Merino Clothing (base layers, etc)

great price, also curious if it's good

100% merino doesn't seem to mean it's great though. I've got a cheapo uniqlo merino sweater that doesn't let sweat pass through anywhere near as good as my chocolate fish one. Not that I expected it too, but worth noting that just cause it's 100% doesn't mean it's great

Arducius

coming along to the PBP meeting on Friday?

Mattha, clubman, tsk, teddy and myself

ride out on Saturday
Would love to make the ride out to Henley, but am off to Deepest Darkest Cornwall on Saturday ("summer" holiday). Have a good one!

I went for the large, it is cut quite long (which I prefer on cycling tops) and the material is very stretchy
The aforementioned baselayer is a little on the long side, but that might prove to be useful for keeping the lower back covered when on the bike.

Looks good if a little pricey

http://www.alwaysriding.co.uk/ibex-hooded-indie-merino-base-layer-797.html

embers socks are great

merino like all wool comes in varying grades with superfine being the softest and most expensive all the wool is measured in microns cheaper garments are made from less fine wools = less soft / subtle etc.,

I've been checking out finisterre - as its in my flat from the show, their womens baselayers are not cut exactly for cycling but they seem to be made pretty well. Also made in portugal, which IMHO is better than china. (airmiles wise)

Their economy needs the support at the moment too. Double win.

I've been checking out finisterre - as its in my flat from the show, their womens baselayers are not cut exactly for cycling but they seem to be made pretty well. Also made in portugal, which IMHO is better than china. (airmiles wise)

Got a (mans) vest from them. Lovely weight, and super soft. Also the only company that makes a real small for us scrawny boys which is good :)

Jacqui, their wool still has to come from Australia so their products still rack up a fair few miles if that is your concern.

Ha ha! I spot wools in the merino thread.

merino socks are one of the best purchases i've ever had. pricey though. ordered my embers gillet last week, lets see how good it is.

^you're going back to summer, so if you fancy leaving it in London (where its going to be far more practical), let me know and I'll keep it safe.

Jacqui, their wool still has to come from Australia so their products still rack up a fair few miles if that is your concern.

actually tim, your wrong. Finisterre has re-kindled a breeding programme here in the uk of a specific merino sheep that has extrafine wool. They financed the land and the breeding programme and pay a lovely woman to run it for them. They are one of the companies I am looking at for speaking to young designers at PRET2011.

Their goal is to be completely accountable for their production and get it all inside the EU - with a veiw to making it all UK I believe.

Tell ya, Seal Skinz Merino socks are boss!

http://www.finisterreuk.com/pdf/Finisterre-Lookbook-Spring-10.pdf

story of the bowmont breeding programme and founder lesley is on page 3... if you're interested.

^you're going back to summer, so if you fancy leaving it in London (where its going to be far more practical), let me know and I'll keep it safe.
ha, you been to melb before.

These sheep are a cross breed of Saxon Merino and Shetland. Starting in early 80s, it took the Macaulay Institute of Scotland 20 odd years to stabilise the breed. The ambition was to capture the brilliant fibre of the Saxon Merino with the hardy, wild instincts of the Shetland.

The finished Bowmont sheep is roughly 75% of the former and 25% the latter. It was intended to give the Scottish
hill farmers another type of sheep with increased value coming from the very fine wool. Unfortunately there was not
enough demand within the market place and the project was eventually given up.
The Bowmont flocks that had been bred were sold on with flocks still existing in Scotland, Wales and Devon.
Unfortunately many of the flocks that were sold have been either slaughtered or crossbred with Shetlands, thereby thus losing their pure Bowmont fibre quality.
It turns out that Lesley - the North Devon fibre fanatic – has now collected all the remaining pure Bowmonts and is the
only one to be breeding pure Bowmont; this was as the Macaulay institute had originally planned (her best ram has
been clocked at 15.8 microns). We are currently looking to trademark the breed in some way so that other people with
remnants of the breed can not claim to have purer Bowmont and dilute the true quality of the wool with there sub
quality sheep and fleece.
So Finisterre and Lesley are in bed together and hopefully with our market clout and passion for the project we can establish the breed over the coming years and hopefully a sustainable market for the wool. If successful, we might have saved and nurtured back to health what might become the next big UK breed of the century. What’s more it will be the finest wool sheep breed within Europe only being challenged by the assortment of Merino types around the world. The majority of these can be found with our antipodean cousins and the remainder owned in South America.

Sounds cool, I was only going on what was on their website for the mens Eddy marino base layer:

" it is also the softest Merino on the market, meaning it is super comfy next to the skin. We have developed this premium jersey fabric every step of the way - from sheep to shelf. The fibre is sourced from Australian TMC accredited farms, and processed and knitted in EU eco-label certified spinners."

pehaps its only 50/50 right now? I don't know. I applaud them for their efforts though, and look forward to it being 100% british wool. (how fast do sheep multiply?)

ps. lovely to see you the other day, brompton's enroute back to you as we speak!

it can also come from kiwi land

originally comes from west asia

I picked up a couple of these for £35 each in my local TK Maxx. Really impressed for the price. Have been through the (launderette) wash with no problems. Cycle surgery have them for a bit more and only seemingly in grey. Recommended.

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/sugoi%20mens%20wallaroo%20210%20long%20sleeve%20jersey/jerseys-long-sleeve/bikes-components-bikewear/fcp-product/4373

great price, also curious if it's good

100% merino doesn't seem to mean it's great though. I've got a cheapo uniqlo merino sweater that doesn't let sweat pass through anywhere near as good as my chocolate fish one. Not that I expected it too, but worth noting that just cause it's 100% doesn't mean it's great

Just found a review here:
http://road.cc/content/review/25150-dhb-merino-long-sleeve-zipneck-base-layer

Jacqui, their wool still has to come from Australia so their products still rack up a fair few miles if that is your concern.

Farms in Aussie and NZ tend to be much bigger than farms in Europe and are are much more efficient in terms of energy required to make wool, dairy etc.
The 'food miles' concept is convenient but fails to look at the real costs of farming.
Read a study recently that showed milk products produced in NZ then shipped to UK were less than half as costly in terms of energy and emissions than UK milk products, including the sea travel of course.

If you want to support local industry, great, but just because something's travelled from the other side of the world doesn't mean it's less efficient than what's made down the road.

well said