Assos jackets?

[lph]

Thanks Triger and Trigress!

The jackets sound like good stuff. But looking at the price again gave me hiccups, so I guess I'm just fantasizing for now... you never know, I might win the lottery...

[Trigress]

Triger tried cycling to work through Østmarka yesterday (-8,5 over here) and found out that the trousers were a bit cold for those temperatures. However, his trousers are very tight and leave little room for extra woolies. The jacket was fine though.

[g19]

Maybe i can give you my 2 cents in experience with assos jackets.

Firstly i own both the fugu and the uma jacket.

Secondly about the temp range Assos is using/advising. This is a guidance only and not a pre set temp range for everybody for all kind of reasons. The body temp is a very important factor in warm/cold weather, but sadly due to the fact that english is not my home language i can't explain clearly enough to explain the importance, but the materials used by Assos do help in creating the most ideal body temperature to perform in.

About the uma.

The Uma is very, very well designed with just one flaw and that is the sleeve ends. They don't have the regular elastic style ends, but it's the same aterial like the sleeve itself so putting in on is just not as easy as it could have been, but than again that's just the only flaw.

The jacket is fully front protected with a 851 windblocking material which does the job in a perfect way. The neck/shoulder are protected too with a different windbocking material and this is where this jacket really stands out as when ones body is warm after a while the wind starts hitting the neck/shoulder area (remember this jacket is used in cold weather) and you don't feel a thing due to this material which add's to the comfort this jacket gives. Further the large pockets (i call them lady style pockets) are so easy to put one's stuff in and it is much safer than the regular 3 style pockets.

Finally the fit is made for being on the bike and here is where all comes together.

Also the temp range is a bit depending on each persons feel of when cold is cold, but it rangers in more regulare temps from about just above freesing to 12 to 13 degrees celcius.

The Fugu is even a range lower in temps just above/below zero.

This is a awesome jacket that has been so brilliantly designed not only by it's materials (851 windblocking material) but the fact that in the front of the jacekt is a fleece inner jacket that keeps ones body even warmer realising the temps one is using it in and the fact that it has a superb collar which prevents wind creeping in.
It's hard to explain more about this jacket, but it pretty much is the same as the above jacket and maybe the price is not the biggest issue, but the fact that the needed temp ranges are not as often as one is hoping for .... it's that nice en well designed.

The same can be said about theire pants as the beauty of this 851 windblocking material is that it's not stiff at all and around the elbows of knees it bends easily and this is a comfort thing compared. Further they use in on the parts of one's leg that needs the coverage the most and not where it's not needed.

Further one thing many times overlooked is that the return stretch of the materials used by Assos is what keeps these items tight even after many many times used. The price tag really reflects more than just the product.

All in all.
Yes, the are very expensive, but remember Assos is a textile laboratory and R&D is the most expensive on any product and Assos is no exeption.

With Assos you don't buy the garment, but the result ........

My final note is that Assos is not needed to have fun on the road it's just a option of what is out there to buy. When it suits you needs or riding style it's there. Just like you don't need a Litespeed to have fun in riding a racing bicycle.