If a pair of bib-shorts fits you properly and is well made with good quality materials, you should be a happy rider. Or racer. But boy, just experience some discomfort or pain that’s linked to your bib-shorts and you can become a miserable, jibbering mess…
We have been wearing the Assos T.Equipe S7 bib-shorts for 16 months. The reason we mention this, is because when we’ve reviewed bib-shorts in the past, we’ve normally ridden them for just a few weeks, so aren’t able to mention the long-term durability of the garment. But this is actually really important, so we let the T.Equipe S7 test time run on. And on…
There are generally two kinds of mountain bikers, those that see bib-shorts as a key item of technical gear and those that don’t. The former understand that they’re investing in many, many hours, days, weeks and even months of riding comfort. The latter see cycling shorts as a necessary evil and a cost.
We have worked out that our test pair of Assos T.Equipe S7 bib-shorts has been used for at least 624 hours of riding/racing in all conditions. At a price of R4000, that works out at R6-40 per hour. But the kicker is that they’re far from ready for retirement, or the bin. In fact they’ve held their shape, retained what seems to be almost all of their original elasticity and have a chamois pad that seems to be managing long or hard rides as well as it did in the beginning. We don’t know how much longer these bib-shorts will last us, but we do know others that have had the same pair of Assos bib-shorts for 3-4 years. Were ours to last to three years, with the same amount of riding time as has been clocked until now, that would bring the cost per hour down to R3-20 per hour.
If you’re in the latter group mentioned earlier, ask yourself what your nutrition supplements cost you per hour for over 1200 hours? And your tyres, what would they cost you per hour? And how often do you replace them? These are important questions to ask yourself, because if you are a committed mountain biker, then comfort and durability are important aspects of your gear.
We did long training rides (up to five hours) wearing T.Equipe S7 bibs; we raced a number of stage races in different provinces in varying weather conditions in them, including muddy and wet and dusty and dry. We washed them after every ride, sometimes by hand, most times in the washing machine with other clothing – yes we know we’re supposed to follow specific washing instructions, but we just gave up after a few manufacturer-instruction washes.
COMFORT
When we say ‘we’ here, we didn’t share the pair of bib-shorts among our testers. That just wouldn’t be right on so many levels. Our writing style is under the collective because most of the bikes and gear we test is done so by more than one person to ensure a more balanced, objective view. So our tester raced the 2015 Absa Cape Epic in two pairs of Assos T.Equipe S7, the one the media test pair and the other he purchased.
Sure, he was well conditioned for the Cape Epic, having put in many hours of on-the-bike training. At under 70kg and 174cm tall with single-digit body fat percentage, he can be considered a race snake. After Day 5 of the Cape Epic, he noticed a very mild chafe developing. Not while wearing the bib-shorts, but when wearing regular clothing. He subsequently used a smidgen of Baby Bum Cream after each shower and said that the chaffing eased before the end of the Epic. He never once felt like he needed to apply any kind of chamois cream, which seems to still be quite a thing for many, especially those that do stage races.
Obviously heavier/less conditioned riders will experience greater pressure between backside/inner thighs and the saddle. We have spoken to a few bigger riders (over 90kg) that wear the same model regularly and all but one said they didn’t have any chaffing issues. The one that did though said he couldn’t be sure if it was his set-up, his saddle or his bib-shorts because he experienced the same chafing with other brands of bib-shorts too, only worse and he felt he needed to use chamois cream for every ride. Truth be told, the T.Equipe S7 is designed for well-conditioned riders and this guy didn’t quite fit that… He is rather, er, chunky.
CONSTRUCTION
The T.Equipe S7 bib-shorts are made for committed riders, with a fairly high level of compression to give a firmer fit. The back panel is narrow and perforated to make it breathable. The shoulder straps are wide, moderately elasticised and soft to the touch. They run wider than most bib-shorts, going from the top of the back panel, over the outer end of your shoulders to attach at your hips in the front, fairly low down. This eliminates any fabric along your stomach and up to your chest, which can be warm and/or constricting. The legs segment has a total of just five panels that use directional fabric to ensure anatomical shaping. The fabric also contains UV protection, has been IceColour treated (this reduces surface temperature of dark fabrics), and has an SPF 30 treatment too.
The leg grippers are broad and comfortable and the silicone strips on the inside are just grippy enough to hold the leg cuffs in place, but not so grippy as to leave a mark.
The chamois is pre-cut and minimally pre-sewn to reduce the likelihood of seam pressure. It uses 8mm thick memory foam and is also only partially stitched to the short at key points. It’s essentially a ‘floating chamois’. This allows it to move largely independently and mould to your body, which reduces friction between the shorts and your skin.
And this little detail is damn genius and quite possibly the main reason we absolutely love the T.Equipe S7 bib-shorts. The chamois moves with your body, not against it. Whichever person at Assos decided to try this design deserves a lifetime supply of Lindt chocolate…
At 180g (medium size), they’re one of the lighter bib-shorts we’ve worn. We’ve taken a couple of minor tumbles in them and have felt them snag on twigs on tight bushy singletrack. But so far, you can’t see any damage on them, which is good because they’re not made to be mountain bike-specific, and fall under Assos’s road garments.
There are also small, subtle, but highly reflective tabs halfway down the back of each leg to offer rider visibility in low light to traffic approaching from behind.
In fact, the way they have lasted so well and the comfort we feel when wearing them makes us think that a rip or tear is possibly the only way for the T.Equipe S7 to reach an expiry date.
We have worn other good brands that claim to be on par with Assos, but for a shorter period and have noticed a loss of shape, a noticeable reduction in elasticity and a tendency to show twig-snag ‘scarring’.
THE VERDICT
For some, the cost is excessive, especially if your only experience with bib-shorts is with low-cost brands. But if riding bicycles is a big part of your life, you’ll see it as an investment in continued comfort. We have ridden many, many bib-shorts over the past 25 years and can confidently say that the T.Equipe S7 is the best we have ridden. The big test really is whether or not we would buy a pair. And we did.
Some may find the leg length a bit short, but we like it. Remember, the T.Equipe S7 is designed for riders with good physical condition. If you’re fit, ride at least three times a week and enjoy your racing, this is the Assos model you need to consider.
ASSOS T.EQUIPE S7 BIB-SHORTS
Weight: 180g (medium)
Colours: Black
Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL
PRICE: R3599
CONTACT: www.jjcycling.co.za
