Craft Fuseknit Comfort Turtleneck

The Craft Fuseknit Comfort Turtleneck is a baselayer and neckwarmer in one, but good for more than just deep winter. A surprisingly versatile performance and long, slim fit make it an excellent choice on days from cool to freezing.

• Pros: Warm, good fit, stops draughts around the neck, useful emergency face-chill protection
• Cons: Front hem doesn't rise, not as luxurious as some

My main concern with this baselayer was that, if temperatures rose mid-ride, I'd be desperate to remove the neck tube (as I would with a Buff or similar) – but obviously be unable to. In reality, the high neck did an excellent job of sealing out draughts and adding warmth without ever threatening to boil the blood reaching my brain.

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Temperature is easily regulated by unzipping the neck of your jacket/jersey, as the fabric is not especially windproof. It's also fairly thin. I found this top comfy up to around 10C, beyond which I wouldn't choose a turtleneck anyway, while with further layers it played its part down to zero and below.

If you get into a really cold windblast, the neck has a large perforated patch at the front, letting you pull it up across your nose and mouth without it going soggy. The light, stretchy fabric stays in place well (even when I just hooked it up onto my chin, which I preferred) and gives a small but useful boost in protection – even when utterly sodden during a prolonged downpour at 4°C.

Overall fit is slim and accurate, with good length in the arms and comfy, secure cuffs – perfect for pulling from below your jersey for extra sealing with gloves. Sweat wicking is average, and comfort levels remained the same from bone dry to soaking wet. I was occasionally aware I was wearing it as, while the slightly rough recycled polyester is never uncomfortable, it stops short of luxurious or cosseting.

The Fuseknit is 'bodymapped' with noticeably different textures in the armpits/sides for enhanced breathability, and supposedly fewer seams than most. All I can say is that I didn't notice either one way or the other – warmth and comfort were both perfectly fine. It doesn't get especially humid under the pits, and those seams that exist (either overlocked or flatlocked) are entirely comfy.

If there's a niggle it's that it's a little long at the front hem, the rear isn't dropped. The hem is folded over and flatlocked, and while it's comfortable despite the extra thickness, it reaches low inside Lycra shorts and can lead to Visible Baselayer Lines, if you care about such things.

If the fabric were a little softer and thicker this could be an outstanding deep winter baselayer, but it would lose versatility. As it is, it's good for everything from pleasant autumnal days (as a single sub-layer) to hideous winter storms (in combination with mid-layers). It even looks good, with a stylishly low-key logo, and the five sizes are available in red or grey.

> Buyer's Guide: 15 of the best cycling baselayers

High necks are reasonably rare, though Lusso's Bioactive Thermal Polo is taller than many and really impressed our tester – plus it's around £5 cheaper. Craft's own Active Extreme 2.0 CN LS also did really well at £36, while B'Twin's (again high-ish necked) Aerofit Windproof is something of an outlier at £25 – spend some of your savings on a cheap necktube online and you'll be good to go.

Verdict

Dependable three-season baselayer that effectively blocks draughts, but thin fabric needs decent mid-layers as you near zero