Pockets on the back are one of the specific features that mark a jersey out as a bike-specific piece of clothing and most will have three open pockets at the rear.

Location is the first thing to think about. You need to be able to access your pockets easily, and if they’re too high on the back it can make things very difficult, or even make getting into the back pocket impossible. Most of us don’t want to have to go full pro and sit up with both hands off the bars just to grab a gel that’s slightly out of reach, so make sure you can get to anything you store in the jersey before you get on the bike.

But getting pockets right can be a difficult task, as there is a careful balance that needs to be struck to make the perfect storage pouch. The first thing is capacity, and it’s certainly not the case that bigger is better. While you don’t want pockets that can barely fit a gel in each, you also don’t want something that’s so vast you struggle to find what you’re after. Plus, the bigger they are the more tempted you’ll be to fill them up with stuff that you don’t really need, and the more likely they are to sag. On that note, you want the material around the pockets to be well supported, to ensure they don’t have around your backside when loaded with the essentials for a local ride.

The openings of the pockets are normally elasticated, and once again careful balance is needed. If the openings are too loose, then contents will rattle around and you might even lose something when you hit a bump, but if they’re too tight I’ll be a real pain trying to get your hands in. Quite a few jerseys, mostly ones aimed at riding in poorer weather conditions, have also started to add flaps over the pockets for a bit of extra protection. Some of these can be very difficult to get into easily as they’re more fiddly; a process which requires even more manual dexterity when you’re wearing gloves.

Zipped pockets are another recent and popular add-on. Usually, the zipped pocket will be built in to one of the other pockets, and big enough to hold your keys, some cash and not much more. It’s just an easy way to make sure that the most important things you’re carrying don’t go astray. Because no one wants to have to sit on the doorstep after a four hour ride as they’ve dropped their keys somewhere around a 100km loop. Sometimes the zipped pocket is made from a water resistant fabric but often this becomes prone to condensation.