Review: Review: Craft Active Extreme Crewneck Base Layer

Comfy, well priced baselayer that does exactly what you need 9/10

With the early morning rides coupled with the autumnal weather that we are having it seemed apt to start wearing base layers for warmth not just to avoid nipple rub on the bibs.

The Craft Active Extreme seemed to be ideal for my needs!

It’s a tight, without being either compressive or restrictive, so fits under jerseys nicely.

Comfort is obviously a key consideration in the garment design and manufacture stage as this was super comfy to wear, seams are flatlocked to avoid those pesky, and frankly uncomfortable, lines that occur without them. The material is soft to the touch and sits nicely against the body, so much so that after riding I’ve kept mine on out of snuggliness at times.

Wearablility is a key factor in any item of clothing, but in the case of base layers especially I think rewearability (new word!)is also hugely important. So how does the Active Extreme cope with being worn for an hour, stuffed into a bag pocket and then being put on again? hmmmm, not so well. It’s not ‘that‘ smelly, but it’s noticeably whiffy to the user, but not so much that my dear lady wife would mention it (and she does so when its bad!!)

Day 2 of consecutive wearing (we call this extreme testing) and the smell didn’t really get any worse, thats not to say it got better but it didn’t get worse.

So all in all, for around £40 you are getting a comfy, warm and practical base layer that works superbly, and does a reasonable job (merino it isn’t) at keeping the smells at bay. It’s certainly not at the bargain price of the spectrum, but its not extortionate either!