Specialized Women’s Prime Short Sleeve Jersey

Tell us what the product is for

Specialized says: "The perfect apparel for the perfect ride, that's what our Prime Series is all about. The best fabrics, constructions, and technologies go into these pieces, and the Women's Prime Short Sleeve Jersey is no exception.

Starting with the fabric, it's been specifically designed to help regulate your body temperature when the mercury starts to rise''yeah, you'll feel the cooling the first time you touch it''making those toasty days in the saddle more enjoyable.

Furthering the cooling potential, it features a VISLON® zipper that's super easy to zip and unzip for hot climbs and cool descents.

Finally, it features three main back pockets plus a zippered one to store all your snacks and essentials that are sure to keep you going all day."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

From the label:

85% nylon/15% elastane main fabric

90% polyester/10% elastane mesh fabric underarm panels

VISLON full-length zipper

3 rear pockets and 1 zipped pocket

Silicone gripper at hem

Double cuffed soft sleeve openings

Available in sizes XS-XL

Machine washable at 30

From the website:

Three standard pockets provide ample space for all your ride essentials.

Full-length front zipper to manage ventilation easily.

Fabric Content: MAIN: 85% Nylon, 15% Elastane - OTHER: 90% Polyester, 10% Elastane.

Beautifully finished and made from exceptionally high-quality fabric and components.

Comfortable and a pleasure to wear.

Despite the fabric feeling soft and silky, it's not overly fragile to snagging and wears and washes very well.

The weight of the fabric means the contoured sleek fit doesn't look overly shrink-wrapped, but it sits nice and close to the body to enable the fabric to do its moisture wicking job. Torso length is pretty average and the sleeves generous but not over long.

Sized as per the charts on the Specialized website. It's a shame the range of sizes only caters to XS to XL, though, the upper end topping out at a high street 14-16.

Light and rolls up small in a bag if you're taking it away somewhere.

Very comfortable indeed.

It's far from cheap, but the quality of the fabric and performance, as well as the style and comfort, make it worth the money if your budget stretches that far. It should last too.

How easy is the product to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

Washed very well and easy to look after.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Performed very well indeed.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The looks and style, the soft non-grippy sleeves, the overall fit and the comfort and performance of the silky soft fabric.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Only the price. If pressed, a brighter colour would be a nice option too.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

This sits towards the upper end of the price spectrum for a short-sleeved jersey, even if it's far from being as expensive as the likes of the 7mesh Skyline Jersey at £200 or the Santini Redux Women's Stamina Short Sleeve Jersey (now £150). It's loosely comparable on performance and price with the CHPT3 Most Days Women's Performance Jersey (now £89) and the Nopinz Pro-1 Jersey which is £10 less at £89.99. The Gore Curve Jersey is also comparable, and also £89.99. For a premium jersey, made from lovely soft fabric that does a great job of keeping the skin comfortably cool and dry, while also managing to look good and wash well, the Specialized jersey isn't bad value for money.

Use this box to explain your overall score

It fulfils its role of being a high-performance jersey admirably, at a price that's high but well below some top-end offerings. It's nicely styled, well made, uses beautiful quality fabrics and components and, most importantly, it does a great job of keeping you comfortable, dry and a stable temperature. It's excellent.