Retail Therapy: Buy a New Jersey

I bought a new Jersey the other day because I was disgusted that it rained out our wednesday evening ride.  Well, it was lightning, not just raining.  We would have ridden in the plain jane rain cos if we’re crazy enough to go ride a long way, we’re crazy enough to do it in the rain.

This jersey, the Pearl Izumi Superstar Jersey, in the Flamingo color, is FANTASTIC.  I’m not your average sized triathlete who wears size 4 jeans.  I’m more of a skinny couch potato who needs a bit more material to cover me up than those “average” triathletes.

(Insert Soapbox)

For some reason it’s okay for men to be big people, even beer bellied people, but women, nope, we should be super extra no bigger than a size 12 because that’s what a normal women’s XL triathlon apparel is sized as.  For example, my bike shorts are a women’s XL and fit perfectly, but I tried some tri shorts made by the same company, and the XL was at least two sizes smaller.

And while I’m discussing sizes, let’s look at shirts, where every brand fits EXTREMELY different.  I wear a XXL mizuno women’s shirt, an XXL New Balance women’s shirt, an L or XL men’s New Balance short sleeved shirt, a M men’s long sleeve shirt, and everytime I sign up for something and they want to know what size I wear and pick just one, I have no earthly idea what to put down except a range of sizes depending on what kind of shirt they are ordering.

Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to see all the skinny ones strap on an extra hundred pounds and go do a triathlon just to see what happens…lol.  (Sorry if you’re one of those people.  I don’t hate you, I just think it’d be entertaining. )

(Stepping off Soapbox)

So I wore it for a 12 miler yesterday and a 33 miler (longest ride yet!) today and it was fantastic.  It comes down further than my other jersey, which I like for biking.  Running in it, if there is anything in the back pockets, they flop around terribly.  But my other jersey is considered an elite jersey whereas this one is just a normal jersey (for whatever that means).

The fit is what you would normally experience in a shirt, not the I have to suck in so hard I think I will break the seams if I let go kind of fit, and not the this is so tight that when I tried it on in the store I got it halfway over my head and it got stuck and spent 20 minutes trying to get out of it without hitting the “you break it, you buy it” limit.  (Not that i’ve ever experienced that.)

The feel is quite comfy.  The material is thicker than your average jersey (or the ones that I am acquainted with), and I found that it was a bit more forgiving of my very much imperfect midsection and a bit more absorbing of sweat, but it may have just dried quicker in my other jersey. But it wicked it away and kept me cooler than I’m used to.  It is loose yet fitted, and exactly what I like.  Plus it was made for a woman instead of a man like my other jersey, so your spandex encapsulated behind is not so exposed (less feeling like my rear end is already big but now looks ginormous with these darn PADDED spandex shorts on)  and the sleeves were shorter and it just felt better, plus I don’t have nightmares of the zipper falling ALL the way down cos this one only goes partway down whilst my other one goes 3/4 of the way down.  I also liked the high collar in the back because it caught a lot of the sweat from my head before it rolled all the way down my back.

There’s none of that rubbery stuff that lines some jerseys around the back edge hem and the sleeve cuffs, and I both liked and disliked that fact.  Liked because I didn’t feel like it was grabbing and pinching me at unfortunate angles and my arms felt more free to move.  Disliked because the back pockets stay put better with the rubbery gripper things.  (And yes, that IS the technical term for it.)  Another reason to like it is that when you get the worst arm sunburn of your life, the sleeve line won’t be absolutely distinct, more of a gradient fill instead.

And, perhaps the better part of this purchase was that it was only a $50 investment, which turns out is on the cheaper end of jerseys.  So thumbs up on this one.    Plus it made me feel better since I couldn’t go ride that day and could make up for it by looking super cute yesterday when the sun was shining (or as much as is possible while wearing spandex, perched on a 4-inch wide triangle of a seat, hunched over with helmet hair protruding at every angle, pedaling through muddy water, sporting well-defined biking sunburn lines, and sweating your eyeballs out).  lol.

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