Castelli Perfetto - One jersey to rule them all.

paulmon

Purchased this jersey last week and I reckon this is the perfect jersey for the changeable weather we get in the UK. Rode for the first time this weekend over the Lancashire and W.Yorkshire moors when it was mid single figure temps in the morning and mid double figures by early afternoon and at no point did I feel too hot or too cold, even in the howling wind at the top of the moors. I had a summer base layer underneath and I did wear nano flex arm warmers all day and a gilet first thing to keep the chill out and I think this combo would be good enough for most days.

The fit is typical Castelli race cut. I ordered a medium and I'm 172cm and 68kg and its tight everywhere. The sleeves are slightly longer than a normal short sleeve jersey coming just above the elbow on me so I think a bigger size would have been too long on the arms and definitely too long on the torso. The material is quite thin compared the other soft shell garment I had (Rapha Pro Team Softshell) and like the Rapha for it to be effective it probably needs to be as close to your skin as possible.

The three pockets on the rear initially appear quite small but the material is very stretchy and I managed to fit everything I needed for a day in the saddle into them.

P

luv2ride

Glad you like it. I've got both short and long sleeve Gabbas and love them - this sounds like it's more breathable so an improvement. I've also got a Craft All Weather Elite jersey which sounds very similar to the Perfetto, perfect in anything above, say, 8 degrees with arm warmers and more breathable than the Gabba. Best bit is I got it for £50...bargain.

paulmon

Quick update: Wore this jersey for the Fred Whitton this weekend as the weather was forecast to be warm but wet with thundery showers. The morning was overcast and in places quite cool but by 11AM (4.5 hours into the ride) the sun was out and at the top of Whinlatter I was getting way too hot. I'd anticipated the possibility that it might not rain so rather than wear a dedicated base layer I wore a Rapha PT jersey which was the thinnest most breathable jersey I had. At the bottom of the descent I got rid of the Perfetto and put it in a pocket which is where it stayed for the remainder of the ride.

Earlier in the week I'd worn the jersey in 18-20 degrees without any issues so it would appear that the wearable temp range for this is anything below 20 degrees. Anything above that is bonking territory.

FatTed

Think its worth reading Bender's review https://roubaixcycling.cc/2016/05/05/ca ... e-perfect/ and the one on Road CC http://road.cc/content/review/188063-ca ... eve-jersey.
In order to stay warm you do need to be producing heat, wont keep you warm standing still.

paulmon

FatTed wrote:

Think its worth reading Bender's review https://roubaixcycling.cc/2016/05/05/ca ... e-perfect/ and the one on Road CC http://road.cc/content/review/188063-ca ... eve-jersey.
In order to stay warm you do need to be producing heat, wont keep you warm standing still.

At what point did I say I was cold. I've read Benders review and whilst detailed its mostly superfluous flannel. There is a significant difference between wearing something for a commute to work and something for a 4-8 hour day in the saddle which is in my opinion what this jersey is designed for.

napoleond

So the jersey was fine when cool if worn with base layer, gilet and arm warmers but when warm it's fine if taken off and lightweight jersey is worn. Sounds, errrrm... perfect.

paulmon

NapoleonD wrote:

So the jersey was fine when cool if worn with base layer, gilet and arm warmers but when warm it's fine if taken off and lightweight jersey is worn. Sounds, errrrm... perfect.

I personally wear a base layer with everything, the type of base layer depends on the temp I expect to be riding in. With this jersey I wore a Rapha PT vest. The gilet and arm warmers were used because when the ride started at 07:30 it was cold but as it warmed up a little they could be removed and stored.

On the Fred I started at 06:00, I wore the Rapha PT jersey as a base layer, arm warmers, no gilet and it was chilly and after a couple of hours the arm warmers were rolled down and for 5 hours the jersey was exactly the right thing to wear. When the clouds broke and the sun was blazing it was the wrong thing to be wearing so I removed it and put it in one of the pockets of the jersey.

What it gives you that you wouldn't get with a jacket, long sleeve jersey is flexibility on long rides with potentially changeable conditions. It works in the same way the first iteration of the Rapha PT Softshell jacket worked but that was only any good upto double figures this has a much wider temperature range.

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PTestTeam

NapoleonD wrote:

So the jersey was fine when cool if worn with base layer, gilet and arm warmers but when warm it's fine if taken off and lightweight jersey is worn. Sounds, errrrm... perfect.