Rapha Men's Merino Base Layer - Long Sleeve

Our Rating

3.75 out of 5

the Short Read…

Super fit and ergonomics - long sleeve length, drop-tail, exceptionally scratch-free Merino, light weight.

The Long read …

Cycling gear?? Yes, and it just happens to be great for the snow too. I’m definitely one of the “Rapha? Yeah, but I didn’t pay full price” crowd, but when just doing some research on wool base layers, and seeing that Rapha had a two-for-£55-each offer, and knowing the quality reputation of their stuff, I decided to take a punt, and am well pleased that I did. Here’s a breakdown of the key pros and cons:

Accurate sizing charts - Buying over the internet can be right pain in the a*&% when it comes to sizing - with so many brands you need to read the reviews and hope someone has been thoughtful enough to tell you to size up or down and by how many sizes (especially with cycling gear). So never having bought Rapha before and falling right on the border between their M and L, I decided to get one of each, one in Navy L, one in Black M. It turns out that both fit, the M being snugger overall but still long enough in the body and arms - so their sizing chart is pretty bang on.

Generous sleeves - For cycling, leaning forward on the bars, the sleeves have to be long-ish because they tend to, ahem, ride up in that position. For me, someone who usually has issues getting long sleeved shirts with long-enough sleeves, even the M worked well. However, the cuffs are no thicker or elasticated than the rest of the shirt, so they don’t hold the cuff-end in place very strongly, and in fact, after wearing a while they tend to stretch open a bit, allowing more ride-up and drafts to get in - though they do return to their original shape after washing.

Generous length and a drop-tail - Again, a cycling feature that translates brilliantly to snow-sports, maybe for snowboarding especially. The general length front and rear is already generously lengthy and the tail is then slightly longer than the front. It means less ride up when bending over to do your bindings up, for instance - everything stays nicely tucked in where it should be and your butt stays warm.

Close fit - Nicely figure-hugging. The M being noticeably snugger on me than the L, but then I’m fairly lean, bordering on skinny. If you were a bit, erm, chunkier, these’d potentially be very snug indeed. Which is perfect for a functional base layer, but unless you have the body of a god, not so much for the aprés.

Super soft Merino - As you might expect for a brand with a real quality reputation, they have chosen amazing wool. A brand like Icebreaker is my reference for non-scratchy Merino, and these Rapha ones are as silky or silkier. Just beautiful next to the skin.

Light weight - Rapha don’t give the g/m2 figure for these, but I reckon it’d be around the 120-150 mark, pretty lightweight - ideal for any day when it’s not properly arctic or time for the beach.

Wide neck - This might be a feature you love, or not - the neck-line is definitely low and wide. I guess this goes with it’s warmer-end-of-cold intended temperature range.

Loud labelling - For me, this is the only area Rapha lose points on. There are two sewn-on bits of pure branding that, for me, detract from it’s look. One is a vertical ‘bar’ thingy right under your Adam’s Apple,. The other is also vertically-aligned but louder and on the bottom left side. Neither serve any purpose other than branding. If you were so inclined, I guess sewn-on labels don’t need to remain there…

Rapha Men's Merino Base Layer Long Sleeve - back.jpg

To sum it up, I’d highly recommend these for warmer days on the mountain - they are cheaper than an equivalent weight Icebreaker, exceptionally lovely Merino, and the cycling specific cut works well for snowsports, so long as you the brand-labelling doesn’t put you off.