bobble and I would be worried about the durability of them over a longer period of time.

The relatively relaxed cut can also be a slight issue as it creates excess material that flaps. The cut is fairly non-standard throughout, the size that I tested was a large, the same jersey size that I am for most makes, but the body came up relatively short and the arms came out long, with excess gathering close to my wrists.

With this in mind though, it does offer very good thermal qualities. The claimed temperature range is 6-12 ˚C but I would say that above 10 ˚C would be uncomfortable for anything over 30 minutes of riding. I also used it down to around 3 ˚C and it kept me warm throughout.

It is only designed to be slightly water resistant, but the collars and the cuffs tended to stay wetter than you would want after a shower. This issue of waterproofing is also a flaw when it comes to the colouring of the jersey.

The striped colours divided opinion, with some saying that it looks retro and others saying that it is just ugly. However, the bigger practical issue with the colour scheme is the dyes bleeding. It has black, burgundy and purple next to pure white, and the colours had bled slightly into the white before I had even washed it once. This was just from a normal amount of sweat within the first two hours of wearing.

The back pockets also have problems. There are three, and the right-hand pocket has a zip. I'm right-handed, so this is the pocket where I want to keep the items that I am going to be using the most, like food, as it's the easiest to access. To me, a zipped pocket is for keys, change or phones, the things used least during a ride, so it should either be an additional pocket on the outside of a regular one or in the central pocket, which is the most awkward to reach while riding.

Even the pull for the main zip can be quite annoying as it is solid metal and large. With the jersey zipped up to my chin, I thought I had something rattling on my bike until I realised that it was just the zipper clashing against my helmet buckle. Having a simple piece of material to hold it in place would have solved this problem.

The stitching and general construction of the jersey is good (apart from the collar and sleeves). The stitching seems to hold together well and I had no worries about the main areas of the jersey in terms of durability.

The £100 price tag does seem steep for a long sleeve jersey with these flaws. For that kind of money I would expect to see a better cut, a thinner material, better breathability and more thought in the design.

Verdict

Striking looks but design and dye-run issues really let it down