Wiggle house brand dhb is broadening its palette in 2014 and its new, high-end kit has just arrived at RCUK Towers.
ASV, as it is known, is said to offer a design suitable for the professional. When we first glimpsed the kit on a visit to Wiggle HQ in January, we were told it had been developed with input from Wiggle Honda.
Printed inside the collar is the message, ‘Derived from Pro Team Wear’ (the same legend is concealed beneath the hem of the right sleeve; fold back the left sleeve and you’ll find the instruction, ‘Just add effort’).
What we have, then, are two garments designed for the honed athlete, or, at the very least, the serious cyclist; a development to support Wiggle’s ambition to keep pace with an evolving customer base likely to have joined them as newcomers to the sport and who now find themselves lighter and with more sophisticated tastes. Let’s take a closer look at each piece before the serious business of testing begins.
dhb ASV jersey
The ASV jersey is a lightweight, close fitting garment, beautifully tailored and likely to find favour with the slimmer rider, who has tired of flapping sleeves and copious folds of billowing fabric in the torso. dhb hasn’t wasted a square inch of fabric on our XS-sized jersey, which, for once, lives up to the billing of a pro cut.
Beyond the short sleeves, there is ample evidence that this a garment intended for the high days of summer. The jersey feels extremely light, both in the hand and when worn, and almost all of the fabric is perforated. A different material has been deployed for the chest panel and the rear pockets, presumably to hold off the wind. Here the fabric is sleek and slippery.
Pleasingly, dhb has not attempted to reinvent the wheel with the ASV jersey. The zip is full length, and the tail has three pockets. The middle of the three is fitted with a zipped, valuables pocket with a waterproof lining. Each of the outer pockets is finished with a reflective tab. The thick piece of elastic that runs along the hem at the back of the garment is punctuated with dots of silicone, which we hope will make it grippy rather than sticky – enough to prevent it from riding up, while allowing some movement. We’ll find out in the weeks ahead and report our findings in a subsequent review.
The dhb ASV jersey comes in six sizes from X Small to Extra Extra Large, and in three colours: red, blue, or yellow. It costs £59.99.
dhb ASV shorts
The matching ASV short is another sophisticated garment whose high point, we can report after an early trial, is the elegant laser cut hems. The perforated braces (not as broad as we’d hoped for) are tailored at the back in a yoke that fits snugly between the shoulder blades.
The fabric in the leg is firm, but offers plenty of stretch, and while different to that of the jersey’s chest panel, which only stretches horizontally, has the same sleek finish. The insert is from pad kings, Elastic Interface, the industry’s go to supplier of synthetic chamois. Their Endurance offering is the model specified here.
As with the jersey, the cut is close. The slimmer rider can again rejoice at the discovery of a short with no bagginess in the seat.
The dhb ASV short comes in six sizes from X Small to Extra Extra Large and with hems and graphics in a choice of three colours: red, blue, or yellow. It costs £69.99.
We’re looking forward to trying both garments in the weeks ahead and will report back with our findings. Check back soon for our full review.
