Which type of cycling shirt do you need?

Now that the cycling season is about to start and now that the first beautiful days have arrived, you are of course looking for a nice tight outfit. You start your search with a simple search term in Google, only to be flooded with terms such as aero jersey, skinsuits and downhill shirts. To create some order in this chaos, we explain in this blog what the differences are between these cycling jerseys.

Tour shirt / training shirt

The most common type of cycling shirt there is: the tour shirt. Almost every cyclist has such a type of shirt in his closet. An ideal tour shirt is aimed at comfort and long trips. It must therefore quickly drain moisture and be light in weight. There should also be pockets on the back to carry food and personal items. A tour shirt preferably also has a silicone gripper. Tip: Are you looking for a cycling shirt for touring or training? Then buy a cycling shirt with a zipper pocket on the back. This allows you to store personal items and you don't have to worry about losing anything while cycling.

skinsuit

A skinsuit is a super thin and tight suit that is both pants and a shirt. Skinsuits are often used in competitions or triathlons. Skinsuits offer little comfort, but they do provide good conductivity through the wind. The big difference between an aero shirt and a skinsuit is the fact that a skinsuit consists of one part. As the name suggests, this type of cycling shirt is made to fit around your body like a second skin.

Aero shirt

An aero shirt is often used by professional cyclists. An aero cycling shirt is very tight but has room for a base layer, for example (a skinsuit does not). Some aero shirts have pockets on the back to take nutrition. The fit of an aero shirt is very tight, which means that it offers slightly less comfort than, for example, a tour shirt.

Downhill / mountain bike shirt

This type of cycling shirt is often a bit looser. It has a little more room under the armpits and at your stomach. This is because you often want more freedom of movement when mountain biking. You make more different movements than with racing bikes. A mountain bike shirt often has no pockets on the back, so taking food is a bit more difficult. What you often see is that mountain bikers use, for example, a tour shirt. As a result, they often have sufficient freedom of movement and yet the convenience of being able to take some things with them. Mathieu Van Der Poel even used a skinsuit during the Olympic Games. Now that we have explained the simple basics of the different types of cycling jerseys, it is time to buy a cycling jersey. We have also written a blog for this in which we explain in great detail how you can buy the best cycling shirt. Read more about choosing your cycling jersey here .

Tip: The Acelera Cycling Shirt

This shirt combines the features of all the cycling shirts mentioned above. It has three pockets for food and personal items. An extra zippered pocket for your keys/phone. An aerodynamic membrane for less air resistance. And can it be purchased as both a race fit and a tour fit. In addition, our shirt has good moisture regulation and the elastic fabric ensures sufficient freedom of movement. View all Acelera cycling jerseys here .