Craft Cool Mesh Superlight sleeveless baselayer review

The Craft Cool Mesh Superlight baselayer is one of the most popular summer undergarments out there – Wiggle alone has over 1300 customer reviews on its site. At 52g, it’s definitely lightweight and is made of an open mesh fabric that lets plenty of air circulation through once the temperature starts to rise.

It’s also a good fit and very comfortable as the fabric is soft. There’s lots of stretch in the material, so the baselayer fits closely – an important consideration as it means that sweat is wicked away from the skin effectively and evaporates on the outside of your jersey, keeping you cool.

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Craft’s fabric is a six-channel polyester, which helps with the wicking effect. Being polyester, it’s a bit more subject to whiffs than a natural fabric. But since there are no sleeves, the whiff trapping element is kept away from the armpits, where odour usually builds up.

There are a couple of seams in the body, but these are flatlocked and so not intrusive. Otherwise it’s a very simple garment with a rounded collar and enough length to fit well when on the bike.

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The Craft Cool Mesh Superlight washes up well too. I’ve had one of these Craft baselayers for years and it’s still going strong (although it does only come out in summer). The white version is reasonably resistant to greying or staining, although there’s also a black variant if you’re worried about your baselayer showing the dirt.

Craft makes the Cool Mesh Superlight in six sizes from XS to XXL. Being a Swedish company, Craft’s sizing is pretty accurate for a UK rider. You should find that you can size down though, if you want to, as there’s enough stretch and length for a smaller size to still be comfortable and provide a good fit.