Meccanica Casual Cycle Clothing Review

Simon Tuck

We take a look at Meccanica casual cycling clothing, made in the UK and worn by Team GB greats Hoy and Kenny.

More casual bike wear, this time from Meccanica. A polo shirt in a vintage style and a t-shirt with an amusing motif. Meccanica is latin for ‘machinery’. This company based in the North West of England fuses a passion for British engineering with Italian design. Meccanica source quality sustainable materials and the clothing is made by small manufacturers in England. Their clothing goes from Small to 4XL, so all shapes and sizes of cyclist are catered for. Apparently Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny OBE both wear Meccanica clothing.

For those days when you want to take it a bit easier, try Meccanica casual cycle clothing

The T-Shirt is 100% cotton, made in the UK, and has the sentence ‘Putting the fun between your legs’ written across it. It’s well made, with quality stitching and this is noticeable compared to most of the cheap t-shirts I have in my drawer. The T-Shirt has a good length, enabling it to be tucked in securely or to hang loose and cover your back in a riding position. There are no pockets on the t-shirt so you’ll have to use a messenger bag or your trouser pockets to store things.

The Meccanica T-shirt is UK made and has some nice little touches

I might wear this T-shirt to ride to the pub or a night out, but the Polo Top is a lot more versatile in that respect, and with its collar a bit more formally acceptable. I guess a lot of the T-shirt’s appeal lies in whether you are the sort of person who finds the puerile phrase on it amusing or not.

The Polo Zip Top is well made from 100% cotton pique. It feels like it’s made to last and fits nicely. The zip pull has an ornate ‘Coritani’ centurion design. The colour and design are meant to bring to mind images of vintage cycling jerseys, and it does.

The Meccanica polo shorts harks back to designs from the ’50s and ’60s

The Polo Top is made of cotton, which is a natural material and it breathes quite well. If you sweat it won’t wick it quite as well as lycra or wool will, but as a material it’s a good alternative and tends to be cheaper. This is an ideal top for casual or urban cycling and definitely passes the ‘Would I wear it in the pub?’ test.

The long tail section keeps your back covered in a cycling position, and the handy pocket to the right is big enough for my Iphone 4S with room to spare, and just about squeezes in a wallet but you might struggle to button it up if you’ve just been paid! The collar has a double thickness of material and seems like it’s designed to be worn up, because the name tag at the rear would be on show if you folded it over too much.

On the whole it looks good. If you like clothing that stands out, looks good, is made in the UK and has some cycling related features then you might buy this polo or the T-Shirt. Meccanica’s website has a whole host of interesting casual cycle clothing, take a look and we may review more in the future.

Meccanica

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