Thermal base layer

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Aunty Tyke

Well-Known Member
Location
Oxfordshire
The Campri stuff is surprisingly good even although cheap. I bought a cheap (£5.99 if I remember correctly) padded jacket for walking the dog in the winter and it is the cosiest jacket I possess. Bit off topic I suppose, but just thought I would mention as cheapness doesn't always equate to poor quality.
Top tip,thanks!
 

RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
Just a little feedback as i went through the last 2-3 weeks of finding a decent cheap but cheerful brand of base layer from amazon.

Ive bought Tenn, Sub-sports and Canterbury off amazon and Canterbury for me was the best fit out of all of them. Tenn were very highly rated & praised but I bought one pair of XXL and another pair of XXXL. The XXL felt like i was wearing a corset. Very difficult to put on and VERY HARD to take off given how small it was. The XXXL was a lot more comfortable but the only issue is the sleeves come up short - even shorter than the XXL! I paid about £13 each for the Tenn. Kept the XXXL to wear around the house and sent the XXL back

Sub-Sports (on Amazon) dont do XXXL and their XXL was way too small for me otherwise the quality is pretty good.

Canterbury were £20 a pop and i bought two of them and they are the best fitting base layers I have ever worn, Sleeves arent too short, and the fit is just comfortably snug.

I do have an old Campri baselayer i bought for about £6 years ago off sports direct's ebay outlet and that one base layer has served me pretty well but its not a compression top.

If youre a smaller bloke then without a doubt Tenn has to be the best bang for buck base layer which gives you decent quality for your money unless you go with the cheaper tat from amazon or sports direct etc etc.

Hopefully this has helped some of you. All the baselayers i bought were long sleeved. I have yet to start looking for short sleeved ones but i dont think i will bother.
 

RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
Small update to my initial search of a good bang for buck base layer - I ended up searching for a short sleeved one and straight up went ahead and ordered me some XXXL Tenn's off Amazon.

Again... Not the best fit in the world but its hardly a corset. I havent had a chance to wear it out yet. but I will drop some feedback when i do - I should be on a 40mile mini-tour up the river lea this wednesday. Perfect time to put it on.

Canterbury set the standards pretty high when it comes to a perfect fit for the bigger bloke :tongue: Pitty they dont do their base layers in XXXL and i dont want to waste my time on ordering XXLs just to send them back
 

RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
Another further update - Ordered some Take Five base layers from Amazon. The shop itself is actually from Korea but my order arrived within 2 weeks.

for a 3XL it comes up a little short compared to the other base layers ive worn and theres not a lot of compression either. Decent quality for the price paid.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
I have been given a couple of quite pricey New Zealand-made merino vests by a generous relative. They are great to wear and are warm but.......I find them unbearably itchy if I start to sweat. I once took one off on a warm night ride and put it on over my jersey, such was the discomfort. After that fiasco, I wear a dead cheap Lidl polyester vest next to my skin (fantastic value), and the merino one over it. I have also been known to wear a couple of merino ones over the top. I don't do cold. Helly Hansen base layers can be a laminate of polyester and merino. I find them pretty comfortable but they do tend to smell pretty bad even after a short ride. The Lidl one is positively fragrant in comparison.
 

sanddancer

Senior Member
Location
N/Wales
Another further update - Ordered some Take Five base layers from Amazon. The shop itself is actually from Korea but my order arrived within 2 weeks.

for a 3XL it comes up a little short compared to the other base layers ive worn and theres not a lot of compression either. Decent quality for the price paid.


I bought a take 5 long sleeve top and bottoms off ebay a year or two ago. I'm not impressed.
(Ok they may have changed now)
very thin material, no real compression. Bottoms have the elastic sewn in a hem type waist which isn't as comfortable as the flat elastic type. But top is comfortable and ok for wearing on cool walks.

for the same price the sondico tops and bottoms are excellent. Wide flat waistband and good compression. Top has gripper at bottom/waist. .

I have a few lidl and aldi ones, different material, they are great tops for cycling and do a good job of wicking sweat away, dry quickly and very comfortable.
 

NorthernDave

Never used Über Member
Planet X do decent Merino baselayers and they can be very reasonably priced, especially when they're on offer. And best of all, I've never had a problem with them being itchy.
 
I've got a couple of Helly Hanson base layers left over from when I could hillwalk, seem fine on the bikes too.

+1 for Helly Henson (particularly lifa range). :okay:

Got into them in a previous life when I used to be a cross country skiing instructor in the forces. Even when working very hard in temperatures as low as -45 Celcius in the Norwegian mountains, they absorbed hardly any moisture - allowing nearly all of it to pass through keeping me dry and warm. Particularly important when you stop for any amount of time when its cold.

Expensive, but you can pick them up for about £20 if you shop around.

Picked up a couple of Mountain Warehouse base layers (the blue ones) recently for £10 each. Total rubbish! They just absorb the sweat and don't dry out fully in time for my commute home. Will relegate them to my 'walking' drawer.

Graham
 

Ciar

Veteran
Location
London
I have been using the Endura Baa Baa for the last couple of years for commuting and MTB riding, by far the best base layer i own, best part is you can go five days of commuting and it barely smells ;-)
 
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