Assos S7 Tights and EVO7 Jacket Review

  

By Brandon Bilyeu

Assos HabutightsMille S7 Tights 

                           

Assos MilleintermediateJacket_evo7 Jacket            

 

HOT!

Assos HabutightsMille S7 Tights 

• Most luxurious feeling tights I have ever worn
• Generous stretch and relaxed fit means better comfort for more body types
• Chamois is very comfortable on the bike
• Excellent warmth from microfleece lining
• Relatively large reflective accents on back of calves

Assos milleintermediateJacket_evo7 Jacket

• Snug but forgiving fit
• Wind blocking material on chest keeps the coldair out
• Mesh underarms and back stops overheating
• Deep rear pockets with lots of stretch

 

NOT! 

S7 Tights  

• Chamois wedgie when off the bike
• Seams not flat locked
• Only available in solid black
• No women’s version

EVO7 Jacket

• Narrow window of temperatures for comfortable use
• As temps go up the non-breathable chest material can puddle sweat
• No women’s version

Cost:      

HabutightsMille S7 (mens) – $229

milleintermediateJacket_evo7 (mens) – $199

 

Colors:            

HabutightsMille S7 – Black

milleintermediateJacket_evo7 – solid black or black with one arm colored yellow, red, or white

 

How Obtained: Review sample from company 

Availability: Online, retail stores 

RBR Sponsor: No 

Website: www.assos.com

Tested: 30+ hours 

Reviewer Measurements and Fit Comments: 5’10” (178cm), 150 lbs (68 kgs), 33″ (84cm) waist, 33″ (84cm) inseam, 37″ (94cm) chest. I chose size small top and medium bottom based on the Assos sizing charts and found the sizing to be accurate.

 

Ultra-Premium Brand Assos Offers Entry-Level Kit

Assos is a cycling kit manufacturer from Switzerland that is well known for high quality and super comfortable clothing. But Assos has historically been out of reach for the ‘typical’ cyclist on two fronts, as embodied in their tagline, “Sponsor Yourself”. First, the fit was tailored to featherweight European racers, and second, the cost was astronomical. Those of us who sport post-ride beer bodies and need some money left in our pockets to buy said beer had to look elsewhere for cycling kit, until now. With the Mille line Assos has created ‘entry-level’ kit with a more forgiving cut and with prices that require slightly less deep pockets. I tested some Mille line tights and jacket to see if they could retain Assos quality and comfort with a fit and price point better suited to the masses.

HabutightsMille S7 Tights – Luxurious Comfort on the Bike, Cheeky Chamois Off the Bike

The Assos HabutightsMille S7 are cool weather tights that include a chamois and I have to start by saying they are super comfortable. The tights’ fabric incorporates a huge amount of stretch and the microfleece lining used throughout is super soft. The result is a luxuriously warm and soft hug for your legs. The ample stretch doesn’t provide any serious compression which makes them easy to pull on/off and they move fluidly with your pedal stroke with no restrictions or bunching. The fit is spot on and skin tight, but feels more relaxed as compared race fit that has compression and a second skin feel. The waist cut, while still a little on the low side, is very generous in diameter. I don’t carry much extra weight around my middle section and the waist was almost baggy, so there is plenty of room to accommodate all sizes and shapes.

While only available in black there are decently large reflective elements on the back of the calves for visibility and one small branding logo on the left shin. The ankle openings are simply a folded over and sewn hem with no grippers, but I had no issues with them staying in place. The seams are not flat locked, but the soft material and light compression meant I had no irritation. The bib straps are seam- free elastic strips that are perfectly comfortable, though a little dense and stiff, with a slightly bulky connection to the shorts at the upper back. The front of each bib strap has a loop for holding your sunglasses on long climbs when your top is unzipped, a feature with questionable usefulness on cold weather tights. Assos describes the insulation level as appropriate for late fall or early winter and I found them to be comfortable down to around freezing. With no water resistant treatment these are best used for cold and dry rides.

The chamois is a floating design that is only sewn to the shorts at the front and the rear to help it move with the rider. Looking under the side edge the chamois construction can been easily seen; a thin waffle foam top layer with two discrete denser foam pads located under the sit bones locations. Placement and support felt great on the bike with the sit bone pads feeling soft but not bulkly. Oh, and it’s purple.

The one issue I have with the chamois is related to off the bike comfort and is admittedly a bit funny, but if you are the type of person who spends a fair amount of time walking around in cycling kit it is certainly worth noting. The chamois construction has no structure in the center from front to back other than the thin top layer and because of this the chamois tends to fold in half along that centerline when you are standing/walking off the bike. The result is a folded, wedged shaped chamois that, for lack of a better way to put this, wedges itself right up in your business (yes, a wedgie!). On the bike I have had no issues, the saddle holds the chamois flat and I have not had any noticeable wedging during out of the saddle efforts.

MilleintermediateJacket_evo7 Jacket – Toeing the Line Between Jacket and Jersey

The milleintermediateJacket_evo7 is a mash-up between a light jacket and a long sleeve jersey with wind protection up front and ventilation in the back. Three levels of technical fabrics lend extra protection and performance over a standard mesh jersey: a mid-weight windproof/water-resistant softshell fabric on the front, a lightweight windproof fabric on the tops of the arms, and a lightweight mesh on the underarms and back. The front facing windproof materials on the chest and arms stop cold air from entering the jersey while the rear facing mesh panels let hot air and moisture out to keep you from overheating and getting wet. I found the combination of materials worked well to keep me warm down to about 50°F (10°C) and on the few days this winter when temperatures hit the low 60°F range (15.5°C) I had to open the front zipper to help flush out the heat. A downside to wind blocking fabrics is that they don’t breathe or wick particularly well and if you are not on top of venting with the front zipper you can end up with a lot of sweat dripping down the inside and puddling at your belly.

The mid and lightweight windproof fabrics are a great choice for providing jacket-like protection with the soft and comfortable feel of a jersey. Typically jackets are not comfortable to wear without a layer underneath, but this jersey is perfectly comfortable against bare skin if not as nice as a fleece lined thermal jersey. The jersey front is thin and pliable for a conforming fit that doesn’t bend/buckle like typical softshell fabric and while the available stretch is generous it definitely leans to the compression side in terms of fit around the trunk. If you have a thick upper body I would suggest sizing up if you don’t enjoy feeling like a sausage. The arms are built with a slightly looser cut and anatomically shaped to fit perfectly in the riding position. The wrist cuffs are tight fitting which is great for sliding inside of gloves and keeping the wind out, but a little tough to get on and off if you have bigger hands. Wind flap was nonexistent due to the snug fit and robust materials. 

A strong elastic waist band with grippers holds everything firmly in place and provides support for the three rear pockets so they don’t sag or pull at your shoulders. The pockets are generously sized with plenty of stretch which was great for storing the warmers and emergency shells that typically are used in conjunction with shoulder season kit like this jersey. A small zippered fourth pocket piggybacks on the right pocket and both of those right pockets have a pass thru hole to the inside of the jersey for running ear buds from your phone, though the zippered pocket is not really big enough to hold todays larger smartphones. The full length zipper in the front is easy to operate with one hand and has a zipper garage at the bottom to protect your shorts. Branding is minimal with only a small logo on the arm and center rear pocket, and small reflective elements are also added to the outer rear pockets. Color is black, but you can get one sleeve with a colored pattern.

Final Thoughts – Assos Mille does not Disappoint

Assos did a great job of retaining their renowned fit, comfort, and quality while hitting a more reasonable price point compared to the typical Assos offerings. The tights are fantastically comfortable on the bike and because that is what matters I didn’t dock the rating for the off the bike wedgie issue. The jersey provides protection in a solidly built package that works great alone or as a layering piece as temperatures drop. There are certainly cheaper tights and jerseys out there, but the Mille pricing is competitive with the top lines from the larger brands like Castelli and Pearl Izumi. If you have always wanted to try Assos the Mille line is a great place to start.