Sportful Kelly Thermal Jersey review

The Sportful Kelly Thermal Jersey is a long-sleeve women’s jersey for riding in cool temperatures.

It’s breathable and comfortable, and comes in a range of bright colours.

The version we had on test was the Berry Blue colourway.

It's a jersey that's designed for mid-season riding – the cool days on the run into and out of winter when the temperatures start to dip and winds start to bite.

Sportful Kelly Thermal Jersey specifications and details

The Kelly Thermal Jersey is designed for mid-season riding – the cool days on the run into and out of winter when the temperatures start to dip and winds start to bite.

Constructed using a combination of brushed fleece and lighter textured panels, it's designed to focus warmth around the core, while enabling excess heat and moisture to be lost.

A silicone gripper and dropped rear hem provide additional length and coverage, and tapered cuffs around the wrists are aimed at keeping warm air in and draughts out.

It sits in the middle tier of women’s long-sleeve jerseys in terms of price; slightly more expensive than the comparable Endura Xtract Roubaix jersey, but significantly cheaper than the likes of the MAAP Evade thermal jersey.

Sportful Kelly Thermal Jersey performance

Overall, the jersey performs well. It’s comfortable, true to size and meets the goal of being a warm but breathable layer suitable for autumn and spring conditions.

Quantifying warmth is a challenge because tolerance of cold is specific to the individual. I’m someone who tends to feel the chill, and I found this cycling jersey warm enough at temperatures in the mid-teens without a baselayer.

With a short-sleeved baselayer underneath, I was comfortable down to around 9 to 10ºC. I also paired it with a long-sleeved baselayer, which worked well for colder night rides.

I loved the tapered close-fitting and soft wrist cuffs, which fitted snugly underneath my gloves and contributed to keeping warm air in.

The Kelly Thermal jersey isn’t designed to be water resistant, and on the one occasion I was caught out in a thunderstorm the jersey was quick to soak through.

In the Berry Blue colour on test, this soaking-through came with a noticeable colour change, which meant it was also very prone to showing sweat. This wasn’t ideal after commuting with a backpack, when sweat would show on my shoulders and around the arms.

However, it is brilliantly breathable, and I found myself reaching for it for colder wet rides when I wanted a layer underneath my waterproof jacket.

Similarly, in this colour I felt the contrast panels on the jersey were a little overdone. The darker panel around the neck seems to be a style choice, with the dark material oversewn onto the paler blue fleece, strongly resembling a collar.

Several other panels also feature, and I feel this makes the Kelly Thermal jersey less sleek than it could be. This isn’t the case for all the colour options, though – in some, the entire garment is the same colour.

Sportful Kelly Thermal Jersey bottom line

Overall, Sportful has missed a trick when it comes to this jersey's details. There are three large pockets across the back of the jersey, however there is no small zipped or waterproof pocket for valuables.

There’s also no protection around or behind the main zip and on windy days draughts came through it.

Furthermore, the reflective details on the jersey are minimal, which seems like a miss (despite the bright colours) for a piece of kit likely to be worn at times of year when daylight is limited and you may well be riding at dusk or dawn.

The Kelly Thermal Jersey is a decent option that's breathable, brightly coloured and comfortable to wear. However, there are several details that need to be improved upon in order to make this stand out from the pack.