I am an avid fan of Tracksmith’s run stuff for a few reasons. It’s well-made, it always has a neutral color option for every piece, and it has a retro-y vibe without feeling kitschy. Some pieces, like the Tracksmith Lane Five Crop Top, I order on a bit of a whim, curious to see how they’ll look and feel, assuming that I won’t end up keeping them. In the case of the crop top, I figured it was a try-and-return piece. But I ended up falling in love with it.
Essentially, it’s a hybrid sports bra slash singlet. It comes to just below my rib cage, it has wide straps and a pretty high neck, and feels like much more coverage than a sports bra, but at the same time, it’s pretty damn easy breezy. If you wear it with high waisted shorts, you’ll likely have your entire midriff covered. I personally prefer a low-waist short, so I end up with about 5 or 6 inches of skin showing. Basically, it’s a great long-line sports bra that fits well and looks good. I normally struggle with sports bras being a bit too shallow in the sides, especially when they have higher cut necks (looking at Outdoor Voices here), but this bra’s construction avoids that entirely.
But what I really love about it is that with my Osprey Dyna pack, it works like a dream and entirely prevents chafe, which is something I struggle with A LOT. It works because the entire thing is double lined, so the spot at the bottom of the pack on my mid-back that usually ends up with chafe marks because it’s only protected by a thin shirt is actually protected by two layers instead. That’s been a massive win while running in the heat! And because it has solid chest coverage (both in terms of how wide the straps are and how high it comes up on my chest), I can wear it with the pack without having the front straps of the pack scraping against my skin. It’s the first top I’ve found that perfectly meshes with this pack.
It feels mildly compressive, but not in a way that hitches up your breathing or hinders movement—just feels the way a sports bra should feel. (Note: I got a small, which is my usual size in cycling kit. It’s nice and thick, akin to a good one-piece bathing suit. (In fact, I’ve been using it as a swim top as well.)
And for cycling, it’s actually a pretty great bra if you’re looking for something with a longer line to wear over a heart rate strap so you don’t have straps in the same place. (I’ve written about this before right here.)
Naturally, I highly recommend the basic black option, though I may also end up buying the berry (a muted red) in the future. It runs $72 USD ($103 CAD), so it’s not cheap, but it’s on par with most higher-end sports bras, and I consider it a two-for-one. And it’s actually subtle / nice looking enough that wearing it with a high-waisted skirt or pants to go out would actually make perfect sense. So as we’re planning to spend more time on the road again this winter, this is a big bonus for me: Any clothes that can be used for training and regular life make packing so much easier.
One note: While the top is absolutely awesome, it can be a pain in the butt to pull off when you’re sweaty and tired. I have to admit that I’ve actually enlisted Peter to help pull it over my head. But, the same is true of pretty much any compressive sports bra, so I don’t really care. And that said, the entire thing is double-lined, so it’s actually really nice as far as ‘when it goes on or comes off, there’s no finageling of layers like there are in most built-in bras.
I’d recommend sizing up if you’re not sure about what size you are, simply because of the fact that it can be a bit tricky to pull on and off if it’s tight.
As with anything I own in the athletic realm, this has gone through the washer and the dryer. I haven’t had any issues with shrinkage or seams starting to unravel and I’ve been pretty rough on it in the last few weeks, so I can safely say that it is well-constructed!
You can check it out right here.
(Full disclosure, in case you wondered, I sadly am in no way sponsored by, affiliated with or paid/gifted anything by Tracksmith.)
Before you go, check out our book, Becoming A Consummate Athlete, right here:
