What You Should and Shouldn’t Hear in Your Triathlon Apparel

What You Should and Shouldn’t Hear in Your Triathlon Apparel

I love our customers and I appreciate all types of triathletes.  Let’s face it, we are a unique bunch of people.  Perhaps not as unique when we speak of athletes and especially not when it comes to endurance athletes but when it comes to the general population, I’d say we are an “interesting” bunch.

I have the pleasure of getting to read many emails from customers as to their reactions when they try on their triathlon apparel.  I shared a post recently but how there is an assumption that a new garment – same style and brand - will feel exactly like the one you’ve worn for three years.  If you missed it, click here.   

Today, I’m going to briefly describe another common complaint I hear from customers on a regular basis.  I address this on a case by case basis with customers (I enjoy speaking to customers individually anyway) but I was asked to speak to this on a more general level. 

This advice applies specifically to our clothing, however, it may be used by other brands, however I cannot personally speak to their craftwomanship (I say womanship because every single one of our seamstresses at the moment and for the past few years has been and is a woman). 

So when you pull out that garment and are excited to pull it on, and you hear a dreadful “POP,” don’t fret!  Let me explain to you why this is happening.  We, at De Soto, require our clothing pass the highest level of quality assurance.  Typically when a seamstress sews two pieces of fabric together they simply “eye-ball” the pieces, line them up and run them through the sewing machine.  One of the things we do is use a set set stitch (otherwise referred to as a stay stitch).  This holds the pieces together to ensure the utmost accuracy of sewing and also helps the overall comfort of a garment.  It does NOT however, compromise the seam strength, when it pops.  You won’t hear it past the first few uses. 

Many customers hear that, write to returns@desotosport.com and ask for a return authorization because our garment is defective.  Rest assured, we do have a quality assurance department that does stretch a garment and attempts to pop those loose set stitches but we do miss them and we know they are harmless when popped.  You, however, don’t.  So, this is all part of the education of a blog and we want to educate you.  So, feel free to email us as we always want to hear from you, but rest assured your garment is intact and you will not have a wardrobe malfunction at your next race or training session.