Invani reversible short sleeved jersey review

Cycling kit is expensive. So eking more use out of your clothing may help to justify the cost a little. The new range from Invani helps here – it’s all reversible, so that you can get two different colour options from one piece. For the long distance traveller, the chance to ride in one jersey for two days, by turning Invani’s jersey inside out, allows you to cut down on the amount of kit you need to carry too.

Made of Italian fabric, the Invani short sleeved jersey is sewn up in Europe. It’s a quality job, with flatlocked stitching throughout to ensure reversibility. The side panels are made of a lighter weight mesh, to help you keep cooler on hot rides.

The zip too is reversible and there’s a zip garage at the throat. Whereas the bottom seam is hemmed, the sleeve ends are raw cut, which leads to a comfortable fit. There are both men's and women's ranges available.

Sizing is more generous than many cycling jerseys and is well adapted to the UK enthusiast rider. But that does mean that there’s a bit of excess fabric if you’re after a skin-tight fit. That’s not such a problem around the chest and sleeves. But if you load up your pockets – there’s a set on each face of the jersey – they’re a bit prone to walking to the heavier side as you ride. It might be worth sizing down, to ensure a closer fit.

You might think that the mirror image pocket set inside the jersey would be uncomfortable against your back, but I did not find that to be the case – they were not noticeable when riding.

Of course, despite the reversibility you’re still sweating into the same fabric, so just turning the Invani short sleeved jersey inside out and wearing it for a second ride is perhaps a theoretical rather than a practicable option – at least if you want to keep your ride mates. But it is nice to have two jersey colour options available to you and the price is comparable to a single sided piece.

That’s something unique to the Invani range - take a look at the brand's site for more info.

Other reversible pieces

Invani’s reversible kit range extends to the rest of your top half needs too, with a long sleeved jersey, arm warmers and a gilet, as well as knee warmers to complete the look.

We’ve also tested the brand’s base layer – again reversible – and made of a similar weight fabric to the jersey. Again, there’s flatlock stitching throughout, to ensure that the base layer has the same look and feel on both sides. There are also raw edges to the collar, sleeves and bottom seam, so that the base layer lies flat and comfortably under your top layer kit. There’s a slight drop to the rear of the piece too.

This all leads to an effective bottom layer, that helps keep your skin dry and your rides comfortable, even on hot summer days.