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Alé PRR Bering Long Sleeve Jersey – review

A warm, stretchy, bright long sleeve jersey useable in a wide range of temperatures

Winter is that time of year where you wrap up as warm as possible on the bike. Except this winter, obviously, where you stick on a jersey and shorts and hope you don’t overheat, but it makes kit choice pretty simple: you need lots of it. 

But for Spring and Autumn kit choices can be a little more difficult, when it’s cool but not cold and that’s where the long sleeve jersey comes into its own.

Alé have only been around for a few years in their own right, but already forged a reputation for excellent kit that’s been very well received. The PRR Bering long sleeve jersey is their latest cool weather piece of kit and it’s a good one, at that.

On first glance, the Bering jersey looks just like the Bering jacket seeing as both have the exact same design and colour scheme. But while the jacket is made for true winter riding, Alé suggest 10-15 degrees as the optimal temperature range for the jersey. As anyone who’s ever been to Italy in September knows, the Italians have a totally different relationship with the temperature than the Brits, choosing to wrap up warm on days where we’d be happy with a t-shirt. And I think the upper range is probably a little high for the Bering jersey given that the whole of the inside is fleece-lined.

  • Specification

  • Price: £115
  • Size tested: M
  • Sizes available: S, M, L, XL, XXL
  • Website: Alé
  • UK distributor: Paligap

Paired with a good base layer, you could definitely wear this down below ten degrees and it would be a really good layering piece for even the coldest of rides. Although that would hide the flashy design, of course.

The long cut, tight cuffs compliment the fleece lining very well, keeping body heat in as well as fitting very nicely under – or over – gloves as you see fit. As well as the thermal properties, the fabric is stretchy which means that despite the race-cut fit (read: tight) you still have a really wide range of movement while your wearing it. It’s important, because a lot of close cut thermal wear sacrifices ease of movement in favour of insulation, so finding something that provides both is a big plus.

 

On the back you’l notice a zigzag pattern that’s woven into the fabric. Believe it or not, that’s carbon fibre. Now I know what you’re thinking, that carbon in clothing is the ultimate way to lure in the suckers that’ll buy anything with the magic composite included, but this is different. Carbon supposedly increases the moisture transfer (wicking) properties of the jersey but, just as importantly, carbon fabrics are naturally antibacterial which means they wont start to smell.

The rear pockets are nice and deep, easily deep enough to stop my mini pump from falling out and the fourth, zipped pocket actually fits a smartphone – although admittedly larger phones require a bit of material stretch to fit in which means they’re not that easily accessible on the go.

And all of that brings us to the final factor: the look. Personally, I think there’s far too much black clothing on the market at the moment and something like this is a breath of fresh air. Plus I’m a bit of a sucker for electric blue, anyway, and paired with the matching PRR Ponente bib tights it makes for a very smart outfit indeed. It’s the only colourway Alé offer – although they do have some other long sleeve jerseys with different designs – and I guess it could put some potential buyers off depending on how conservative they are.

Conclusion

The PRR Bering jersey is more of what I’ve come to expect from Alé: top notch clothing. It’s not cheap, but it’s not right at the top of the price range either, so you’ll feel like you’re getting a good deal for your money. Plus there are matching bib tights, which is never a bad thing.

Pros

– Warm enough for most colder days
– Good, deep rear pockets
– Stretch of the material makes it very comfortable

Cons

– Look might be a little Euro for some tastes

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