Assos Reloads with new S7 bib shorts range

As Assos unveiled its brand new S7 range of bib shorts, the high end Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna kept springing to mind. Zegna is known for their luxurious fabric, exceptional cut, intricate detailing and high price tag: more than $5,000 for their top-end suits. But they also offer lower ranges, with (relatively) less-expensive fabric and less-intricate detailing, which achieve a similar look and feel. Similarly, Assos’ new $519 T. Campionissmo shorts, which top the new S7 range, will grab all of the attention, but the rest of the models are perhaps even more impressive for the amount of features Assos has packed into them, and the equally careful construction.

In both fashion and cycling, product cycles are measured in seasons. To make sure a company is presenting the latest and greatest, new products are launched and replaced at least annually. It is impressive that Assos’ previous S5 range, which is still among the top of bib shorts on the market, was launched back in 2008 and has remained essentially unchanged since.

With such a successful lineup, Assos had a tough act to follow. Design work started almost immediately after the S5 was on the market. S7 models went through more than 50 prototypes, which were tested by Assos’ in-house team that comprises ex-pro riders, such as Daniele Nardello (multiple top-10 finishes in the Tour de France) and Oscar Freire (three-time road world champion).

According to Omar Visentin, Assos’ R & D director, “the biggest temptation was to go for an S5+, an incremental improvement, which would have been risk free. But that is not what Assos is about.” As a result, the new S7 range incorporates wholesale changes to the chamois, all new fabrics and even a new signature colour, amethyst, for the chamois. Across the range, the bib shorts are constructed with fewer panels, reducing the number of seams, which often cause friction, create weak points and add weight to the garment. “The challenge is to do use fewer panels and still have the shorts contour to the body,” Visentin said.

Golden Gate Bridge

A new design common to the S7 range is what Assos calls the “Golden Gate Bridge,” a floating chamois. The padding is no longer stitched down completely around its periphery. The chamois is still secured by the front and back. But at the sides along the inner leg, the chamois  floats freely and moves with the legs, reducing friction at a site where chafing frequently occurs.

The Kuku Penthouse

Another new development of the S7 range is a cutout panel at the front of the chamois that Assos has named whimsically the “Kuku Penthouse.” The Pentouse is only build into the two top models. Assos cut out a square in the foam of the chamois, and replace it with a soft and flexible fabric panel. This soft panel creates a “sling” effect, which lessens pressure at the front of the crotch and improves breathability at the same time. To preserve the added stretch and breathability created by the “Kuku Penthouse,” a stretch mesh fabric is used for the outer fabric in that section of the bib.

For the new range, Assos expanded the line to four different models to cover a wider range of cyclists and uses. The base model, T. Neo Pro ($199) featuring the “Golden Gate Bridge,” is intended to be the daily driver, so its fit is more relaxed compared to the race fit models, but still trim.

The next step up, T. Equip ($269), is the racing short of the bunch. The T. Equip also features the “Golden Gate Bridge” construction in the chamois, and uses similar fabric as the T. Neo Pro, but is cut with more intricate patterning to better contour to the body. Since the T. Equip is for the racer, it’s cut for the slim of build with a correspondingly narrower chamois pad.

The T. Cento ($369) is the designated endurance shorts, equivalent to the S5 Mille in the old range, and made for long days in the saddle. Aside from a more generous fit compared to the other models in the S7 line up (though still slimmer than the S5 Mille), the biggest difference is in the chamois. In addition to the “Kuku Penthouse,” the T. Cento features a thicker, perforated pad for added comfort and breathabililty over the long haul. To combat chafing from the added thickness of the pad, Assos incorporated thinner, softer side “wings” at the side of the chamois where it comes in contact with the inside leg area.

The back of the chamois, where it is sewn to the shorts, is frequently a failure point on bibs. Instead of sewing the back of the chamois directly to the short as in standard construction, Assos added an extra stretch panel there, dubbed the “Rear Terminal.” This panel spreads the stress over a larger area. As an added bonus, the panel is made of a more breathable material for added wicking.
According to Visentin, all of the added trickery with the chamois “more than doubles the cost of a regular chamois construction, requiring a lot of additional hand work, and skill labour.”

Assos pulled out all the stops for the range-topping T. Campionissmo with a price tag to match at $519. The T. Campionissmo incorporates all of the features packed into the T. Cento, and adds in a seamless top surface for the chamois, in a thinner and narrower package similar to the race oriented T.Equip. The fit is also similar to the T. Equip, but with significantly more compression, and the source of the high price tag.

Unlike all of Assos’ previous shorts, the T. Campionissmo uses a woven fabric (which Assos calls type 444) rather than traditional spandex fabric in a run-proof construction. The big advantage of woven fabric and the reason Assos uses it in the T. Campionissmo is the much higher (33 per cent more) level of compression possible—what Assos refers to as “Ergo Kompression.” According to Assos, the added compression speeds blood flow and reduces micro-vibrations in the muscle, leading to improved oxygen use and muscular performance. Type 444 also breaths better and dries quicker than fabrics of traditional constructions. But there are trade offs to the added performance, namely cost and reduced longevity.

Weaving is an inherently weaker method of constructing fabric, and the type 444 used by Assos is no exception. Compared to the fabric used in the rest of the S7 range, type 444 is less abrasion resistant. Exactly how much Assos would not say, but they did state that the standard fabric exceeds 1 million cycles in wear testing.

The fabric is also more than double the cost of standard fabric, is more difficult to cut into the desired patterns, and is trickier to sew. All these factors contribute to the high price. Assos bills the T. Campionissmo as special-occasions-only bibs, not just for any ride or race, but only the most important ones, when you need every possible advantage.

Initial Ride Impressions

I visited Assos’ headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland at the beginning of September and received an advance test sample of the mid-level T. Equip. I’ve been able to put some time in the shorts throughout the past two weeks, riding both around Lugano and here at home in southern Ontario.

The new slimmer cut of the T. Equip is a good fit for me. The new fabric offers a soft, yet dense, hand. I found the new T. Equip offers more compression compared to the previous generation of S5 shorts. The body hugging is not the same level as proper compression clothing such as the tights one uses for recovery, but more of an overall supportive feeling.

The new shoulder straps are an especially nice improvement. They’re made of a thick and strong polyester and Lycra material. The new straps are set apart widely at the bib attachment point, finished with a seamless edge and pull the shorts into place well. Most important, the straps do it without twisting or folding in on themselves, which can be a problem with some other shorts.

The overall effect from the cut, fabric and bibs straps is a locked in feeling during use. You are definitely aware of the shorts, as if they are gently squeezing you everywhere. This feel is not the “naked” feeling some other brands try to achieve. The results is that the chamois moved with me and did its job.

Even though I’ve put the shorts through a heavy rotation of washing and wearing over the past couple of weeks, it is too soon to tell the durability of the new S7 shorts. But an inspection of the seams shows tidy and even spacing of the stitching, a sign of a well-put-together garment. Anecdotally, all washing has revealed that the S7 dries fairly quickly: back-to-back days on the bike are no problem, a possible side benefit of the “Golden Gate Bridge” construction of the chamois.

The full S7 range will be available for sale starting in December. Check back in with us for our long-term review of Assos’ new shorts.