cooler with or without base layer?

[froze]

I can't comment on every climate because I haven't ridden in a very hot and humid climate like Florida in the summer; but I have ridden in the Mojave Desert in California in the summer, that heat is dry heat.

What I found was wearing a base layer made me uncomfortably hot. What I also found was that a loose-fitting jersey was cooler than a tight-fitting one, the loose-fitting one allowed air to bellow the fabric slightly and kept the air moving which kept me cooler.

I also learned that a white jersey was also cooler.

The other thing I learned, a $19 jersey from Costco, well it was 4 in a pack for $19, called 32 Degrees Air Mesh is cooler than my much more expensive cycling-specific jerseys! Of course, they don't have the rear pocket, but I never use that feature anyways. While they do not feel 32 degrees cooler, they do feel cooler.

 

[Unchained]

Wear a sleeveless net mess undershirt from Castelli.(@$50 usd) it works good.. Bought no name look alike off Amazon (US) for less than $19 dollars and it works as good.. I tend to shot some plain water on my upper torso when it's real hot, the mesh makes the cooling effect a little better