Scott's Shirt Next2Skin isn't the flashiest style we've tested but it's an unfussy hard worker from the traditional base layer school that’s designed to be worn under everything, where it'll suck up sweat to keep you dry and comfortable.
The instantly notable feature is the fabric itself – with a very open texture, it feels very smooth and light to wear. It’s made using Meryl fibre, which is a name you may want to tuck away in your mind for future reference if you like your cycling tops to have a smooth feel combined with high performance.
The label comes with lots of informative detail about drying too – what that translated to in testing for us was that we never felt damp and were usually dry by the time we rolled the bike back into the shed at the end of a ride.
The slim fit worked well for us – but we'd ideally wish for more extensive use of flatlock seams and a deeper cuff. That would be the icing on our base layer cake and give something more of a style edge.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
