Nema Exedore
Price: £35
Jungle 0113 2937703

Nema have a great reputation for quality bike gear in the US, but somehow they’d never made it over here. That’s now changed as they’re coming in through Jungle – the Santa Cruz distributor – with the neat design and high quality now available at a shop near you.

The Exedore is a classic cycling jersey in a fairly loose mountain bike cut. There’s still elastic round the hem (relatively tight elastic considering the ‘Large’ size) but the sleeves are left free and flapping for breezy armpit comfort.

Extra air-con duties are handled easily by the 12″ neck zip for those who like to bare their chest.

There’s a shoulder top seam, but it’s flat enough not to cause chafing, and the contrast side panels and single white stripe make for stylish looks. Reflective back pocket logo and side tab add to the quality feel.

Soft, high-performance, fast-wicking cloth in that ‘how a bairn draws rain’ vertical dash pattern that everyone seems to be using. Feels really comfy as a top coat or as an underlayer, doesn’t get hung up on shrubs and has enough stretch to never get in the way.

We had a large size jersey, which was a comfy baggy fit everywhere except the elasticated hem, which felt more like a medium. Maybe it’s a vanity vice for tightening up the notoriously soft underbellies of our American cousins.

So far the Exedore has been a pretty conventional jersey -albeit a stylish and high performance one. Pocket fanciers will go mad (or am I the only NHS registered pocket pervert around?) about the nest of storage options on the back though. The classic 3 pocket line up is enhanced with an elasticated scoop cut that means the outside edges are higher than the inside so stuff doesn’t fall out. To make doubly sure that the really important stuff doesn’t drop out, there’s also a separate zipped pocket on the outside of the centre pocket. Carkeytastic!

I think we’ve got excited enough about the pockets already, but if you want to fee the thrill of that elastic and zipped stowage selection just read the bit above again.

A really good quality jersey with a great take on the classic 3 pocket design to keep your car keys and loose change from messing with your mid-ride snack..

Price reflects the quality, styling touches and ‘name’ value but is still reasonable for what you get.