I already have a pair of the assos shorts that I am very happy with, but I need another pair, assos have gone from silly to outlandish on the pricing side, so wondering should I get a pair of the seemingly well regarded specialized bg shorts and save 50 notes or would that leave me disappointed and regretting not having spent the extra.

If you’re in the market – its worth having a look at the Gore Oxygens and the top end Mavics but the best kept secret seem to be the Shutt VR

Agree though Assos is good kit but in danger of making Rapha seem good value

Have a look at De Marchi too.

I had a pair of gore shorts, pile of crap, too many density changes in the chamois which made them fragile and they fell apart in less than 6 months, a very specific sit-bone fit, hence now looking for a new pair of shorts.