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Does wicking gear actually keep you cooler than cotton or is it just more marketing hype?
Expensive wicking form fitting Cycling shirt or cotton T shirt? Which is really better in warm conditions for the MTB rider? (Less wind drag is one reason for the roadies to wear them)
In the market for new shirts so I've been looking at the evidence for wicking shirts (standard cycling shirts of today) being better than cotton. I can find no research articles that indicate the modern wicking shirt is better than $10 cotton, but some that indicate there is no difference between them in thermoregulation of body heat or comfort in warm weather (over 25c).
Gavin T. P. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Dec;33(12):2124-30. "Clothing fabric does not affect thermoregulation during exercise in moderate heat". Gavin et al. conclusion: “In summary, before, during, or after exercise in a moderately warm environmental condition, neither the addition of a modest amount of clothing nor the fabric characteristics of this clothing alters physiological, thermoregulatory, or comfort sensation responses.
They use two Temperature conditions, 30c and 35c. There was no difference between Cotton, Synthetic or Semi-Nude (budgie smugglers socks and shoes). No differences in mean body temperature, rectal temperature, or mean skin temperature were observed during or after exercise. No differences in VO2 or heart rate were observed. No differences in comfort sensations were observed.
Another paper indicated that "Compared with exercise wearing the CT (cotton) shirt, exercise wearing the PES (polyester wicking) fabric produced a greater sweating efficiency and less clothing regain (i.e., less sweat retention), but thermophysiological and subjective sensations during the intermittent high-intensity exercise were similar for both fabrics" and "- - - rectal temperature, skin temperatures at eight sites, heart rate, T-shirt mass and ratings of thermal, clothing wettedness, and shivering/sweating sensation were measured before the experiment, during the 5 min rest period after each exercise bout, and during recovery".
A 2013 article concluded, "The majority of the research analyzing advertised synthetic fabrics has shown no difference in thermoregulation or clothing comfort while exercising in those fabrics in the heat compared to natural fabrics." (Davis J.K., Bishop P.A., Sports Med. 2013 Aug;43(
:695-706. Impact of clothing on exercise in the heat.)
So anyone got any evidence these expensive wicking T shirts are any better than cotton in a warm climate? If not, why buy them??
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Just my own observations.
Cotton gets soaked than hangs in an uncomfortable way. It's alright for a social ride but I wouldn't use it for racing or an all day trek. The good synthetic gear, and I mean the good stuff, sits much better on the body when wet. It also seems to dry out much quicker.
Go for a hard ride in a cotton t-shirt, sweat buckets and see how you feel. Than do the same in a good cycling jersey. You'll know soon enough what you can put up with.
Cotton and wool are useless if you are sweating, the best shirt I have by far is a Columbia Ice Tech shirt(I think) it has tiny textured bits on the inside that supposedly allow it to cool better. I bought it assuming it was marketing crap but it is the best from my 4-5 wicking shirts.
EDIT, I have a wicking shirt that is some sort of treated cotton that isn't too bad but still not as good as the plastic shirts.
I have some woollen gear from Ground Effect that is pretty damn good. Very good for heat management in spring and autumn (it's not full winter kit).
I agree the comments above on the good synthetic kit, cotton just doesn't work. Wet and heavy and chafe city.
I inherited a 1980s specialised cotton t-shirt off my step dad that I recently wore for a 80km road ride in the whitsundays and found it to be ok, but once I started sweating it started sagging pretty bad, but it was the only one I could fit into my bag.
I am also running Ground Effect gear, and yeah it is the ducks nuts! I am not planning on buying it again as I hope it will last forever!!!
All those articles you're reading are talking about things like "thermo-regulation" and "rectal temperature"!
They're not talking about the main advantage of wicking gear in that it doesn't soak up the sweat and wicks it to the outside of the fabric where it evaporates a lot quicker. Doesn't really keep you cooler, just a hell of a lot more comfortable than riding in a soaking wet cotton shirt.
If you're concerned about weight for racing, a soaking wet cotton shirt holds a lot of water too.
All those articles you're reading are talking about things like "thermo-regulation" and "rectal temperature"!
They're not talking about the main advantage of wicking gear in that it doesn't soak up the sweat and wicks it to the outside of the fabric where it evaporates a lot quicker. Doesn't really keep you cooler, just a hell of a lot more comfortable than riding in a soaking wet cotton shirt.
If you're concerned about weight for racing, a soaking wet cotton shirt holds a lot of water too.
Those studies are immediately after exercise - ie race performance. The advantage of wicking is that if you stop, after 20 minutes you are dry, cotton will still be wet in those conditions.
Re wool - the upshot of the tests on wool undergarments is that when they get wet from exercise they keep you warmer when wet than synthetics that although dry faster, if not given the chance to dry simply make you cold when you stop exercising ( winter relevant only)
Good find though.
A friend gave me some UA compression HeatGear that was too big for him. It looks like thin Lycra and is very form fitting but as he is about 30kg lighter than me it wasn't a good fit.
Concerned about looking like the top half of a white gimp and not really believing that tight Lycra would cool me down, I put it on half way through a Red Hill ride on a solid 30+ degree day where nobody could wet themselves by looking at me.
Without wind or movement, it's not very good.
But once the air moves, it works very, very well. I've since bought some of their more loose fitting tshirts and find them to be very lightweight, cheap and effective (but not as effective as the tighter stuff).
FYI I got mine via my mate who got his from Eastbay.
I think what these studies highlight is a glaring deficiency with Strava etc.
Like, where's the data logging for rectal temperature? It's obviously a vital metric and I'm predicting it'll be the next big movement.
Hey Pancakes. Stick a thermometer through a hole in your seat if that worried about rectal temp.lol
I concur very much with the above:
Cotton bloats up with sweat like a sponge, becomes heavy, hangs uncomfortably and causes massive chafing. It is only moderately efficient at disposing of sweat through evaporation.
On the other hand, wicking garments are the opposite and as the name implies, they are very efficient at ridding themselves (and us) of the sweat we produce, through evaporation.
So if the evaporation rate of wicking garments is superior to cotton, it should be reflected in a better rate of cooling of body temperature.
Or, is their wicking efficiency a double edged sword?
As someone mentioned above, they keep us drier. That's true. It's also true that when your sweat-soaked cotton shirt has been hanging loose and comes against your skin, it feels freezing cold.
So could it be that on one hand, wicking garments evaporate sweat more quickly, therefore producing more cooling effects.
But on the other hand, because of their dryness (lack of density), they're not efficient at transferring that cold in through the garment to the skin (Or drawing body heat out away from the skin for that matter). So the cooling is lost in the surrounding air (And body heat doesn't manage to escape).
While good'ol cotton, although not producing as much cooling effect, is very efficient at conducting it in to the skin (And drawing body heat out away from the skin for that matter), thanks to its higher density when saturated with sweat.
And that's why they end up performing much the same in that department.
Whatever it is, the fact remains that comfort-wise, wicking is king!
Now, enough strain on the neurons for today. I'm off ridin'!
i dont need a paper to tell you that wicking clothing is heaps more comfortable, more aero, and the wind that breathes through them just feels better
other than that, who wants to wear a sweaty cotton t shirt?
and it gets worse if its muddy or raining
What isn't noted in these research papers' synopses quoted above is the type of exercise used in the test. For low airspeed, high intensity, short episode workouts I would expect the results they quote. We, on the other hand, travel much more quickly, and our slowest would be about the same as a moderately fast runner, and average intensity would be lower. These garments work best with airflow.
Exactly my thoughts, hawkeye. I often ride in long sleeve tops as I prefer it to lathering sunscreen on. The "wicking" Columbia one feels great when there's airflow, not so much when stationary and sweating. The looser one is comfy hot or cold.
Barnsy, I'll leave it to others, thanks, and carry on undeterred.
Just read up on 2 of the trials, and they were done indoors on an ergometer and the other on a treadmill with no mention of fans or other airflow been provided.
So, if you are a gym junky, just use cotton or whatever cheap light t shirt you can find. If you are a cyclist, you need to find a study that answers the question for clothing with an airflow. In the meantime, professional cycling teams use wicking light fabrics - these guys test just about everything to do with performance
Good on you for doing the homework Pharmaboy.
It is incredible that they would test garments that rely so much on evaporation for their performance, without appropriate airflow, at least as one of the variables.
I started by using a cotton t-shirt when on the trainer. I sweated a lot more, probably because of the lack of airflow, and really suffered from chafing.
Went to a wicking top: No more problem. I don't feel it had any effect on the temperature but that's secondary. The improvement in comfort was more important.
The charcoal lined tops from ground effect certainly reduce the stink after a ride. Comparing GF top to a cheaply from Kmart the difference was apparent from 6 feet away according to my nearest and dearest.