Something of a traditionalist, aren’t you? That’s not a bad thing, though, as wool used to be very common in cycling jerseys, and it makes a great material.
La Strada
Still, I’m not 100 percent sure I can solve your problem. There are other wool jerseys out there; a Colorado company called Bour茅 makes one ($190; www.boure.com), and the Vintage Velos site (www.vintagevelos.com) also stocks some wool jerseys that include replicas of what Eddy Merckx wore. They’re moderately bright聴a wool jersey will never go the way of those jungle-print synthetics聴but they’re pretty good. Price is about $125. However, all of the above are also made of the same merino wool you seem not to care for much. In fact, I’m surprised to hear you’re not happy with the Kucharik jersey ($90 for a summer jersey; www.kucharik.com) as they have an excellent reputation. And the fit should have been pretty trim. So I’m stumped.
Alternatively, for all but very warm weather, you might get away with a light wool T-shirt under a synthetic jersey. I wear my Icebreaker Tech T ($60; www.icebreakernz.com) all the time, and love it. No itch problems at all!