Pearl Izumi Sun Sleeves

they are advertised to be 'cooler than nothing' becus they ostensibly reflect the sun before it hits your skin. i think 'cooler than nothing' can be true under some weather conditions, but not all. i have worn these in hot weather and under some conditions they do help. dampen them with tapwater and if it's not too humid outside, it will definitely have a cooling effect. i don't know what they are like in really humid heat.

but here's the cool thing, they help you keep warm on a cold morning, especially under a windbreaker... and when the day heats up, you just shed the outer garment and leave the sleeves on.

there's one thing about really white fabrics... they don't stay really white for long. no matter what laundry torture you subject them to, eventually they're gonna get a little dingy. i'm resigned to that.

also help to increase visibility of your signalling arms at night. you DO signal, don't you?

Wow! I got these sleeves to protect my aging hide from the sun, but I also got the cooling effect as advertised. They are long enough to cover, and stretch just right to stay put. I got large even though the size chart suggested small...glad I did. Worth the bucks.

I often ride long distances in the spring and summer and appreciate having a product on my arms that reduces my exposure to the sun without the mess associated with typical sunscreen products. Sometimes I will dribble some water on the sleeve to cool off a little from the evaporative effect. Too bad they're white, because they don't stay that way very long, eventually getting a little dingy from the dirt and sweat, but it in no way impinges on the effectivness.

The hardest thing for me is to be able to tell right from left. The earliest models were hard to tell apart. I rarely have to adjust the fit after putting them on-they stay up really well. And because I often start my rides relatively early in the day, they are a little warmer than bare skin and do combat a little wind chill. All in all, a pretty good product.