The Long sleeve Merino Baselayer is the warmest base layer offered by the British brand Albion and is the sole long-sleeve base layer in the range.
Depending on who you ask, Albion is generally accepted as being the earliest known name for the island of Britain. Albion the cycling clothing company hasn’t quite been around that long but draws inspiration from the name. The company does claim however to focus on making cycling kit for British conditions where the weather is often changeable.
The Merino base layer is made in Italy for Albion and featured a merino wool blend. The makeup is 75% merino, 18% nylon and 7% elastane. The Long Sleeve base layer is described as a mid-weight base layer and is similar in weight and thickness to the MAAP Thermal base layer. The Thermal is priced at £60 / $72 / €68 and is available in the black version which I tested or dark slate colour. It’s available in both mens and women’s versions.
I’ve spent months this winter riding in a range of winter base layers to see how they fared in the cold. Many of which I have included in our best cycling base layers guide.
Specification: Albion Long Sleeve Merino base layer
Price: £60
Material: 75% merino wool, 18% polyester, 7% elastane
Available sizes: XS-XXL
Colours: Black / Dark Slate
Design and Aesthetics
I wouldn’t say the Albion Thermal base layer is a super tight, performance-focused garment. Its fit is more along the lines of tight fitting t-shirt than a race base layer. That said, the elastane content provides a good amount of stretch despite the looser fit. Its a similar cut but a lot more stretchy than the Galibier barrier base layer I recently reviewed. It also features a scooped neck which reminds me of mid-2000s UK Indie band fashion (I’m not knocking this). The sleeve and hem length are both spot on and in the size small I tested tucking the hem into tights and arranging the cuffs with jacket sleeves was really easy.
Neat flat lock seams run up the side of the torso and join the arm seams where they are sewn onto the torso. There’s some small, subtle Albion branding and logo and a small soft label just above the hem. The Albion logo itself could be a climb, road or section of Britain’s coastline.
This is a Merino blend base layer and the piece does feature 75% Merino wool content. It’s really soft to the touch but the Merino properties extended further than just softness. Merino wool is the wool of…
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