Shimano Evolve Jersey 2020

The Shimano Evolve jersey is breathable, good looking, and wicks well, but there are some small niggles like the pockets and length that could be improved.

Shimano clothing has become relatively well known for pushing the boundaries and adding new features in the past few years, and the Evolve jersey is no different.

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It's a warm weather jersey, designed for temperatures between 16-26°C, and like the previous version that Jez tested a couple of years ago, it's made with a dual construction, which Shimano calls 'Dry Touch': a '2-in-1 construction [which] acts like a built-in baselayer keeping the rider cool and comfortable without added bulk'.

While baselayers normally cover your entire torso, the Evolve's only covers the areas where you expel most heat, namely your back, chest, and beneath your arms.

Above all of these areas the outer material is heavily perforated, which allows heat to escape more easily. It worked well – I found the jersey comfortable and effective at reducing heat build-up.

Helping things further is a well-made full-length YKK zipper, which is easy to open when you need to let excess heat escape. One of the things that I really like about this jersey is the look: aside from the venting and the zip, there is very little on the front, giving it a clean and classic look.

The material on the outer is a polyamide and elastane mix, which wicks moisture well and gives a good amount of stretch, allowing the jersey to mould easily to different body shapes and sizes.

Fit is largely good from the belly button and above, but on me it comes up shorter than most jerseys I have used and also tends to ride up, which is a little irritating. Cycling jerseys are often cut short at the front so they don't bunch up when you're on the bike, but I would say it is about two inches shorter than typical for a medium size. Everything else fitted as I would expect, but it's worth trying on before you buy to make sure the sizing is right for you.

On the back the jersey has three main pockets which also have smaller pockets within them. On the left there is a small pouch, in the middle a larger phone pocket, and on the right two small pockets on the outside. While it can be useful, in general I found them a bit of a faff and was frequently having things stuck in smaller pockets or having to root around pockets to find what I was looking for.

There is also no gripper on the bottom hem of the jersey, and I found that it rode up quite a lot. Given that this it's already quite short, I found I had to readjust it fairly frequently during a ride. It was better when the pockets were heavily laden, although even then it rode up more than most other jerseys I've worn.

Its RRP of £149.99 is a bit steep (£20 more than the previous version), even if the length suited you. That said, it does have the built-in baselayer, and its ability to deal with heat is very good, which goes some way to justifying the high price.

It's £30 more than the Megmeister Premium Woven Zig Zag Jersey, which comes in at £119.99 and has broadly similar heat-management qualities. I also looked at the Katusha Icon jersey a couple of months ago, which is £15 cheaper and outperformed the Evolve in terms of heat management and comfort.

> Buyer’s Guide: 25 of the best summer cycling jerseys

Overall, there are elements of this jersey that I like, in particular the simple design and built-in baselayer, but it's not cheap, the pockets are fiddly, and check the length – it's much shorter than I would expect it to be, made worse by its tendency to ride up.

Verdict

Performs well in hot weather but expensive, on the short side, and has a tendency to ride up