Assos Mille GT Spring/Fall Airblock Vest

The Assos Mille GT Spring/Fall Airblock Vest is a comfortable gilet that offers good weatherproofing and a surprising amount of warmth. It's quite chunky to pack into a pocket, though, and the flaps to access the pockets in your inner layer aren't the easiest to get on with.

• Pros: Warm, weatherproofing where you need it
• Cons: Access flaps make it fiddly to get stuff in and out of your pockets

The first thing you notice about this Mille GT gilet is that each panel seems to be a different kind of material.

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The most heavy-duty area is across the chest and up to the neck. This boasts a breathable, windproof and water resistant soft shell material.

Most of the back is a thinner material, although it's thicker across the shoulders with a bit of fleecy lining.

The bit across your stomach is lined too and feels very nice.

The gilet is sold as 'regular fit'. With a layer or two underneath, the medium was a little more 'race fit' on me, but the Assos size guide suggests I'm actually on the medium side of large, so I can't fault it on this score. (It's not me in the photos.)

I found it pretty short too, but again sizing up would perhaps remedy this. The lack of pockets does mean that it may need to accommodate more than just you, however. If you routinely carry a lot in your jersey pockets, the gilet will need to go round all that.

The Airblock Vest is a surprisingly warm garment, given its size. On one ride I was out for an hour or so in steady autumnal rain with just a short sleeve jersey and long sleeve baselayer underneath. I felt plenty warm enough throughout and the weatherproof fabric across the chest did a sterling job.

Another time, I combined it with a light jacket for a colder, windier ride in the hills and again I was more than happy with the warmth it provided. The thinner sections helped prevent overheating on the climbs too. The weather protection's cannily placed only where you most need it.

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As a convenient layer to carry around with you, this gilet is a little on the hefty side. Although 178g doesn't sound like much, you do notice it when you bundle the thing up and cram it into a pocket.

It seems more likely that the Airblock Vest would be used as a layer you put on at the start of the ride and then leave on.

With that in mind, it seems odd that it doesn't have pockets. Assos has instead deployed its 'rear pocket slot system' – a pair of covered openings through which you can access the pockets of the layer within.

This makes sense if this is a layer you whip on and off during a ride – because you might not want to decant everything from your jersey pockets each time you don or remove it – but it makes a lot less sense if it's going to be outermost for your entire ride.

I did not get on with the rear pocket slot system. There are two slots and I found this awkward when the layer inside had three pockets. Disappointingly, I also found it awkward when I wore it over a jacket with two pockets.

Different layers just don't necessarily align all that well. You can prise the flap apart easily enough, but then you tend to find yourself feeling up and down through the aperture trying to locate the pocket of the inner layer.

On one occasion I calmly slotted my phone through the opening only for a (justifiably) paranoid check a moment later to reveal that I'd missed the pocket, meaning the phone was only being held by the gilet's elastic waistband.

Considering the warmth this layer offers, it's worth noting that this pocket flap system is not designed for winter gloves.

Value

The rrp of £130 seems pretty steep for a gilet, but the Airblock Vest is more than a featherweight slice of windproofing and there are quite a few similar products in this price bracket. It's more expensive (but quite a bit lighter) than the £90 Lusso Essential Thermal Gilet, and cheaper (but heavier) than the £150 PEdAL ED Tokaido Alpha Vest. The new Endura Pro SL II is  £10 less (we tested the previous version in 2017).

Overall, it's a nice warm gilet, but it works best as one you'll keep on for the duration of a ride as it's a pretty big lump in your jersey pocket if you're not wearing it; the trouble is, it's fiddly to get into jersey pockets when you are. It's good, but with pockets it could be very good.

Verdict

A lovely garment that offers more warmth and weather protection than you'd think; pockets would have made it a winner