Another stylish yet understated piece of technical riding clothing from dakine, sent to me to test with the uber cool mode shorts it a great match, simple in design with subtle dakine motifs to give it that little bit of girlyness!

The mode jersey, like the shorts is marketed as a freeride top which means that it fits looser than the All MTN/Trail fit to fit over body armour, this was was apparent as I usually take a large in dakine tops and I tested a medium; which was if anything a little baggy, this did mean I could fit it perfectly over a base layer and body armour had I of used it.

I have worn this with the shorts on a variety of trails and in a mix if weather! It’s nice over a base layer and when worn alone the polyester does a great job of wicking away the sweat, yes we’ve actually had one day where I managed to wear just the jersey minus base layer and it kept me dry even when I broke into a sweat trying to keep up on the ups!!

I tend to find that my hydration pack straps pull on most of my tops and snag the fabric leading to bobbling; yet somehow this jersey had the ability to resist the wear of the straps and no fabric snagging is apparent.

Dakine like to keep their products up there with fashion whilst still concentrating on riding features.  To my surprise the jersey has a very handy glasses  wipe concealed within the inside on the hem and on the opposite side a zipped key pocket!  Dakine add a feminine touch to the jersey with the multi coloured embroidered flowers on the arm and labels at the base and the purple stitching throughout.

The neck is quite unusual for a riding jersey; v neck with buttons, it’s a nice change and the buttons might be a nice help in the summer whilst riding abroad when it all gets a bit hot!! The arms are slightly tapered with a wide hem which stops them being to baggy and flapping around in the wind as your tearing down the hill.

Pros: wicking fabric, pockets, glasses wipe, hint of girlyness!

Cons: quite large in size

Overall verdict; stylish and comfortable but check your size before buying as they are up one size to fit armour underneath.

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Also worth a check, our First Impressions: Zimtstern Women’s 2014 MTB Jersey, Shorts and Liner