MAAP Thermal Base Layer LS Tee

The MAAP Thermal Base Layer LS Tee is warm, very comfortable and wicks really well. It's on the slightly small and short-bodied side, so best suited to bib short use and slimmer riders, but it feels rugged and built to last – and that offsets the highish price a little.

Despite the love-it-or-hate-it nature of its wild colours, there's not actually that much to say about this baselayer – except that it's very good.

> Buy this online here

Oh go on then, I'll say some other stuff. The Polartec Power Grid fabric is very comfortable against the skin, and the impressively tough-looking overlocked seams are undetectable once it's on.

It's warm but very good at managing both excessive heat and sweat, and I found it stays comfortable even at the upper end of its range (about 12°C when paired with a windproof softshell, for me).

MAAP describes the material as mid-weight, and despite the thickish feel it stretches very easily. That's good, as the sizing is on the smaller side of accurate. It's also cut relatively short in the body, which I found just fine under bibs but less suitable with regular shorts.

Basically, when I put this on it kept me warm but not too warm when working hard, comfortable even when I was sweaty, and unrestricted in my movements. It's even happy to do multiple rides without the stink demanding to see a washing machine, and while I thought it smelt a bit odd and chemically from new, that disappeared after the first wash.

Value

At £70 this is at the more expensive end of things. The Specialized Seamless LS baselayer is a good chunk less at £55, for instance, though it's also a special kind of 'seamless' that has seams... only the body is actually continuous. Still, none of the seams on either the Specialized or the MAAP cause issues anyway.

Meanwhile, the dhb Aeron Polartec LS baselayer uses very similar fabric to the MAAP and was £40 when we reviewed it last year, and even though it's now £50 that's still a fair bit cheaper. 

> Buyer’s Guide: 20 of the best cycling baselayers

MAAP has a certain cachet (and those stylish/lunatic [delete as applicable] looks) of course, and is closer in price to other fashionable brands. The Megmeister Drynamo Winter Long Sleeve Baselayer is a much closer £64.95, for instance, while the Santini Grido Thermal Unisex Long Sleeve Base Layer is far more at £120.

Overall

For winter training – when you're very likely to be wearing bibs anyway – this is great. It's warm but comfortable and copes very well with hard efforts. If you like the looks (personally I do) it's a great choice that promises multiple winters of impressive performance.

Verdict

Warm, breathable, comfortable and (probably) stylish – a great base that should last