Assos T.Neopro_S7 bib shorts review

We test Assos's "entry level" £120 bib shorts, the T.Neopro_S7

(Image credit: daniel gould)
Cycling Weekly Verdict

Comfortable bib shorts with plenty of quality features and a good, if basic, pad. Surprisingly affordable for Assos too, but watch out on sizing.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Good pad – if simply constructed

  • +

    Seams displaced from areas of saddle contact

  • +

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Seams not flatlocked

  • -

    Sizing is generous

  • -

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

At £120 they may not seem like budget bib shorts, but with a range going up to £295, the Assos T.Neopro_S7 bib shorts are the cheapest shorts that the Swiss brand has to offer. Even these bargain basement Assos bib shorts are not bad – although you need to be careful with sizing, as the mediums came up quite generous on me. A tester with a more racing snake build found that the leg grippers were too loose around his thighs.

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At the heart of any pair of bib shorts is the pad and Assos has always been renown for the quality of its offering. The Assos T.Neopro_S7 bib shorts come with a pad from Elastic Interface, the Italian makers of many of the world’s best seatpads. There are two dense foam inserts sewn into the pad where you sit on your saddle, while the rest of the pad is a much thinner perforated foam, all covered with a purple facing fabric. The thickness of the thicker sections does not taper at all, but I really didn’t notice their edges.

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Unusually, Assos does not sew the pad completely into the shorts, so you can see the pad’s innards. Instead it's tack stitched at the front and rear while the middle section is left free to allow the pad to fit better to your position as you ride. Assos calls this its goldenGate design.

Watch: Cycling Weekly's guide to bibshorts

Assos says it’s kept the price down by simplifying the construction. So although there are few seams on the Assos T.Neopro_S7 bib shorts, they are not flatlocked. This increases the potential for irritation, although I never experienced any problems when out riding. There’s still only a single seam up the legs and this is positioned on the outside, so there’s no chance of chafing from the saddle.

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There’s a seam from the middle of the front, under the seat and up to the bottom of the bibs. These have a dart-shaped base, so that their mesh fabric extends a bit lower in the middle – a nice touch to improve air circulation in an area where your jersey’s pockets and their contents are likely to make you hotter and promote sweat build-up.

Rear dart adds ventilation under a jersey's pocket area

Rear dart adds ventilation under a jersey's pocket area
(Image credit: daniel gould)

The rear yoke has seams, but the bibs themselves are single layer, seamless and plenty broad enough to fit comfortably over the shoulders. The shorts are finished off by single layer thigh grippers with silicone dots on the inside.

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Assos’s entry level shorts are certainly the match for other brands’ offerings at this price point and Assos has a reputation for durability. I certainly found the Assos T.Neopro_S7 bib shorts more than adequate for medium length rides. The fabric includes 18% elastane, so despite their simpler construction and slightly generous fit, there’s enough stretch to ensure a comfortable ride.

For more details visit the Assos website.

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Paul Norman

Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.

He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.