Stolen Goat Bodyline Jersey Review

Myles Warwood

With a brand name taken from a mythical goat based adventure, the Stolen Goat Bodyline short sleeved jersey scores high on the quirky scale, but what is it like out on the road?

Watch out everyone, there’s a new premium cycling brand about, their name comes from a French farmer who was convinced his missing goat had been nabbed by a local butcher who he had a bit of a dispute with over money. The now CEO of this premium cycling brand, helped the farmer out that day by cycling to the butchers, up a mountain pass, to pay the butcher on time to save this goat from the chop.

The Stolen Goat Bodyline jersey, silly story but a great jersey

The chaps at Stolen Goat sent me over a jersey from their Spring/Summer 2016 collection, the Bodyline SS Jersey – Hypervelocity. The colour scheme is meant to be inspired by going insanely fast… However, they did spin a yarn over their name, so take that with a pinch of salt. Formed in 2012, Stolen Goat want to bring everyday cyclists a bespoke collection of cycling apparel, but if you believe the story behind the name then you shouldn’t be allowed to ride a bike! Although it’s part of their mantra, to go out of their way to help their customers, you really do feel it in the clothes.

First impressions of the jersey were not great, I’ll be honest. I took it out the bag, held it up and thought, “They’re charging people £60 for this? Really?” Then I spent a bit of time looking at it and I guess as with most things, when you look at it, you see what you are missing.

The sleeves and the core of the jersey are made out of two different materials. The sleeves are made with a lycra blend and have a longer, more aero fit. They fit snug to your arm, staying in place without the need for grips. What’s better is that they’re completely seamless, due to being laser cut at the end to ensure maximum comfort. This is a nice touch, you don’t pull the sleeve down or see it bunching up on your arm, it just stays where it should. Comfortably. Without fuss. Not that anyone has ever said, “Aren’t they lovely sleeves on that jersey.” But, yes, they are just that.

It’s so much more than lovely sleeves

Then there’s the core material itself. Again first impressions, I just looked at it and thought “No way. I’m going to over heat in that.” How very wrong I was. It’s made with a super fast drying, sweat wicking fabric. It’s a really comfortable jersey to be in the saddle all day with. The reason why it’s so comfortable? Well that super fast drying, sweat wicking fabric I just mentioned just a few lines ago, it’s four way stretchable. Yep. Stretches four ways. That means that when you’re taking those big gulping breaths bent over your handle bars praying for the top of the climb, the fabric’s able to stretch that way. It’s just really comfy.

However, Stolen Goat when designing this jersey made a conscious decision. They decided that they were not going to fit a grip to the bottom of the jersey. When putting this jersey through their considerable amount of tests alongside Bio Racer (these guys make loads of kit, even the kit for the Belgian racing team) they found that adding a gripper to the bottom of the jersey didn’t make it sit flush against the skin. They went on to find that if the jersey then went on to ride up, the gripper would hold it there and then become difficult to move it down. Even with the tiny cost of adding a gripper, Stolen Goat decided to go with a long elasticated bottom to the jersey, so it fits flush to the skin for the most comfortable fit.

The Rahpa tops I have, have a better bottom to the jersey. They have a nice close to the skin, snug fit with a gripped elastic bottom. The finish on the bottom of this Stolen Goat jersey makes it seem a bit… Cheap. I didn’t want to say it, because the price of this jersey is £60, which can be seen as a lot for a cycling jersey. The elastic finish makes it look like someone’s taken a draw string and pulled it tight around your midriff. In saying that though, you would struggle to get a Rapha jersey for £60, with their core range starting at £75. The price actually sits it somewhere in between DhB kit and Castelli, putting it right up against Morvelo and Sportful, very interesting place to park yourself, Stolen Goat.

Stolen Goat Bodyline Jersey certainly stands out with it’s Hypervelocity design

So now it comes down to whether I’d buy one – of course I would. I’d be daft not to! I’ve used this top many times and it’s so light-weight, breathable, comfortable and the colours look great. Even down to the little things like the extra bit of fabric at the top of the neckline to stop the zip from rubbing against your skin and just being a damn nuisance. The minimal amount of branding on the jersey so you’re not cycling around like an advertising board and even down to the fact that the fabric is UV protected so you don’t burn up out on the climbs in the sunshine.

All round it’s a very clever piece of kit, sorting out the bottom of the jersey would really start making the bigger boys more than look over their shoulder, they’d be lowering their prices too! Well done Stolen Goat, your jerseys look great. And they do have such lovely sleeves.

Stolen Goat

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