I've been tempted to post a topic asking if people ever regretted high end apparel purchases. I mean, you can argue all day whether or not that thousand dollar upgrade to lose a quarter of a pound off of the bike is worth it or not, but hardly anyone talks about the investment in your cycling kit which can have a big effect on your comfort.

For anyone that does summer riding, especially in the south where it can be 90 degrees in the MORNING, there is going to be a big difference between a 30 dollar, loose fit, lime-green budget jersey and a next-to-skin wicking fabric with lots of ventilation type of jersey. It can make a huge difference on a ride.

Not too long ago, I posted about a couple of Rapha jerseys that I own. One is a pro team and the other is a replica. While they both fit well, the pro team is basically the best thing I have ever put on my skin for warm weather riding. The replica? I think it needs to stay in the closet until fall. It happened to be the only clean one when I left for a 6 a.m. ride Sunday morning (when it was already 80 degrees out) and it was kind of miserable in comparison to my pro team and the Castelli climber's jersey. I could deal with it for a 30 mile morning ride, but if I knew it was going to be a 50 plus mile day, I would have made sure to have one of the other ones ready.

As I mentioned earlier, I was comfy in the mostly black pro team jersey on a 40 mile ride after work in the high 90's. But days later on the morning ride, where it went from 80 to 90 in a couple of hours, those 30 miles in the replica jersey were a lot less enjoyable.