Castelli Aero Race 8S Jersey review: Back to the brand's high performance best

Last year, I decided to take on the quite onerous task of pulling together a guide to the best cycling jerseys. As a broad term it wasn’t the easiest thing to distil down, and so I broke it down into little bite size subcategories like ‘budget’, ‘lightweight’, ‘gravel’, and, most pertinently for this review, ‘aero’.

Castelli’s previous aero jersey offering, the Aero Race 7, was certainly a good jersey, but by Castelli’s own admission it performs best when combined with the oft-ridiculed Bolero aero base layer/sleeve undergarment. This gave the double-layer fabric effect that’s so beloved of aerodynamicists currently, but ultimately for general consumers wanting a fast jersey it’s a little too much to consider. 

Now the Italian brand has gone back to the drawing board and released the Aero Race 8S jersey, with the ‘S’ standing for (you guessed it) Speed. Gone are the smooth sleeves, and in comes heavily textured fabrics, massive perforations, and a very modern fit that puts it, in my opinion, among the very best aero jerseys out there.

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Design and Aesthetics 

The first thing that’s going to hit you when you pull the Castelli Aero Race 8S jersey on is the sleeves. They’re long, almost to my elbows and I’m a gangly boy, wonderfully compressive, and sewn from two very different fabrics. The outer face, by which I mean the bit that’s going to hit the wind if you’re in a relatively aero riding position, is an unperforated fabric with thick, widely spaced ridges set about 1cm or so apart. This fabric, I’m told, is more expensive than Gore-Tex.

On the back of the arms, in stark contrast, is a heavily perforated fabric. It’s not mesh like you’d find on something like the Castelli Climber’s jersey, but more akin to the fabric version of a colander, with a solid fabric punctuated with large round holes. It might be stating the obvious, but just in case, this is to help avoid overheating when riding hard and generating a lot of heat. The ends are raw cut on the ridged fabric, but have a rollover hem on the perforated rear fabric.

The front, back, sides, collar, and the upper shoulders are made of what you might think of as a relatively normal material for a summerweight jersey. Thin, lightly perforated, a little see-thru in the white version I have, and stretchy without being restrictive. 

Unlike many of the latest crop of aero cycling jerseys, the collar is relatively close around the neck, entirely covering the clavicles which can so often be peeking out with wider necklines. There is a dedicated collar, or at least a strip of material that runs around the back of the neck to the collarbones, which many aero jerseys dispel with, but it’s not something that’s going to flap in the wind by any stretch.

The zip is a camlock affair, meaning it won’t unzip at random unless the zipper toggle is flicked upwards. Realistically, this isn’t a jersey designed to be ridden half-unzipped, but hot days are hot days, and it can be done nevertheless.

The lower hem is elasticated the entire way round, with a strip of elastic with a silicone strip sewn onto the back face of the face fabric at the front, and a more sturdy elastic gripper covered in silicone dots sewn onto the lower hem of the face fabric at the rear. The pockets, a usual 3-up affair, are quite high, relatively deep, and devoid of a zipped valuables pocket. This is a race garment, so perhaps not one to be cruising around with your keys and wallet in. 

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 Performance  

I spent a few days absolutely hammering it around Belgium in this jersey and it really impressed me. It’s certainly a specialist garment, clearly aimed at racing, but it’s comfortable enough to be on all day. 

I am not a human coefficient of drag sensor, so without taking it and a lot of other jerseys to the wind tunnel, I am unable to say for sure that it’s faster than anything else. This is, of course, something we could look to do to follow up on all of our other wind tunnel testing, but for now, all I can say is that, having tested a load of clothes and equipment in the wind tunnel, that it has all the hallmarks of a fantastic aero jersey. 

The ridged fabric is well established, and is the benchmark (whether single or dual layer) for key parts of skinsuits and aero socks too. The decision to make the inside heavily perforated is a good one in my book, though even smashing about Belgium in early April, my arms didn’t get too cold. 

The fit is also spot on. It’s about as close to crease free as you can get, and while Rapha’s Pro Team Aero Jersey was equally form-fitting, that was compressive to the cusp of restriction. If I wanted an aero jersey now I’d probably choose this one on performance terms as, especially across the chest, it’s far less restrictive. 

In terms of thermal management, it’s on the money for a summer jersey. That ridged fabric isn’t going to breathe as well as, say, a full mesh option, but it breathes a little, and combined with the really quite airy front and back it’s going to be just fine for all but climbing mountains in the heat of summer. If you’re wearing this and going fast the wind chill will cool you down. 

The pockets are quite high, but when empty, they sit good and flush with your lower back. Getting things in and out of them isn’t a huge task, but it’s harder than with some jerseys. They’re fine for a few gels and light spares, but don’t plan on loading yourself up like a turtle with it.

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Value

I don’t tend to check the prices of things before I get to this section, lest I prejudice myself unnecessarily one way or the other. With high-performance jerseys regularly coming in at just under £200/$250, the Castelli Aero Race 8S is actually surprisingly cheap considering the fact that it’s using some pretty mad fabrics, and is so well tailored. 

You’re losing things like the valuables pocket, but that’s not what this jersey is about. For racing, you’re getting a pretty killer jersey with some great technical fabrics for around £20 less than Rapha’s Pro Team Aero Jersey, with an RRP of £169/$199.99. It’s expensive, but I actually think for what you’re getting, it’s a pretty good buy. 

Verdict

Having ridden the old Aero Race jersey I was left a little cold, but I think here Castelli is back to its performance-oriented best. With the Aero Race 8S jersey you’re getting a brilliant fit, very aero (at least by the fabrics on offer) credentials, and breathability sufficient for all but the stickiest, most muggy climbs. 

Of all the aero jerseys I’ve had the pleasure of squeezing myself into, this is probably the one I’ll keep reaching for for days where I want to go hard, primarily for the comfort rather than necessarily any perceived wattage savings. 

Last year I decided to take on the quite onerous task of pulling together a guide to the best cycling jerseys. As a broad term it wasn’t the easiest thing to distil down, and so I broke it down into little bite size subcategories like ‘budget’, ‘lightweight’, ‘gravel’, and, most pertinently for this review, ‘aero’.

Castelli’s previous aero jersey offering, the Aero Race 7, was certainly a good jersey, but by Castelli’s own admission it performs best when combined with the oft-ridiculed Bolero aero base layer/sleeve undergarment. This gave the double-layer fabric effect that’s so beloved of aerodynamicists currently, but ultimately for general consumers wanting a fast jersey it’s a little too much to consider. 

Now the Italian brand has gone back to the drawing board and released the Aero Race 8S jersey, with the ‘S’ standing for (you guessed it) Speed. Gone are the smooth sleeves, and in comes heavily textured fabrics, massive perforations, and a very modern fit that puts it, in my opinion, among the very best aero jerseys out there.