The sun is blazing down from the sky. Outside, the air shimmers in the heat. I reach into my locker, peel myself into my functional shirt and then pull my bike jersey over it. My colleagues give me a slightly puzzled look. Apparently they haven't yet realised that the vest generation 2.0 can do more than just protect the body from goose bumps in winter.
Vests from 19 to 89 euros in the test
We tested the performance of ten lightweight vests from 19 to 89 euros in summer temperatures. In this case, performance also means the ability to keep the body temperature constantly low. Previously, it was thought that sweat and heat had to be wicked away from the body as quickly as possible. Otherwise, performance would suffer. But the body doesn't sweat for nothing. The beads of sweat on the skin provide what is known as evaporative cooling. They therefore play a significant role in preventing the body from overheating under high levels of stress. If the sweat is immediately wicked away by the functional underwear, it can no longer cool the skin. The pores open wider and sweat production increases. This can lead to the body losing too much fluid and overheating.
The requirements for modern functional underwear are therefore as follows: cool during exertion, warm during breaks or on descents. To maximise their full performance, functional underwear should always fit close to the body. Otherwise, sweat runs down the body unused and cannot provide the desired cooling. As varied as the requirements for functional underwear are, so too are the materials used and their properties.
You can find these functional vests for bikers in the test
- Bioracer Shirt Sleeveless
- Craft Stay Cool Mesh Superlight
- Gonso U-Shirt Carlo
- Gore Bike Wear Base Layer Singlet
- Icebraker GT200 Sprint Tank
- Löffler Men's Mesh Singlet
- Odlo Evolution Singlet
- Schiesser Extreme Sports Shirt
- Vaude Seamless Light Tank
- X-Bionic Effektor Power Shirt
You can download the test results for the functional vests as a free PDF below.
