Hey there.

I'm trying to find something that is cut like a 'dress' shirt but made from a wicking quick dry material like a cycling jersey is.
Basically, I bike to work every day and I keep a ton of dress shirts in my office that I change when I get there. If I could find shirts like I'm imagining I could just wear what I biked in.

The closest thing I've found that fits what I'm envisioning is the lightbeam shirt from Nau: https://www.nau.com/mens/categories/s...pe-400M02.html

My problem with the Nau stuff is the price tag.

Does anyone have leads?
thanks

I would think polyester or any other synthetic would be prone to retain odor. I know merino wool is renowned for its breathibility and resistance to odor, perhaps something like this? https://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/1...e-For-Men.html

I sweat too much to even consider wearing the same shirt for the commute and for the office.
Sweat notwithstanding, EVERY person has an odor of some kind, which is intensified when the pores open. I'm not sure why anyone would want to wear the same clothing unless the commute is very (and I mean VERY) short.

Unfortunately I'm not much help in what you're looking for beyond Nau, but I need to put in a shameless plug for them because I love their stuff.

I have 2 jackets from Nau (Asylum and Shroud of Purrin) and love them, my sister also has several pieces of their stuff. It's high quality stuff with a nice urban style to it that can serve as either every day wear or outdoorsy gear.

Their stuff does run very pricey (the Asylum at full price was $400), but they run sales regularly so I got that jacket for $200. Their sales usually come around seasonal changes when they get their new stock in so you can keep an eye out for that. They usually run 35% to 50% off.

Personally, it's completely worth the money.

Carry an extra stick of deodorant with you if you're that worried about your smell.

I ride the same clothes I work in every day. Daily commute is roughly five miles each way.

I sweat a lot too.

Nope. Doesn't work for me. Covering up the odor isn't the same as washing it off. Easy to accomplish for the body (rinse or shower) - not so easy for the clothing (laundry). Once the odor is in the fabric, there it is. All day. And when I say I sweat, I saturate my riding clothes. Dripping wet. Not cool to have soaking wet khackis and oxfords/"golf" shirts.

For me, it is just bettter to have clean clothes to wear at the office and exercise clothes for the ride.

A guy in California was promoting his clothing line here some months ago. I don't remember the name but he had a fairly decent line of retro style shirts made for cycling.

you may want to check out travelsmith.com. I used to get their catalog & there were lots of wicking clothes in there. I don't remember specifically if they had any dress shirts, but I seem to think they did.

I don't know how "dressy" you need them to be, or how fast they need to dry, but I have a couple of Columbia shirts that are specially made for "fishing" have "something-dry" material and "block UV". Whatever all that means, they are very cool on warm weather, dry rather quikly and I wear them to the office. (I won't use them with suit and tie though).

They are cool and "dry" enough, that I wear them when I go to the beach to protect my pale skin and my tatoos from the sun (Caribbean scorching sun).
People look at me funny wearing a long sleeve shirt on the beach.

I have a Nike Golf collared polo-style shirt, 91% polyester, 9% spandex, says NikeFitDry on the label. Other than the back pockets it is as good as a jersey.

ETA: I mean it does not have back pockets, if it did I would wear it as a jersey.

REI and outdoorsy stores like that sell a lot of quick-dry long-sleeve shirts for "world travel" where you have to wash your shirt in the sink and wear it the next day. I think ExOfficio has lots of shirts like that. How dressy do you need to be? Some are dressy and some of them have goofy pockets on the front.

https://www.sierratradingpost.com/sea...Merch-_-Shirts
https://www.rei.com/product/795003
https://www.exofficio.com/product_res...wersPerPage=40

Here's what you need!

Okay...but aren't your clothes wet from all the sweat? That is my issue..my clothes become soaked, i could replenish the great lakes at the rate i sweat.

There's no way i'd want to wear a bike jersey (or jersey material shirt) all day.. the "jersey stench" would be unbearable.

I have an Arc'teryx shirt that's two layers, with a wicking poly on the inside and cotton on the outside. It sounds like a nightmare, but works decently enough. It smells a bit, like any poly will, but looks pretty fancy, and does feel good for a short or mid-length ride.

I'm not seeing it in their catalogue, but they have a few others, in single layers:







They make expensive, but very high quality gear.

I was going to put in a vote for MEC's popper jerseys, but they don't make them any more.

As far as stink goes, I'll say again, try Crystal Stick deodorant. It is purely a deodorant, does nothing to stop sweat, but does a great job on odor. My synthetic clothes don't ponk up a room when I take them off either. As a bonus, you don't get that horrid white stain in the armpits either. I've ruined more shirts that way....

Black tie is always in style!

When you guys talk about "jersey stench" or whatever, are you talking about your jersey picking up BO smells, or are you talking about a weird poly smell that doesn't exist in nature?

I wear wicking t-shirts to ride, and they smell bad, but it isn't a bodily sort of odor. It smells like stinky used polyester I guess. Doesn't happen with cotton. Is that what you mean?

Why the hockey gear? nice tie, btw.

It is my observation that synthetics have a unique stink that seems to be activated by body heat and a not so good synergy with body odor. I do not find this to be the case with natural materials such as cotton and wool, though the BO shines through in whatever form it is taking that day.
The synth odor is far more noticeable and less pleasant than the natural, IMO.

Yeah, the polyester seems to absorb the b.o. smell permanently. Washing doesn't seem to help too much once you've ridden in it a couple times, but they keep me more comfy while riding than a wet t-shirt so I deal with it.

this has been my personal quest for a long time since I have hyperhidrosis. what you want is a synthetic golf shirt. they can be expensive so keep your eye open for other similar shirts in men's sportswear. I like to also wear a liner of some kind - either white cotton or black base layer (wicking) more snug than the over shirt but not tight fitting and not a compression base layer. your basic exercise shirt material. check out a new balance outlet near you or a local Target store men's dept.

btw if a synthetic picks up your BO then it will rtequire a few washings - 1 washing isn't gonna do it. the liner I use also helps protect the overshirt from having this issue. you can toss undershirts when they get old

also - wash your riding clothes promptly after getting them wet ~ within 12 hours. lately I've been rinsing the underarms of my shirts when I get to work so they don't smell as they dry for the ride home. riding to work this time of year I wear just a single shirt (but always change into something fresh for work)

Because for most of us, if we shower in the morning (and actually for me if I've showered any time in the last 24 hours) we sweat a lot and we don't smell. It's bacteria that causes the smell, and if I've washed away the bacteria I don't smell when I'm sweating, or if I just air dry off.

There was another thread this week where a bunch of other people were saying they found the same thing.

If you're wearing one of those smell-inducing polyester shirts, or a dirty shirt, it can be a different matter though (I'm not saying all synthetic shirts are smelly, I'm not sure, but there are definitely a few that are for some reason, way worse than cotton).

For the OP's post, as other people mentioned the only thing I know of is Merino wool. It's one of the best pieces of clothing for smelling (it takes a long time before it starts to smell, longer than cotton), it's highly recommended for cycling because of it's breathability, wicking, and that it still keeps you warm if it's wet (not as much, but cotton makes you colder if it's wet). And I've seen it in a bunch of dress stuff.

Downside is that if you have sensitive skin (like I seem to on my chest, but not on my legs), it still might be a slight bit itchy. Seems to vary from person to person.

canyoneagle, yes, exactly! That's what I mean. Whether I have BO or not (and I try not to ) the shirt smells weird and bad.

bhop, I agree. My favorite thing about wicking shirts is that they make it harder to see how sweaty I am. I use a smelly laundry detergent with OxiClean on certain loads of laundry so they smell fine after washing, but that smell comes back when I wear them. Cotton smells nice but involves an element of sweaty embarrassment.

On a related note, I just saw this and thought of this thread...

https://bit.ly/cB5zGI

I believe Rapha makes a dressy looking collared shirt made for urban riding.