Nordic Life clothing

Nordic Life is a British based company set up by a guy called Rhodri, who had an idea. Having lived in Norway and embraced the outdoor lifestyle, he realised that high quality kit is very important when facing nature’s elements day in, day out during various sports. Nordic Life’s philosophy is to judge a product purely on performance and functionality, not on reputation, and this means that they can collate the best products from different companies. This makes it really easy for us, the consumers, because if you want a new pair of bib shorts or an undervest you can be certain that you’re getting the best quality product. I was lucky to meet Rhodri a few weeks back and I loved his enthusiasm for the sport and for how he could help me as a rider. He gave me some products to try out which I’ll talk about in a moment.

The products which will be of most interest to cyclists are, first up, the obvious ones: bib shorts and jerseys from Capo, a company which designs in the US and produces in northern Italy. To me this gives the perfect balance of new school thinking and old school heritage. There’s a great range of thermal hats too which are sure to come in handy for when the winter weather gets a bit biblical! A less obvious, but arguably more important product (certainly for me as I have team kit which I’m obliged to wear) are the undervests by Brynje.

My experience of Nordic Life so far is with Brynje undervests, three of which I’ve tried. First up is the ‘super thermo C-shirt’ which is quite a thick mesh vest. It was pretty warm if I’m honest and for me, a naturally sweaty bugger, I need a vest that primarily wicks well and cools. That said, I went out on a colder day for a 6 hour ride recently and it rained intermittently throughout. I unzipped my jersey to allow airflow when it was warmer and when the rain came down I zipped up and kept the heat in. It performed well. My personal favourite is the ‘super micro C-shirt’ which is a thinner mesh vest, and thus not as warm as it doesn’t trap as much air. It’s a great fit and the best vest I’ve ever had; I would definitely recommend it. I’ve also got a thick mesh vest with a wind blocking sheet on the front but I haven’t used it yet because in these muggy conditions at the moment it’s not ideal!

I’m getting some Capo kit to try out in training soon so I can’t wait for that, and of course I’ll give my feedback on here! I think the Norwegian phrase on their website sums up Nordic Life perfectly: “There’s no bad weather, only bad clothes”. With a motto like that you know, in good weather or in bad, you’re in safe hands.