[Closed] Recommend me a Merino Baselayer

Endura Baa Baa good for me

Smartwool Merino LS on offer £19 reduced from £40.....

[url] http://www.rockrun.com/products/Smartwool-Microweight-Crew-Deal.html [/url]

Icebreaker were on offer at Sportsdirect and Cyclesurgery - I've got a couple of Mondo zip - superb

http://www.embersmerino.com/

my longsleeve has got the first little hole in this week; done almost every commute and loads of rides over the last 2 years. pretty damn good.

Been using a BaaBaa short sleeve base layer on it's own all summer - few 'snags' but nothing worse than other materials. I also use Howies long sleeve versions as base layers in winter - no issue with wear and tea at all but I only buy these in the summer sales!

Smartwool LS for me.

I've never tried anything else (cos one is enough) but a colleague who wears LS merino all year tried the Endura Baa Baa and decided it just wasn't as good. And that £19 up there is a bargain price!

I use Baa Baa's as base, mid and top layers (not all together!) - work great and the new (I think) 3/4 zip one I got a few weeks back from my LBS has been perfect so far this autumn. The socks are good too.

I find the Baa Baa slightly itchy compared to the Smartwool, but perhaps that's 'cos the Endura one is more figure hugging. Anyway, I've worn my BaaBaa only about three times but have lived in the Smartwool ones since I got them 🙂

Baa baa for colder weather, assorted Finisteree and Howies Merino when it's warmer.

Have both BaaBaa and Icebreaker, I always reach for the Icebreaker! BaaBaa ok but just prefer fit and feel of IB

haven't found any as comfy as Icebreaker but they tend to be expensive.

Baa Baa for me too. I have spent many days in one with no washing facilities. It still didnt smell. Toasty warm too.

Definitely Lab Gear
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/lab-gear-store/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

You won't regret it!
I had a BaaBaa and it was much too short in the body.

iRule Exxo - turbo merino, lovely. But i always say that 😆

[url= http://www.chocolatefishmerino.co.uk/ ]chocolatefishmerino[/url] every time for me

Embers for me.
I have smartwool too, but embers is much nicer.

None of them - merino gets wet which is bad news when you have an accident and are lying there getting cold because of it. I bought my wife some icebreaker tops and she won't wear them now as she was continually getting hot then cold - not much better than a cotton t-shirt.

Just get some HH Lifas...

Icebreaker is excellent if you can afford it. I've also found the Helly Hansen merino jerseys to be very warm, and Sugoi Wallaro merino's also good.

The Smartwool top looks nice - what's the sizing like? I vary between a medium and a large mostly due to my arm span.

Andrew Drummond - almost exactly the opposite to how I feel about merino. My two howies (one t-shirt and one long sleeve polo) both a the least-wet feeling thing when I'm biking or just hot on a summers (!) day, dry off super quick and keep a steady temperature throughout. Maybe it depends on the quality/weight?

Owned my first Icebreaker from 1999 to date (it has a couple of tiny holes but who cares?) and its been used every winter without fail from riding to wearing underneath. Bought another last winter but the cost means nothing.

Icebreaker for people who are very tight but understand longevity/performance versus longterm benefit.

[i]Andrew Drummond - almost exactly the opposite to how I feel about merino[/i]

90% of others too 🙂

[edit]that almost makes sense! - I mean 90% think Merino is great.

I'm with the 90% 🙂 Merino is brilliant. Won't buy anymore IB tho' - quality rubbish these days. Last tops all from [url= http://www.chocolatefishmerino.co.uk ]ChocFish[/url] and far better quality. Good long arms and body, and fabric awesome

Whats the thin body armour that Frodo wore? Emetheral? Throughout last winter I thought of my merinos as just that 🙂

I wear the Rapha the lightweight jersey as a baselayer - made from Sportwool (merino/synthetic), I find it dries much quicker than the pure merino tops. I also wear it in the summer, I've had it for 2 years - no holes.

Merino rocks. Wouldn't ride in anything else (well shorts and shoes obvioulsy).

Can't see past Finisterre for base layers http://www.finisterreuk.com/technicalsurfapparel/mens/eddy-base-layer-10/11-p157-c37.html

It's funny I bought a chocolatefish merino and sent it back as I didn't like the seams on the shoulder and thought it felt cheap next to my IB stuff even though it cost more. Shame as I had heard such great things.

so I was skiing with some Merino fanatics who also did a lot of hill/mountain climbing. I asked them if their merino tops where wet when they reached the top of the hill and they said yes, but they dry out once you take your jacket off.

If you had a fall at the top of the hill and were lying in a gully waiting for help, a wet top is not going to do you much good.

Bit doom and gloom there Mr Drummond!

I've got HH too but prefer the merino.

I bought Chocolate Fish but have nothing to compare it to (other than looking in the shops). I bought it because it was NZ wool, made in NZ and they're a small company. The price was similar to the others. It seems fine.

Smartwool, as mentioned. We all wear it and have tons in the shop!

Howies NBL half zip

ok, a mechanical failure on your bike and it took you an hour to fix it, it was cold, and you had been riding hard so your merino top was wet.

I thought the point of merino was that it still keeps you warm when wet, like Buffalo DP gear, in which case it doesn't matter that it dries more slowly. For winter walking where wet feet are likely I'll always wear wool socks for that very reason!

AndrewDrummond - have a read about the working temperature of Merino and how it effects the body temperature when wet. It's completely different to the way you'd judge synthetic or cotton fibre.

However, I would say that if they were wet through sweat, then they're probably wearing the wrong thickness of Merino. Merino wicks very well (I haven't seen figures comparing it directly, but I seem to recall that density of weave and fineness of fibre made more difference than wool v synthetic). I was careful to swap like-for-like when going from capilene to merino.

Another upside is that wool isn't flammable. I have fires when wild camping, woodburning heating when on campsites in winter and small woodburning cooking stoves for backpacking.

Downsides to Merino are cost (in some cases), fragility, washing care and allergies in some (although the same can be said for synthetic).

AndrewDrummond - if I sweat in a meriono top or a nylon shirt it will still be wet .... I can prove this for you if you like?

nylon is not going to soak it up though...

Whats with the grief over merino?

The trick is to wear JUST the merino- NOTHING else. i.e no tshirt, no synthetic mountain bike top.

Just the merino(s) so you feel just abit too cold in the carpark. Then put on your baggy British Army DPM jacket. Job sorted 😀

[url= http://road.cc/content/review/25150-dhb-merino-long-sleeve-zipneck-base-layer ]Another on in the Mix - DHB Merino[/url]

So do I have to pack several different thicknesses of merino top depending on what the weather is going to be like, so I can wick correctly?

Afraid you are not going to convince me, i have worn Lifas in all sorts of temperatures with no problems, including hot days skiing. Dependable performance and I don't have to worry that I have the right thickness on.

I felt really guilty for buying icebreaker tops for the wife and then having her suffer getting cold in the same way she would have with a cotton t-shirt on. Hence you will never see me wearing it.

Rapha

<runs away and hides>

+1 for rapha.

\i have Rapha and Baabaa, prefer the Rapha as it seems to fit better, the Baabaa seems a bit short. Both however are great for wicking and I havent had the issues that Andrewdrummond is talking about, I do have HH Lifa tops and would never choose them over any of my merino tops.

Might try one of those £19 tops for commuting, seems a great price for a Merino top.

(I also use the Baabaa socks and think they are great.)

AndrewDrummond - I'm sure everyone else reading this thread know that's not what I meant! I meant that many people go from the lightest weight synthetic to a thickish wool and then complain that they're too hot. My point is that you should compare like-to-like.

If you think that you've been comfortable wearing your thickest Lifas on the warmest of skiing days, then I'm not going to convince you otherwise. Basically for £40 you could find out for yourself instead of arguing.

Wearing Merino is absolutely nothing like cotton.

Merino wicks very well (I haven't seen figures comparing it directly, but I seem to recall that density of weave and fineness of fibre made more difference than wool v synthetic). I was careful to swap like-for-like when going from capilene to merino.

Actually that's a fundamental misunderstanding of the way merino works - it doesn't wick particularly well in the sense of moving moisture outwards away from the skin, which is what most wicking synthetics do, unsually using the structure of the fabric to do it. What it does do really well is absorb moisture and hold it away from the skin so the fabric still feels comfortable even when it's slightly damp. It's also brilliant for not smelling with repeated use and for comfort against the skin.

If you're really sweaty, you're probably better off with a thin, high-wicking polyester baselayer fabric that will move moisture outwards fast and dry a lot more quickly.

Merino's also less robust than synthetics and prone to be eaten by moths - generally when it's unwashed though, if it's clean they apparently don't find it quite so more-ish...

Icebreaker or Smartwool for me fwiw.

Another fan of IceBreakers here...having being completely submerged in very cold water on a day when the temperature did not exceed 3 degrees celsius I can vouch for the fact that they do, in fact, keep you warm when wet through!

Finisterre of Howies. They're light enough that you can pack an extra one in case it's too cold.

"If you're really sweaty, you're probably better off with a thin, high-wicking polyester baselayer fabric that will move moisture outwards fast and dry a lot more quickly. "

indeed, that is my point.

The effects of merino on my wife were exactly like cotton - it was wet and she got cold - end of story. Never happened with the synthetic tops she wore before.

If you're soaked through and cold when wearing Buffalo DP clothing you have to do a brief burst of exercise to raise your skin temperature which then drives the moisture outwards, leaving the skin feeling pretty dry and certainly warm and allowing the insulation to do its stuff. I imagine merino works the same way - if your skin temperature drops too low the moisture in the fabric can end up sitting against the skin, thus causing chilling.

I came quite close to buying another merino top - one got killed by a hot wash, another gradually shrunk despite wool cycle washing - but realised I'll probably have another laundry disaster so picked up a Capilene 3 half-price instead.

Worth looking here: http://www.actionoutdoors.co.uk/shop/base-layers-thermals-icebreaker-c-6858_7449_7669.html some good offers

BadlyWiredDog - probably off-topic. But this is interesting to me.

Yep, I know about that aspect of wool. But I was referring to the overall ability to transfer moisture from skin to air (or skin to next layer). I.e. ignoring the fact that they can retain a high proportion of moisture. It's still interesting to know how quickly it can be got rid of compared to synthetic. It would be no good if all the moisture just went to the core - we'd be wringing them out every hour!
A quick search still didn't bring any direct comparison though.

One thing about Merino is there are a mahoosive array of 'types' that is, weave, grade etc which all affect the ability for it to 'dry'. IB use a different grade to our stuff these days, we got a specific turbo merino made which dries way quicker for the very reason that it works better for 'active' sports where you will sweat a lot. Its this drying speed, to me, that defines whats going to work and not work so well. While IB stuff is nice its also, in my personal opinion, not of the quality it used to be. We've been doing a lot of work on weaving sensors into the actual merino fibre itself (for future bio-sensory garments) and its been quite interesting getting hold of merino here - IB buy it all.