Monday 7 December 2009

Assos BMC Official Pro Team Kit

Assos BMC Pro Team Jersey - Sleeve

Team Issue Only Jersey and Shorts

Following on from my review of the squadraMondo pack as a means to obtain a replica of the BMC kit it transpires that scouring eBay in the US yeilds a selection of official team kit including not only jerseys, but also shorts, long sleeve jerseys, 3/4 bibs and even 851 airJacks. Be aware that this is both new and used kit so check the item descriptions carefully.

Assos BMC Pro Team Jersey and Shorts

I bid on and won a short sleeve jersey and bib shorts, which arrived with me a week or so later. Due to the light weight of the items postage was very reasonable but the items did attract VAT so factor this in when doing any price conversion. Opening the box, the jersey was packed in the standard Assos zip bag, this time black in colour, with the shorts in just the wash bag. Unlike the retail S5 shorts no cleaner or creme was present. Both items show catalogue numbers and names "Jersey Team Club" and "T Bib Short Fi Team" respectively.

Assos BMC Pro Team Jersey - Packaging

Upon unzipping the bag the printing on the jersey is clearly different to the 2008 model, but there are a number of slight changes to the design too - the zip garage is notable by its absence, and as this was not intended for retail, there is no "limited collection" tag on the right hand side. One point certainly worth mentioning is that the jersey and shorts both display "made in Switzerland" on the labels, no doubt due to the limited production run, something also shared with the Lightweight edition clothing.

Assos BMC -  squadraMondo vs Pro Team Jersey - Front
The 2009 Jersey compared to last year's squadraMondo

Assos BMC Fi.Team Shorts - Made In Switzerland

The shorts have a silver gripper on the left leg and so appear to be the FI.13 S5s. This is unfortunately not the case and they are closest to the FI.Uno Logo, with the same pad and leg detail, albeit with the BMC rather than Assos emblem on the left leg. Strangely, the logo on the rear is the older and less durable S2 style transfer rather than the three dimensional rubbery plastic of the S5 shorts.

Assos Fi.Uno Logo vs Fi.Team Shorts - Left Leg
The team shorts compared to the regular Fi.Uno Logo S5

As with the squadraMondo review, the fit and performance of these items is identical to the models they are based on so once again there's little to add. As Assos is ceasing to sponsor BMC in order to concentrate on its own "équipe campionissimo" (more on that later) there's a finite supply of this gear so hasty procurement is recommended to those interested parties.

Photos - Click for full size or view more on flickr

Assos BMC Pro Team Jersey - Rear

Assos BMC Pro Team Jersey - Tags

Assos BMC Fi.Team Shorts - Leg Gripper