Synthetic vs Merino Wool shirts
I have done a lot of backpacking over the years and have used merino wool short and long sleeve shirts. I did my first bike tour, a 420 mile 8 day trip through NY, PA, and NJ and used synthetic biking shirts each day. In May I plan on crossing the country from east to west on the Transamerica bike route starting in VA. Trying to decide what type of shirts to bring with me. Both types of shirts are lightweight and comfortable but have differences
Merino wool
Advantage - keeps away the stink longer than synthetics
Disadvantage - when sweating it really shows with wet areas being a different color than dry areas. This is more so for light colors and less so for black shirts. When backpacking it makes little difference since you are in the woods. When biking and stopping at restaurants and grocery stores, not so good. One way to mitigate this is when arriving at a store or restaurant during the ride is to trade shirts before going in
Synthetics
Advantage - does not really show sweat as much as merino wool. Has pockets
Disadvantage - tends to stink more than merino wool
Any thoughts? What do you tend to wear when touring?