Technical athletic wear is expensive, and the more sports-specific it gets, the more likely it is to be higher in price. Now, I’m perfectly willing to pay full price for exactly what I want once I’ve determined that it’s the right course to take (I do own a Brompton, after all!), but for athletic wear, I’m nearly always in the discount aisle, looking for bargains.
That’s where I found this shirt, which turned out to be wonderfully warm, wonderfully comfortable, and wonderfully marked down. (The above photo is actually of the second one I bought — and it was a rare purchasing error, as I’d failed to notice that it is only bright yellow, not fluorescent. But I digress.) However, after several rides wearing the original one, I realized that, for my purposes, this pullover needed a full length, separating zipper.
This was surprisingly easy to do, although it did involve a lot of careful work to remove the original stitching and zipper. Then I measured carefully from sides to center, drew the center front line with tailor’s chalk, and gingerly cut up the front. After that, installation was just the standard method for any center front zipper.
There was one problem, though. I wasn’t able to get a retail zipper in the right length, which would have left my neck exposed — an undesirable feature in the kind of cold in which I wear this top. If you look closely at the first photo, you’ll see that there is a zipper guard at the top of the center front.
I cannibalized that feature, and turned it (a bit clumsily, perhaps, but entirely efficaciously) into a wind-guard at the top of the new zipper, by removing it, unfolding it, and installing it sideways in this new position. In addition, I added a bit of fleece under the zipper to keep the neck area warmer, and the zipper from irritating my neck if I happen to be wearing a crew-necked shirt underneath.
This is no marvel of dressmaking perfection, but it was a huge improvement in the utility of the garment. When my cycling days start out extremely cold, and then become far warmer, a full-length zipper lets me regulate my own temperature easily,without either having to stop, or needing to find a place to store a pulled-off outer layer.
I’ve kept that second top, with its original one-quarter zip — for days where the temperature doesn’t vary so much. I’ll just wear my fluorescent mesh vest over it to retrofit it as a high vis top when I’m cycling.
