Before this winter’s deep freeze set in, I was getting the most out of late autumn, taking on rides when all the leaves had fallen off of every tree. Compared with what I see out my window now, my outings with the Assos Mille GT C2 jersey and Assos Mille GT S11 bib tights seem tropical. I’m pining for -5 C and dry. According to my nearest groundhog meteorologist, I don’t have that much longer to wait before I can don this kit again. I’m ready as soon as the conditions are good-ish. This kit will be the first stuff I grab when I hit the roads again.
The versatility of the Assos Mille GT C2 spring/fall long-sleeve jersey
The Assos Mille GT C2 jersey is made with a fabric called RX. It’s 250 g/m2, which puts its weight in the medium range. RX has a UPF rating of more than 50: nice, but when I’m sporting this jersey, the sun’s weak rays aren’t much of a concern. On the inside, the garment is soft and fleecy, really comfortable.
The Mille GT C2 is designed with an endurance fit. The jersey sits well if you’re riding in a bit more of an upright position. If you’re down in the drops or getting another hot drink at the café, the jersey also behaves well. The real strength of the jersey’s design is what it allows you to wear under it and/or over it. It’s a great mid-layer, easily taking a base layer beneath and a thicker layer overtop. It’s too thin, for me at least, to use as an outer layer in temperature below 10 C. But it’s become a go-to layer in my sub-zero system of tops. (Oh, there can be many layers, I assure you.)
When it’s warm enough to use the Mille GT C2 as an outer layer, the back pockets, with their “keeper flaps”—stretchy material at the top of each pocket—do an excellent job of keeping my small ride essentials secure.
You’ll notice the little rubbery patch on the right arm that forms a tube. That’s for holding your sunglasses. While I like the idea of the sunglasses holder, I don’t actually like using it. My glasses will flop back and forth against my arm, which isn’t pleasant.
A comparison between the Assos Equipe RS S11 jacket and the Mille GT C2 jersey
I got the Equipe RS S11 jacket around the same time as the Mille GT C2 jersey and find the differences between the two pieces interesting. While the Equipe is called a jacket, I use it in the same temperature range as the Mille jersey. In fact, I like things to be a bit warmer for the Equipe jacket. Even though it’s slightly better at blocking the wind at the front compared with the Mille, the Equipe is practically summer-jersey weight at the back. You really need to be riding hard and getting your core temperature up if you want to run the Equipe in the cold.
How to choose between Assos’s top-end road bib shorts
Forget about layering with the race-fit Equipe. I’m a size small in the Mille but find a medium Equipe snug, which is strange to me as my summer jersey and bibs in the Equipe range are all small. With the jacket, I can sport a light base layer beneath. It is quite the purpose-built jacket: fast rides only. For this reason, I reach for the versatile Mille GT more often.
The Assos Mille GT S11 bib tights round out my cold-weather kit
The Assos Mille GT S11 bib tights pair naturally with the Mille GT jersey. The tights are made with a fabric called Polar, which feels quite similar to the jersey’s RX, both on the outside and the brushed inside. Polar contains 50 per cent recycled polyamide. The straps attach at the back of the Mille GT using Assos’s rollBar construction. This configuration sees the straps extending past the top of the back panel so they can be affixed at the material’s edge and farther down, closer to the insert. The setup helps to keep the insert in position throughout a long ride. Assos introduced the rollBar with the previous generation of its top-end RS line. With better fabric being employed for the latest iteration of RS, the rollBar has left that lineup. Designers, however, still use it in the company’s endurance line.
The insert of the Mille GT reminds of that in the Equipe R S11 bib shorts, but with some notable differences. Both have a 3D Waffle insert with three layers and perforations for breathability. At 12 mm, the Mille GT’s Waffle is 3 mm thicker than the Equipe’s. Both inserts have the goldenGate 2.0 feature, which means the chamois’s edges aren’t sewn into the fabric below. This design allows the insert to move and shift under load as you log kilometres in the saddle. The Mille insert has slightly less padding at the front than the Equipe R S11.
Out on the road, I have an easier time keeping my legs warm compared with my upper body. I was comfortable to about -4 C in the Mille GT. On one ride I faced -7 C for a while. The Mille GT tights were at their limit for me. If I was out any longer in that cold, I would have started to get uncomfortable.
OK, spring, let’s go
Since I’m working on the April/May issue of the magazine, my thoughts are really on spring, despite what’s going on outside. Once Mother Nature catches up with my headspace, I’ll be ready to put on the Mille GT S11 tights and layer up with the Mille GT C2 jersey, and head out. I’m looking forward to it.
