It takes a unique type of fabric to cling comfortably to the body and still hold up to thousands of micro movements across a saddle during countless rides. Before a fabric or zipper makes its way onto one of our garments it gets pulled, abraded, snagged, soaked, and inspected in our materials test lab. Once we’re satisfied with our in-house tests we ask the factory to repeat this process on a sample before they start to sew, to ensure the end result meets our high standards. We’ve found this type of testing makes a real difference in the real world, so that when jersey zippers rub on bib shorts and velcro goes through the wash you can trust that our gear won’t fail.

But we don’t leave all of our testing up to the machines, we also collect feedback from our team of wear test riders from around the world. Their feedback is a critical part of the design process, especially when it comes to something as important as chamois development. Hours of testing in the saddle by a diverse group, riding in different climates gives us the feedback we need to tweak and fine tune for the best real world experience. All of these details add up and make a good short great.