The O’Neal Soul Women's jersey is a functional piece of women’s riding gear. Its slim fit is well cut, its lightweight and it breathes well, but this royal blue reminds me of school uniforms and the pocket zip is rather stiff.
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The Soul jersey is cut slim, with tapered sleeves to match. The sleeves are a good length for a bit of protection, too.
The fabric is quick drying and light weight, plus there’s extra ventilation from mesh panels extending from underarm to hem on both sides of the top.
O’Neal says this part of the jersey has ‘laser cut ventilation holes’ but it looks, and feels, rather like a generous mesh material to me.
Feature-wise the jersey gets a glasses wipe along the front hem and a pocket at the rear. The latter has a rather stiff zipper, though, and the triple-layered fabric makes that portion of the jersey stick out a little.
It's not a deal breaker, but seeing as I’ve never found any use for these little jersey pockets, I’d rather not have it present.
The Soul is comfy to ride in – stretchy and unobtrusive – and matches nicely with O'Neal's equally comfortable riding shorts (review to come).
At £45 the O’Neal Soul jersey isn’t the most expensive jersey I’ve tested. Not too much thought has gone into the rather plain aesthetics but, personal gripes aside regarding the ‘school uniform’ look (there's also a teal/aqua version), it’s a good piece for summer trail riding.