The Domestique Critique: Angeles Creative Jersey

That jersey, though. Angeles Creative is a small company from Southern California but they are making waves in a big way. The internet has fallen in love with their Spektrum collection and I have too. They are fresh off a new release of a womens-specific Cyan Shimmer jersey and the color bomb is truly epic.

Straight out of the package I fell in love with the color. It’s hard for a picture to do it justice, but in person it’s just WOW. The blue and green hues are so vibrant and in no way does stretch or movement diminish that vibrancy.

I put on the Medium jersey and I felt a whole lot of tight. The cut is race-fit and they aren’t joking about that. “Race-fit” is generally a cut I avoid, seeing time and time again that it doesn’t know how to include bodies sized medium and up in a complimentary way. I could have sized up but there are other areas that would have fit terribly if I did so. I expected the mesh material of the jersey to be a bit more flexible that it was.

The cut of the jersey is pretty close to perfect. The sleeve length is stylishly long (something I have to get used to for a few more seasons) and it hits perfectly at the shoulders and hips. It’s longer in the back for your riding position and features three open pockets and one zippered pocket. It hugs the curves in ways you may or may not be comfortable with but you can’t argue that it follows the contour of body proportions perfectly. But the mesh jersey is very, very see-through. In the picture below you can see the bib straps and my bra (recommendations for a black bra anyone?).

I received the jersey in time for a couple of big rides in the California desert. That’s a perfect location with weather conducive for a summer weight kit. It was sunny as soon as we started and with no shade in the sparse Joshua Tree forest I found out the hard way why Angeles Creative *strongly recommends* sunscreen with this jersey. No picture for that mistake, sorry.

The jersey also features this felt grip, presumably to keep it down in front. I found that while it did not rise up as I rode it still made for a stiffer section when I bent over, feeling it dig just a little into my belly. The simple latex strip on the back of the jersey did perfectly fine keeping it in place as I rode.

A trouble spot for me was the arm bands. The outside-facing band was a solid lycra folded over and sewn to the sleeve with no grip. It rolled up every time I bent my elbow and I was constantly rolling it back down flat. In the desert heat I did sweat and I was grateful the jersey allowed enough air flow to dry quickly. But I do think the underarm panels where I sweat were not lined up correctly. I sweat on the front and side panel, and missed the black underarm panel entirely.

What impressed me was that, although the jersey is of such a lightweight material, the zipper had enough stiffness to smoothly zip up or down with one hand. I don’t know if you’ve experienced that moment when you want to zip the collar down while pedaling (or up on a descent while pedaling) and you’re stopped at a certain point because the material pulls the sides apart too much to complete the mission. It’s not a deal breaker, I know, but it’s frustrating and I don’t like to takes my hands off the bars completely to attempt it. The zipper didn’t create any unnecessary ripples in the riding position, either. Score! (Aside: I am coining the phrase ‘zipper ripple’ if it’s not already taken) You do have to be careful with the jersey and play nice. Because it’s thin it will snag easily, as I found out after reaching into the pocket housing my cycling wallet.

I did also test a pair of womens-specific bib shorts from Angeles Creative but these are not available to the public just yet so I’ll hold comment until their release. I will make note of one special design feature – on the back upper panel is a quote, “May your journey through nature lead you to yourself.” Incredibly special to put on those bibs and see that excellent reminder of why we ride.

Overall, the jersey is a sleek, gorgeous combination of style and color. The logos are well placed to keep branding minimal and vibrant color the main focus. Believe me, people will ask who makes it. There are certainly a few tweaks to be made for the next collection but Angeles Creative really have a stunning start.

Full disclosure: I received the kit reviewed in this post free of charge. The decision to write this review and all opinions expressed are 100% my own. This is not a sponsored post. Thanks as always for reading!