Alé Intimo Velo Active Baselayer

With the temperature having been knocking around the high 20s centigrade for the past few weeks, a simple, effective baselayer has been a godsend to keep you cool and dry. That's exactly what the Alé Intimo Velo Active has achieved, and while it might not be the cheapest out there, it offers decent quality and a good close fit.

• Pros: Lightweight, soft against the skin
• Cons: Pricey against some of the competition

The Intimo has a sensible cut where it fits relatively close without being like a second skin for those of us who aren't racing whippets. In fact the sizing is rather generous, as I often find myself going up to the next size in Italian made garments, but here this medium fits absolutely spot on. It's available in a size range of small, medium and extra-large.

Alé has created a bit of shape to the baselayer by adding side panels where a lot of companies don't, and this stops any bunching or rucking of the material under your bib shorts.

The fabric is a composition of 93% polyester and 7% elastane, so it has a bit of stretch to keep it close to your body. It is also very soft and feels great as a first layer against your skin.

The material is woven into a mesh which has quite a wide weave to it and it does a really good job of wicking the sweat away from your skin and out to your jersey.

Work hard on the really hot days and it can get overwhelmed, but ease off the pace a bit and drop your jersey zip and you'll find that the Alé soon dries.

Despite being man made, it doesn't start smelling after just one wear so you don't have to keep washing it. I could easily get three or four decent rides out of it before it started to whiff. For such a flimsy, lightweight product it feels plenty durable enough, so passing it through the washing machine regularly shouldn't cause any issues.

The rrp for the Alé is £35, so okay it's not the cheapest, but it certainly isn't the most expensive either. Castelli's Pro Mesh Sleeveless anyone, for £55? It's also very well made and follows Alé's usual attention to detail when it comes to the finish. You won't find any stray threads or rough edges here.

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You can certainly save some money though: for £20 you could go for the dhb Blok Mesh Sleeveless, which will do pretty much the same job judging by our review and its four and a half star score. Or there is one of my favourites, the Lusso Race Base, which matches the performance and fit of the Alé for £24.99.

If you want to match your outfit to your underwear, though, and go Alé throughout then maybe the £35 cost of the Intimo is worth it to you; it certainly does look quite cool with its grey and fluoro yellow colourway on show.

Verdict

A decent performing summer baselayer that is worth the outlay for that pro look