Castelli Climber’s 2.0 Jersey: Quick Review

Castelli Climber’s 2.0 Jersey: Quick Review – by Grannygear

I realize that as I write this that I am looking out the window at leaves changing color.  In the mountains, Fall is beginning to wipe the sleep out of it’s eyes.  And since this review is for a super lightweight, hot weather climbers jersey, it points out that often we get product a bit too close to the middle of the season it is intended for.  Oh well.  You can always buy one and keep it for next year, because the Castelli Climber’s 2.0 jersey is a very nice bit of summer kit.

Let’s look at what the website has to say about it: https://www.castelli-cycling.com/us/men/tops/cycling-jerseys/p/451901019P-062

“IT’S LIKE A CLIMBER WINNING THE GREEN JERSEY When we created this jersey we primarily focused on making it light for the big alpine climbs as well as cool for hot days. A real Tour de France jersey if there ever was one. But we didn’t want to completely ignore aerodynamics, so we used patterning similar to our Aero Race 5.1 Jersey, which we knew was fast. The resulting jersey is extremely cool and light and instantly became a favorite with our pro riders. The surprise was when we put it in the wind tunnel. This lightweight jersey posted aero drag values just 2 watts slower than our Aero Race 5.1 jersey. Next time they ask you if you want aero or light, just answer, “Yes, please.” “

PRODUCT FEATURES

• The lightweight aero jersey…and the aero lightweight jersey
• Strada Pro 3D fabric on back provides support to pockets and UPF 16 protection
• 75 g/m2 Flusso 3D fabric on front and shoulders keeps the jersey light and dry
• Full-length lightweight front zipper
• Mesh raw-edge arm grippers
• 3 rear pockets
• Pattern from Aero Race 5.1 Jersey makes it aero
• Reflective heat-transfer viz strips
• 22°-40°C / 72°-104°F
• Weight:83g

I rode this in quite hot conditions during typical Southern California summer days, and so never wore it with any base layer, etc.

It has a very, very minimal feeling in the way it wears, with the meshy and light weight fabrics.  It feels great against bare skin and it’s about as close to riding ’nekkid’ as you can get unless you like riding in fishnet.  Even the arm grippers are mesh, so there is very little place for perspiration to hide.  Any moisture on the body is met with air freely moving through the jersey.

It is rated for sun protection to a level of UPF 16 which would let about 5% or so of UV rays through.  To put that in perspective, a white, cotton t-shirt would be rated about UPF 5, letting 20% of UV rays through.

It’s Castelli, and this is a race type jersey, so the cut is slim and I upped things to an XL just to make sure I could wear it with some of my pride intact.  The fit for me was very good unless I zipped the jersey all the way up, then it felt odd and tugged across the front of the jersey.  Even unzipping a little bit made that go away.  I do think it looks a bit homely with the lack of a typical jersey collar, but it also means less fabric to get in the way of your KOM on Alpe D’Huez.

Will this make you faster uphill?  Nothing much makes me faster uphill.  But at least I was more comfortable on hot climbs and in that way, yes it likely does.

Retail is $139.99 in four colorways.

Note: Castelli sent over the Climber’s jersey to Riding Gravel at no charge for test and review. We were not paid, nor bribed for this review and we always strive to give our honest thoughts and opinions throughout.