PEdALED is a Japanese brand. It has been around for nearly 20 years, and although I had come across its products both in shops and online, I didn’t know too much about it, apart from its unusual use of the CAPS LOCK key.
Its broad range encompasses everything from road to mountain biking, via gravel, of course, and it even has a slightly unusual-looking urban range too. In fact, the only aspect of bike life that seems to be missing is pro road racing, and with collections called things like Element and Odyssey, there is a distinct slant towards long-distance adventures in its imagery and muted colour palettes rather than aero gains and stopwatches.
Element is the road-orientated range, with a more minimalist look than the Odyssey clothing, although there is a fair bit of crossover potential.
Construction
The Raisin Purple coloured fabric is made from Polyamide with Elastane for stretch, and is a little heavier than most short-sleeved summer jerseys, but not by much.
Although it is a relatively simple product, the fit, fabric and thoughtful design features elevate above the basic.
The sleeve ends are bonded for a super clean look, and the locking, tonal front zip has a full-length placket behind it to ward off chill winds and to prevent any chest hairs from getting caught, as well as a chin guard. The front hem is also bonded rather than stitched, whilst the rear has an elastic section decorated with silicone micro dots to hold it in place.
Inside the three rear pockets, there is an extra layer of fabric for some additional support, and there is a small zipped security pocket too.
Branding is limited to small wording on the chest and centre pocket, but there are no reflective details.
Sizing runs from XXs to XXL with seven muted, tasteful colours available for men and the same colours for women in XXs to XL.
The ride
The Element Long Sleeve Jersey is designed for those awkward spring and autumn (and sometimes summer too, in the UK) rides when a winter jacket isn’t required, but a thin, short-sleeved jersey won’t suffice either - the kind of days when your arm warmers would remain firmly in place for the duration.
Despite the jersey’s close fit, there was enough room and stretch to accommodate a thin long-sleeved base layer, or it could happily be worn next to the skin in the right conditions. Similarly, the cut and sheer fabric made it ideal for wearing under a gilet or windproof jacket on less pleasant days. PEdALED suggests that it could be worn in temperatures between 5°C and 18°C, but I’d say that was quite ambitious at the lower end without a windproof barrier worn over it. I’d say that to wear it as the outer layer, you’d really want the thermometer nudging towards double figures or to be working pretty hard.
To be fair, though, I was surprised by how effective the dense construction of the fabric was in brushing off cool breezes; it is in no way windproof in any form, but it did provide a bit more protection than I had anticipated. When spring sunshine permitted, it made for a very comfortable and easy-to-wear option even when the air still had a distinct chill to it. It was not as warm as Castelli’s Espresso Long Sleeve Jersey though, meaning that it doesn’t function quite as well as a mid-layer, but it is thinner/lighter and designed for warmer days.
The beauty of something like the Element Long Sleeve Jersey, when compared to a heavier jacket, is its breathability. Without any membrane layer or windproofing, the fabric allowed all of the moisture to escape, and dried very quickly, so I was never damp or uncomfortable. Of course, occasional judicious gilet use was required at times, especially as temperatures cooled later into the evening or for chilly descent
Its advantage over the tried-and-tested jersey/armwarmer combo is that the fabric is a little more thermally insulating than most jerseys, and that is a simpler, one garment solution. I also think that a lightweight long-sleeved jersey looks better too. The disadvantage is its reduced flexibility - you can’t adapt it as temperatures warm up, although you can add a gilet if it cools down.
A bit like the Velocio LUXE Bib Tights, the problem with the Element Jersey is its relatively narrow operating window, although at least, unlike the tights, it can be layered up.
Value and conclusion
For me, the Element Long Sleeve Jersey fits into the ‘nice but not necessary’ category of cycling clothing. Aesthetically lovely and technically great, I enjoyed wearing it, but I’m not sure I'd miss it all that much if I didn’t have it. This makes the £145 asking price a little bit tough, although not unreasonable.
Long-sleeved jerseys like this seem to be very on-trend at the moment, and so if you are tempted by one, then the Element would make a fine choice. It does everything that you’d expect very well, but I found myself looking for conditions that would suit it rather than reaching for it by default.
