Gorewear TrailKPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt review – MTB style jersey for cool-warm conditions

Lightweight, rugged jersey with understated trail styling

Gore KPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt
(Image: © Russell Burton)

Bike Perfect Verdict

Versatile functionality from a top that can be worn alone or with a base layer.

Pros

  • +

    Works as both a mid or next-skin layer

  • +

    High quality

  • +

    Wicks well

  • +

    Dries fast

  • +

    Looks cool

Cons

  • -

    Not a great fit for our tester

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The long sleeve mountain bike jersey has so many iterations, from those designed with low-key t-shirt looks that work as well with jeans as on the bike, to highly technical articulated constructions. The TrailKPR Daily sits, as the name suggests, somewhere in the middle. It won’t be confused with a casual top, but it wears its performance lightly, with technical riding benefits being delivered courtesy of the fabric.

Gore KPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt

The TrailKPR's fit is easy but not baggy, slim but not tight (Image credit: Russell Burton)

Design and specification

The Gorewear TrailKPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt is made from a recycled polyester, described as ‘highly functional’ with good breathability and fast-drying capability. The fit is easy but not baggy, slim but not tight. Hip length at the front, the back hem is slightly dropped and it has been designed to wear alone or paired with a base layer. A double hem and cuffs are added for durability at key points of wear.

Gore KPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt

The slim cut and cuffs means the sleeves won’t easily slide up the arms (Image credit: Russell Burton)

Performance

The early spring days of 2023 saw me having something of a love affair with the Gore Lupra jacket and the Fernflow pants, so as the days warmed up I was looking forward to transitioning to the lighter weight TrailKPR Daily paired with the Fernflow shorts.

The fit is designed to skim rather than hug the body and it does just that. It doesn’t feel too baggy worn alone, but there is easily enough room to slide a base layer underneath – which is the way I found myself mostly using it (more of that later). I’m over six feet and the dropped hem hit at the right spot, with the front neatly hitting hip length. In fact ‘neat’ is probably the word that best fits the look and feel of this top. The shoulders are fitted without a dropped line and the sleeves are slim.

That neatness of fit should translate well on the bike, close enough to not get in the way, but easy enough for maximum freedom of movement. And yet I couldn’t quite get on with it. Moving my arms forward gives a definite feeling of pressure across the shoulders – as though there isn’t the same movement there as the rest of the jersey. Worn next the skin on warm days the feeling is exacerbated because the fabric has a tendency to stick (with apologies for the mental image) to sweaty skin. 

Gore KPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt

The dropped hem sits at the right spot, with the front neatly hitting hip length (Image credit: Russell Burton)


The material itself however does exactly what it promises – it wicks moisture away effectively and dries quickly. Wearing across a range of temperatures from low teens to low twenties it was never less than comfortable in terms of temperature regulation. Pairing it with a base layer became my wear of choice, the fabric slides easily over another and it solved whatever issue was going on next to my skin.

In this way I’ve put in a lot of riding, usually steady but long distance efforts – the sort that gradually build up heat. In this top I didn’t get to the point of feeling over warm. It allows you to shed heat well and because it dries quickly, you don’t end a ride with too much of a sodden jersey. I did however find that adding some extra cooling by pushing up the sleeves was difficult, the slim cut and cuffs means that they won’t go far up the arms. It does of course keep a protective layer in place from passing brambles, but at times I did miss the ability to slide the sleeve above my elbows. 

Gore KPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt

The recycled fabric is excellent at temperature regulation (Image credit: Russell Burton)

Verdict

The TrailKPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt is designed to be versatile, and it is. The cut is such that it works alone or as a base, and the recycled fabric is excellent at temperature regulation. That said, from previous testing I have come to expect an exceptionally active fit from Gore kit and the KPR doesn’t deliver that. To be clear, it’s not bad and not a deal breaker, just not the usually impeccable Gore standard. 

Tech specs: Gorewear TrailKPR Daily Long Sleeve Shirt

  • Price: $60 / £59.99 / €59.95 
  • Sizes: S-XXL
  • Colors: Black, Lab Gray, Utility Green, Uniform Sand, Process Purple
Russell Burton
Freelance tester

Russell has been heavily involved in mountain biking for decades. He originally started out designing and building trail center routes, but soon moved specializing in MTB photography and product testing. Over the years, he's shot and written for just about every British MTB mag and website in existence, including MBUK, What Mountain Bike, Bikeradar.com and most recently Bikeperfect.com. While Russ has ridden MTB bikes of all kinds, he mostly enjoys big days out on his e-MTB or gravel bike these days.