So, whenever I go ANYWHERE I always love to stop and take a look at the local bike shops. I stopped into Contender Bicycles in Salt Lake City, UT and immediately spotted this amazing looking gear called ASSOS. Seriously cool and sophisticated looking, yet also looked amazingly comfortable.

I just have to mention really quickly here that I am a very picky shopper. If you were to ask my wife she would probably roll her eyes and exclaim that I am “beyond” picky… so for me to get a glance of something and REALLY want to give it a try…well, that says a lot right there!

So – long story short. I purchased this ASSOS Early Winter Base Layer because I live in Idaho where we have winter 3/4ths of the year and even in the summer it can be a little chilly to ride first thing in the morning. I freaking love this shirt. It is seamless and so comfortable to wear under a jersey or even just around town. My 15-year-old son is about my size and I told him to give it a try – I could hardly get it back from him!

As I mentioned, it is extremely comfortable, it’s warm, it isn’t bulky, and it helps keep me dry. Total win-win for me there! The downside is that it is a little expensive for one base layer. BUT I am confident that the shirt will last me for a long time and it sure beats trying to get by with something else only to discover it isn’t quite working well enough and then going through the whole trial-and-error, “ending up spending more money anyway than if I would have just bought the right shirt in the first place” thing!