Assos Mille GT Hashoogi Winter Bib Tights S11

The Assos Mille GT Hashoogi Winter Bib Tights S11 feature an excellent chamois pad, brushed cotton to keep you warm on all but the coldest of winter rides and smart design features to improve comfort where it really matters. They are a great option for endurance rides in cold and dry conditions.

Unboxing seems to be a social media phenomenon that Assos wants to embrace. These bibs come in the prestige packaging – a box that positively yodels ‘precision Swiss engineering’ as it glides gracefully open.

When you’ve spent enough time marvelling at the wrapping (4 minutes 38 seconds in my case), the bibs are more than worth a nod of appreciation. They are made from RX Eco Plus – a ‘Roubaix-style insulating fabric’ that offers excellent warmth, good breathability and sufficient flex where it is needed to deliver great comfort.

You get two wide shoulder straps, which proved to be entirely rub-free. These braces attach further down the back. This ‘rollBar’ technology’ is a patented design feature that aims to stabilise the chamois pad and reduce friction as you ride. Comfort here was really excellent and this may well have been a key part of this.

These bibs also feature a low waist that allows your midriff to breathe. Assos describes its design here as a ‘zeroPressure Waist’ that offers a secure but forgiving fit. I think that means it will accommodate people who are carrying a little additional weight. (Hang on… is that why this product was assigned to me?) Assos says that its zeroPressure waist is ‘developed with a soft, highly elastic material to improve the comfort and hold at the waist, minus any pressure or pinching’.

With my unboxing video ready to upload to MySpace – I simply had to wait for the temperature to plummet so I could put these through their paces. Evening club rides and cold overnight epics ended up being the main test ground.

The heat of the night

Night rides made for a good first few outings because these bibs have some very smart reflective detailing at the knee that shows up well, according to my fellow riders. There’s plenty of movement to catch the eye of oncoming motorists, who bless them, have 101 other things to think about (‘Oh, a text from my aunt Maude!’)…

At 3am trundling down an A-Road in Wiltshire, shooting stars, a full moon, tawny owls, megaliths, badgers and deer were just some of the joys on offer. The occasional thundering Tesco’s lorry took the sheen off my reverie (other retail juggernauts are available). Thankfully they all gave me a wide berth and I’m going to credit those strategically placed bits of reflective detailing for some of that courtesy.

I started that ride concerned that there wasn’t enough insulation on the outer part of the thigh but after the first long climb, I was fully warmed up and the bibs kept me cosy right through the night in temperatures that dropped down to around 4-5°C.

These bibs performed brilliantly in those conditions but I sense I would value more insulation if I was tackling a day ride that stays closer to zero degrees. I am no fan of cold weather.

Endurance comfort

Let’s start from the top – the wide braces are really excellent. I had these on over a long sleeved base layer and there was no hint of rubbing or soreness anywhere. This is something that I find can cause issues with other winter bibs.

The Zeropressure Waist worked brilliantly for me. Even after more than 18 hours in the saddle on one ride, there was no hint of discomfort. In colder weather you might value a higher waist that offers more core warmth, but this really depends on how you pair it with other bits of kit.

There was only one area that I found a problem and that was behind the knee where material started to ruck at around the 170k mark on one ride. I was riding fixed so it was impossible to freewheel and re-position everything on the move. And I was wearing a pair of overshoes that sit quite high on the calf. I sense this may have been part of the problem causing fabric to bunch.

Closer inspection of the bibs, and I think better knee articulation would solve this problem entirely. This feels as though it is particularly important when using thicker fabrics.

All my other rides have been shorter and mostly with a freewheel hub and no overshoes. This issue hasn’t arisen on any of these trips out.

Seat of your pants

In an entirely quite accidental attempt to control some of the variables that can make gear testing rather subjective, I found myself putting these winter bibs through their paces on exactly the same overnight audax and the same fixed-gear bike I used to test out the Gore Spinshift Thermo Bib Tights last year.

I loved the Gore’s chamois and I am pleased to report that these Assos Mille Hashoogi bibs performed just as well.

While the Gore chamois has a special ‘channel’ to take pressure off your soft and precious nether regions, the Hashoogi seems to excel with moisture management.

Getting overly hot in the saddle is my Achilles heel on long multi-day rides where even a small abrasion can start to feel like agony when combined with salty sweat. (Is this too much information?)

Assos says: ‘The Mille GT S11 seat pad features shock-absorbing 12mm high-density foam, maintaining perfect support over the course of a ride. The 3D waffle construction is a three-layer, perforated foam that increases breathability and removes excess weight.’

Comfort is everything with bibs, and this pad is really excellent for all the reasons outlined above. In addition to the ‘rollBar’ braces design, these bibs have another design feature that I sense also played a significant role in entirely pain-free rides. The pad has anchors at the front and the back which allow a certain amount of independent movement. And this ‘float’ in the chamois pad does seem to reduce any rubbing.

And on top of all that, its antimicrobial qualities also proved impressive, because after a long two-day ride they still seemed remarkably fresh.

Value

A good pair of winter bibs is worth spending a bit of money on and a price tag over £200 won’t raise that many eyebrows. The cost of these seems consistent with what competitors are offering and I think they offer very reasonable value.

You can of course spend much more. Assos’s own Mille GTO Winter Bib Tights C2 come with a weighty £420 price tag. Ben rated them on every front for real deep-winter performance – but who has that kind of money to spend on winter bibs?

Ashley rated the Rapha Pro Team Winter bibs equally highly. They now cost £275 and that’s just a little cheaper than the very well regarded £300 Pas Normal Mechanism Deep Winter bibs.

I’ve just tried the new winter Kostüme bibs – and these look likely to come in somewhere close to the £300 mark too when they hit the market soon. They are produced with Italian-made, two-layer soft-shell material and a DWR coating for improved water resistance. They are pricey but feel ready for anything winter might throw at you.

Check out our best winter bib tights buyer’s guide for more options, which include the Gore Spinshift Thermo Bibs that I gave maximum marks to. They cost just £144.

Conclusion

The Assos Mille GT Hashoogi are designed for long distances in the saddle. They are breathable, comfortable and will deal with all but the very coldest of rides in the depths of winter. They are definitely going to extend your riding into the chilliest of months and keep you comfortable as you ride.

Verdict

Great option for longer endurance rides on cold and dry winter days

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