We're generally leery of awarding anything a "best of" label, but we're making an exception here for the Pearl Izumi men's Versa polo shirt. The Versa is up for anything: wear it to work, then slog through your favorite rooty-tooty technical mountain biking trail. The Versa does it all with style and performance.
The Versa apparel collection has a great tagline: bike clothing specifically made for nothing specific. While this philosophy can get you in trouble for a lot of categories of gear - think climbing - it can work well for clothing if thoughtfully executed. And the Versa polo is if anything well thought out. The material is a lightweight a lightweight and stretchy fabric that easily wicks sweat away, and the cut is perfect, just slightly relaxed with a little bit of extra length for wearing tucked or not depending on your preference.
The features on the Versa are minimal but perfectly chosen: reflective strips on the sleeves that you don't notice until they're working and a small snap-closure chest pocket just big enough for a credit card and driver's license necessary for that post-ride beer. The snap-front opening is the perfect height for venting, and if it gets a bit nippy you can turn the collar up and close the top snap for just a bit of extra warmth.
The Versa Polo is truly a multirole shirt, and we've found ourselves reaching for it more and more often as the temps climb higher this spring. The only thing we could think to add would be a way to secure the collar points when it's turned up, which would turn it into basically a turtleneck, but that's a very minor nit to pick with an otherwise perfect shirt.
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