Showers Pass Bamboo-Merino LS Henley Shirt

The Showers Pass Bamboo-Merino LS Henley Shirt is an ideal mid-layer for pedalling around town, and a comfortable and stylish piece when you're off the bike too.

Marketed as an active wear top, the Henley features a mix of bamboo and merino wool fabrics which help provide its technical properties. Showers Pass says the bamboo provides a fresh, cool and soft feel next to the skin, while merino's much-vaunted wicking and anti-odour properties probably need no further explanation here.

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The result is a shirt that performs well when you're doing light exercise – riding your bike around town on errands, cycling to a cafe, or indeed going for a walk. Body temperature is regulated superbly, so as your heart rate gets up it keeps you relatively cool, while post-ride – when I tend to get the chills – it has great thermal properties too.

The cuffs have thumb holes and are elongated, resulting in long sleeves that keep draughts out, and the Henley-style collar is comfortable and naturally adjustable thanks to the buttons. My test piece came in a medium, which fitted well even though I tend to straddle medium and large sizes for T-shirts.

I have quite long arms, which meant that the band that fits between your thumb and forefinger occasionally felt slightly tight, especially when leaning forward on the handlebar – although once I'd worn the shirt a few times I got used to this and stopped noticing it. If you know you have much longer than standard arms, consider going a size up.

You can get away with this because the cut comes up slim, as you might expect from a technical outdoors shirt, with a back that runs slight longer than the front. This lends it a performance-orientated and comfortable feel, and makes it ideal for occasional city cycling, as well as doubling as a stylish option elsewhere too.

Quality is also undeniable – you only need to look at the tidiness of the seams for an example of this – although you need to take care with the natural fibres not to wash it on too hot a setting. A delicate wash is adequate, ideally using silk and wool detergent. That way you maintain the quality of the merino, and the shape and size of the garment.

> Check out our guide to the best casual commuter wear here

All this quality, comfort, style and good design comes at a cost – £69.95. That's a lot of money for a top that, frankly, I wouldn't use as a baselayer for training – it's too thick for that – and isn't tight enough in my view to work comfortably on a high intensity ride.

It's not really designed for such uses, though. Stick to city riding, or general active use alongside some casual wearing, and you should get some good life out this high quality Henley Shirt.

Verdict

Stick to city riding, general active use or casual wearing and this high quality Henley shirt does a very good job