Assos Shorts

[Paul]

Can someone tell me what is so good about these shorts to justify the
extortionate prices they sell for as opposed to other brands? They have
been recomended to me but I nearly fell over when I saw how much some of
them were. If I can be convinced of their worth I'll get some but I'll take
some convincing - some were over £100!

Paul

 

[Chris Walters]

Paul wrote:
> Can someone tell me what is so good about these shorts to justify the
> extortionate prices they sell for as opposed to other brands? They
> have been recomended to me but I nearly fell over when I saw how much
> some of them were. If I can be convinced of their worth I'll get
> some but I'll take some convincing - some were over £100!
>
> Paul

I use the F1 Mille bib-shorts and can honestly say I've never worn such
comfortable cycling shorts for "all day in the saddle" rides.

Main comparisons are the Endura FS260 range which a re not bad.

If anyone can suggest a mid-priced alternative withsimilar comfort to Assos,
I'd appreciate it too.


--
_____________________________________________________

Chris Walters
Hungerford, UK
_____________________________________________________

 

[waffle]

it's from switzerland and therefore expensive!
but in addition to that, assos produce the highest quality range of cycling apparel.

 

[Jack Ouzzi]

On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 12:50:52 +1000, waffle
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>it's from switzerland and therefore expensive!
>but in addition to that, assos produce the highest quality range of
>cycling apparel.

But there are only a small number of certain materials use for cycling
apparel ............. so how is 'high quality' applied to say Assos
shorts at silly prices, and 'normal' shorts at a quarter of the price
???

Fashion, and poser factors apply a lot here I think ............ Now
don't get me wrong, I agree you get what you pay for ..............
but up to a certain limit ...............

A fashionable, well clad cyclist, COULD pay more for his kit than his
bike !!!!

I have stated his before ........ £190 for a pair of sunglasses is
taking the **** ............

BUt for those who wish to pay ................. fine !!

 

[ScumOfTheRoad]

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 00:43:15 +0100, Chris Walters wrote:
>
>
> I use the F1 Mille bib-shorts and can honestly say I've never worn such
^^^^^^^^^^
INCOMING!!!!!!

 

[Paul]

"Jack Ouzzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 12:50:52 +1000, waffle
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> >it's from switzerland and therefore expensive!
> >but in addition to that, assos produce the highest quality range of
> >cycling apparel.
>
> But there are only a small number of certain materials use for cycling
> apparel ............. so how is 'high quality' applied to say Assos
> shorts at silly prices, and 'normal' shorts at a quarter of the price
> ???
>
> Fashion, and poser factors apply a lot here I think ............ Now
> don't get me wrong, I agree you get what you pay for ..............
> but up to a certain limit ...............
>
> A fashionable, well clad cyclist, COULD pay more for his kit than his
> bike !!!!
>
> I have stated his before ........ £190 for a pair of sunglasses is
> taking the **** ............
>
> BUt for those who wish to pay ................. fine !!

That's what I thought - I just can't get my head around why someone would
pay those amounts for a pair of shorts unless there was something I am
missing. As Jack says if you have the ability to pay then good luck to you
but I just can't see the point without a particularly strong USP. Which, as
yet, I haven't seen.

Paul

 

[Simon Mason]

"Jack Ouzzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> A fashionable, well clad cyclist, COULD pay more for his kit than his
> bike !!!!
>
> I have stated his before ........ £190 for a pair of sunglasses is
> taking the **** ............


A lot is due to fashion and label snobbery. How can someone charge £1000
quid and upwards for a woman's dress using a few bits of cloth?
--
Simon M.

 

[Malk Wheeler]

Of interest, Wiggle used to sell the Assos brand but had to stop because
assos
objected to them putting 10% discount on their items. Which would lead
me to suspect that Assos are maintaining an artificially high price.
Regards Malk

 

[crees22]

Ive bought a few Nalini bits recently as used by the proffesionals in the racing world, The bib/shorts ive been buying have been ranging from £20-£35 and are said to be 100% replicas of the real thing (team gear) If a pair of bib/shorts worth £35 are good enough and comfy enough for a pro then why would anyone wanna go pay £100 for a pair? The ones I wear are comfortable, its my saddle that causes me the discomfort

 

[davek]

Chris Walters wrote:
> I use the F1 Mille bib-shorts and can honestly say I've never worn such
> comfortable cycling shorts for "all day in the saddle" rides.

Is it really possible to wear these shorts for a full day in the saddle?

I wear £6 Tchibo shorts, and for the relatively short rides I tend to do
they are perfectly comfortable. For much longer rides (more than, say,
eight hours in the saddle) I'd probably want to take a spare pair for a
freshness change en route - without going into too much graphic detail,
they can feel a bit sticky after a long and/or hard ride.

Do more expensive shorts allow you to go longer without needing a
change? I can imagine superior wicking might be useful, but what other
advantages do they offer?

d.

 

[Peter Clinch]

davek wrote:

> Do more expensive shorts allow you to go longer without needing a
> change? I can imagine superior wicking might be useful, but what other
> advantages do they offer?

The Lycra itself won't be that different between shorts, but what will
change is the quality/comfort of the padding insert, both from the
material and the attention to its fitting (the more contoured it is the
harder it is to sew in).

Beyond that, more expensive shorts tend to have more panels of material,
the practical upshot of which is that a more contoured overall fit is
possible. Of course, having a more sculpted fit is only much use if
it's the same shape as /you/, but if it is this does aid comfort quite a
bit IME.

I moved from cheap Greenpeace shorts to relatively expensive Italian 8
panel ones (can't remember the brand, I'm afraid) and there was a
colossal difference in comfort, both in short and long term.

Never felt a need for the bibs on the bike, but I certainly like
salopettes for other sports so I can see potential advantages, low
flying paving slabs notwhitsatnding.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Juliette]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> A lot is due to fashion and label snobbery. How can someone charge £1000
> quid and upwards for a woman's dress using a few bits of cloth?

Do you know anything about couture garments? From your remark I'd
guess not.

Juliette
--

 

[davek]

Peter Clinch wrote:
> The Lycra itself won't be that different between shorts, but what will
> change is the quality/comfort of the padding insert

That figures. The padding in my Tchibo shorts seems to be some kind of
cheapish synthetic foam. Can't be ideal.

> Never felt a need for the bibs on the bike, but I certainly like
> salopettes for other sports so I can see potential advantages, low
> flying paving slabs notwhitsatnding.

I have thermal b*bt*ghts for winter - they're very comfortable and very
warm. AFAICS, the main advantage of b*bbed shorts/longs, apart from
extra warmth around the kidneys, is for people like me whose figure is
not best served by an elastic waistband.

d.

 

[Simon Mason]

"Juliette" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> >
> > A lot is due to fashion and label snobbery. How can someone charge £1000
> > quid and upwards for a woman's dress using a few bits of cloth?
>
> Do you know anything about couture garments? From your remark I'd
> guess not.

We were talking about the value for money aspect of garments, i.e. how can a
certain company charge several times the price for essentially the same
garment in the same material. A lot of this is down to the label aspect;
people will pay a fortune for a hand bag just because it has the latest D+G
label stuck to it, whereas a bag costing a fraction of the price would be
just as serviceable as a handbag, but of course won't let the hoi polloi
know how loaded you are, which is more or less the purpose of the bag,
rather than as a utility item.

The OP wanted to know if it was worth spending all that money on a pair of
cycle shorts from the aspect of would he get value for money commensurate to
the increased cost and it was suggested that he wouldn't. A lot of the cost
is down to the pose value rather than the intrinsic value of the item, a
feature that I notice happening in women's fashion.

There are many cases of a woman's garment being copied and sold in Top Shop
etc, that is very near the original, using similar materials, but costing a
fraction of the original. An example of this is say Stella Mc Cartney who
knocks out clothes selling solely on the strength of her father's name,
judging by the bad press I have seen by people wearing her designs.

--
Simon M.

 

[Juliette]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> "Juliette" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > [email protected] says...
> > >
> > > A lot is due to fashion and label snobbery. How can someone charge £1000
> > > quid and upwards for a woman's dress using a few bits of cloth?
> >
> > Do you know anything about couture garments? From your remark I'd
> > guess not.
<snipped>
> There are many cases of a woman's garment being copied and sold in Top Shop
> etc, that is very near the original, using similar materials, but costing a
> fraction of the original.

A Top Shop knock-off has as much in common with the original
couture garment as a custom made carbon Dolan frame has in common
with a mass produced Halford's steel frame.

It is quite plain that you do not know anything about couture
garments. Before you make such ill-informed comments again may I
suggest that you educate yourself in the arts of couture sewing,
design, construction and fitting?

You obviously think that a dressmaker's time and skill are not
worth paying for. Believe me, that's your loss.

Juliette
--

 

[Peter Clinch]

Simon Mason wrote:

> We were talking about the value for money aspect of garments, i.e. how can a
> certain company charge several times the price for essentially the same
> garment in the same material.

Though the extent to which workmanship and design is different does
affect the price. "Oh, these are lycra too!" doesn't tell anything like
the full story.

> The OP wanted to know if it was worth spending all that money on a pairof
> cycle shorts from the aspect of would he get value for money commensurate to
> the increased cost and it was suggested that he wouldn't.

Value for money is a tricky concept, because it's difficult to quantify.
Simply Bangs/Bucks is all very well to say, but if you have the money
and want more Bangs, does the fact that there are shallower gradients
lower on the curve of diminishing returns really mean much?

I've just treated myself to a pump espresso machine, which cost a silly
amount of money for a coffee machine. In terms of "Value for money" you
can easily argue it's vastly inferior to the simple heating pressure one
I bought for £6 in a boot fair... but the new one does make better
Espresso. More than 20 times better? Well, no, but it's better, and
it's me that's drinking it, and I like it better, and every time I have
a cup I'll appreciate it.

> A lot of the cost
> is down to the pose value rather than the intrinsic value of the item

You will pay for a label if it's better known, for reasons of simple
supply and demand. But that does not necessarily mean you're better off
with a no-name in terms of overall quality.

Having said that, a lot of what you're paying for in good technical
clothing is shaping, and if the shape of Brand X, be it Assos or anyone
else, isn't the same shape as you then it's basically expensive dusters.

Would I pay £100 just for comfortable shorts? Tricky, I didn't do that
but I did pay over a grand for a bike that renders them pointless...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Simon Mason]

"Juliette" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> It is quite plain that you do not know anything about couture
> garments. Before you make such ill-informed comments again may I
> suggest that you educate yourself in the arts of couture sewing,
> design, construction and fitting?
>
> You obviously think that a dressmaker's time and skill are not
> worth paying for. Believe me, that's your loss.

Another example would be a Von Dutch baseball cap. Madonna is seen getting
one and shortly after Victoria Beckham and soon any old soap star is seen
wearing them. They become the latest "must have" item to be seen with, more
by fluke than any quality advantage they have over their rivals. So at the
moment you might be charged 50 quid or more for one.

This time next year they will be the height of naffness and you will be
able to pick them up for a few quid. OP might say "I've seen these Von Dutch
baseball caps for £50, are they worth it?" To which you would say, no get a
Nike one for a fifth of that, it will do the job just as well and you are
only paying over the odds for the Von Dutch one because Madonna et al have
been seen wearing them in the papers.

--
Simon M.

 

[Paul]

"Juliette" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
> > "Juliette" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > In article <[email protected]>,
> > > [email protected] says...
> > > >
> > > > A lot is due to fashion and label snobbery. How can someone charge
£1000
> > > > quid and upwards for a woman's dress using a few bits of cloth?
> > >
> > > Do you know anything about couture garments? From your remark I'd
> > > guess not.
> <snipped>
> > There are many cases of a woman's garment being copied and sold in Top
Shop
> > etc, that is very near the original, using similar materials, but
costing a
> > fraction of the original.
>
> A Top Shop knock-off has as much in common with the original
> couture garment as a custom made carbon Dolan frame has in common
> with a mass produced Halford's steel frame.
>
> It is quite plain that you do not know anything about couture
> garments. Before you make such ill-informed comments again may I
> suggest that you educate yourself in the arts of couture sewing,
> design, construction and fitting?
>
> You obviously think that a dressmaker's time and skill are not
> worth paying for. Believe me, that's your loss.
>
> Juliette
> --

Thanks for your contribution Juliette but, in your quest to defend haute
couture, you have completely missed the point that I was questioning,
latterly supported by Simon et al.

Which is this:

I personally do not care what label is on something - in my opinion it's a
question of function over form. So after 103 miles on Sunday when my
backside was killing me, I asked myself - 'I wonder if those Assos shorts
would make a difference?' So I take a look at them to find that they cost
over £100.

Let's take your argument. Assume that I buy them and they don't make a
difference. Would that be ok because they say 'Assos' on them and are
reputedly stiched and put together in such a way to render them 'superior'
and ergo the cycling equivalent of haute couture? Or would I be cheesed off
at having paid over the odds for something which didn't make one iota of
difference for the purpose intended? A sore **** is a sore **** -
regardless of whose shorts you are sitting in!

If your personal preference is to pay (what I and many would consider)
inflated prices because of where thay are mad then in my opinion that merely
amounts to snobbery, but I respect your right to make that choice. The
majority of people, as already suggested, need to feel that their investment
is justified in terms of what they get back. If Endura shorts cost £30 and
do the same job as Assos' costing £100 then I question the sanity of anyone
prepared to pay for the latter.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Ian Blake]

On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 22:33:13 +1000, crees22
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Ive bought a few Nalini bits recently as used by the proffesionals in
>the racing world, The bib/shorts ive been buying have been ranging from
>£20-£35 and are said to be 100% replicas of the real thing (team gear)

Shorts is a possibilty where they depart from this. I do not know about Nalini
but I like Santini kit, (I do not buy team clothing, they can pay me if they
want me to carry advertising). Santini's best padding "Twistgel", arguably the
best available, is in shorts costing around £70. This padding is also supplied
in the shorts used by the teams but a replica identical in its printing and
material costs £35. Perhaps this has the nice padding but I doubt it.
Santini's second string "TOP" padding is still good enough as I expect Nalini's
is. Santini have lesser padding materials for the most basic shorts.

I believe Assos set its premium price when the Swiss Franc was worth twice as
much as it is today (It had to). Since then the company and importers have
pocketed the profits as they try to position it as a premium marque. Assos
have had quality control issues just as all the other companies. The quality
is no better than the good stuff from the other companies.

Why not buy Lusso its OK and its a British company,

 

[Roos Eisma]

Peter Clinch <[email protected]> writes:

>Never felt a need for the bibs on the bike, but I certainly like
>salopettes for other sports so I can see potential advantages, low
>flying paving slabs notwhitsatnding.

Pete received a paving slab in the mail this morning...

Roos