If anyone knows me, I have an un-healthy obsession when it comes to cycling kits. I collect them, I stare at them online and think what could be changed and made better. We all want the right fit and the right look, right?
With so many improvements, kits have now become an expression of who we are as cyclists. They represent our club and our sponsors. Heck, Swami’s has 3 limited edition Jerseys this year! And lets face it, you are in them for a lot of hours. So demand is tough, especially coming from a Juggernaught like Swami’s.
So when we got the chance to head down to ZOCA headquarters to meet with head man Jorge I jumped at the chance!
Patterns and patterns were printing in house, as I was greeted by ZOCA’s staff. I felt at home talking with Jorge candidly about kits, the demands we face as competitive cyclists, and checking out new and different materials and patterns in kit design.
Enjoy as ZOCA lets me throw a few questions their way for a brief interview to let you guys in on the mindset of what it takes to produce kits
1. I’m sure demand is tough and orders are high right now. As a cycling apparel manufacturer, can you tell us what it’s like to take on such large orders such as Swami’s, and other clubs and teams from around the world?
Every team and customer is different, our main goal is to communicate from the beginning in the right direction, in an effort to make the entire process as smooth as possible. Custom manufacturing is always a challenge, the bigger the club the more challenges you will face.
2. How does ZOCA find ways to stay competitive in today’s market, notably while being produced here in San Diego, Ca?
The competitive endurance market always has big expectations to improve performance. Our goal is to execute proper re-search to be able to develop the right product line and deliver right on time.
We feel very proud to produce everything in the USA. We are always facing cost challenges, while still trying to find a way to make it right, so our clients feel happy with the quality, turn around times and service.
3. Take us through your basic design process while working with a club or a team? How does the collaboration work and how much input does a club get when working with ZOCA
The process starts with a simple drawing the customer provides to ZOCA, or by filling our design questionnaire. Once the final mock up is approved, we can create all the mock ups for the rest of styles.
We then send fit kits to the team for testing and after everything is approved we receive the final order from the club or team.
It Usually take us 4 to 6 weeks to produce every order.
