Review: Colomba Smartwool Jersey

Price: £55

From: http://colomba.cc

Retro wool jerseys are getting more and more popular, as riders everywhere wise up to the fact that that ‘warm-polyester’ smell and continental pro wannabe look just doesn’t work.

Colomba are the new kids on the retro jersey block and have arrived with three great designs, all in Sportwool, a 52:48 merino wool/polyester mix.

I’ve been using the blue Jersey for a few weeks now, for riding and general leisure wear and I have to report that it’s a great buy. The styling is inspired by the aqualine nosed legend Fausto Coppi, a simple design in navy with cream armbands and a large flocked Colomba crest on the rear, also in cream. The cut is slim but not race tight. Sizing wise, I’m 6ft with a 40” chest, and the Large fitted me fine – though could have been an inch longer in the body.

The jersey has three rear pockets, one with a zipped valuables pocket and there’s a half zip at the front for those long sweaty uphill slogs.

The material is excellent, soft, non-itch and non-shiny. It’s quite a thick jersey compared with polyester tops, but that doesn’t mean you’ll overheat – wool regulates temperature like no other fabric. The material doesn’t snag like polyester and the close weave blocks the wind very effectively.

Colomba say that you can machine wash the jersey in non-bio powder on a cool wash cycle and cool tumble dry. However, I wash all my wool stuff in specialist wool cleaner and line dry, just in case. The 52/48 wool/polyester blend means that it dries quickly too.

SUMMARY: All in all a great buy – at £55 it’s very competitive against rivals Rapha and Swobo. And no, Colomba is not a spelling mistake. Think Dark Ages Irish Monk rather than South American country…