Chapeau! Mesh Base Layer Short Sleeve

The Chapeau! Mesh Base Layer Short Sleeve is light, comfortable and ideal for hot rides (or turbo sessions) as it's great at wicking away sweat to keep you cool. It's well made and pretty stylish too, should you be 'forced' to unzip, though it could be just a tiny bit longer in the body.

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I wear a base layer on every ride no matter how hot, cold, wet or slow, and that means the Chapeau! has seen plenty of use. To be honest, most of the time I've completely forgotten about it too... and that's a good thing!

I've been impressed with it from the off. It's suitably close fitting without feeling restrictive, helped by the stretchy side panels. Even under the most aero of jerseys there's no bunching of fabric, and it feels comfortable against the skin.

The mesh is made from two different ratios of elastane and polyester which, crucially, wick sweat really well. It's super fast drying and surprisingly strong given how light and see-through it is. Its transparency means that I wouldn't use it by itself for spin classes, but for home turbo sessions it's perfect.

The arms are quite short, which I'm a fan of as there's no risk of poking out of jersey sleeves, plus there's a sleeveless version for a fiver less if that's more up your street. The only area I'd like improved is the length of the body; however, I have a relatively long torso for my height (it's not me in the pics), and you may find it fine.

A benefit of a shorter body is the lack of unsightly seams under your bib shorts, although as there's no heavy hem it's unlikely to show anyway. All the other seams are flatlocked, so no irritation there.

I like the lack of labels. Labels in base layers really irritate me: so much effort (I hope) goes in to making the thing comfortable, and then somebody staples in 100 labels with (I swear) purposefully sharpened corners. Here, washing instructions are printed inside a side panel – other manufacturers take note!

At £34.99 it's priced sensibly given the impressive performance and fit, and matches the Castelli Pro Issue SS Base Layer. If you're not too concerned about aesthetics, cheaper alternatives such as the Lusso Race Base Mesh (£24.99) score highly and could save you a few quid.

> 19 of the best cycling base layers for riding through the year

If this sky blue doesn't match your kit, Chapeau! also does it in white, grey, navy blue or black.

The Chapeau! Mesh Base Layer Short Sleeve is perfect for hot rides of any kind, as it wicks so well and dries very quickly. The quality is high and fit is excellent – barring, perhaps, the ever-so-slightly short torso – so it creates that feeling we all love; namely, the feeling it's not even there to start with.

Verdict

Light, airy and fast-wicking base layer for (being seen wearing on) the hottest days