Sampling & Prototyping: How a Spec Becomes a Physical Sample
One sample per confirmed spec, up to two revision rounds included, sign-off before anything moves to bulk.
The Sampling Stage, Not the Whole Development Process
Stated up front, because sampling sits in the middle of a longer sequence, not at the start of it.
Four Steps From Confirmed Spec to Signed-Off Sample
The same sequence regardless of buyer path or riding scenario.
Spec confirmation
Fabric tier, pattern, and any chamois reference are locked before cutting starts — a sample cut against an unconfirmed spec just gets rebuilt once the spec catches up.
First sample cut, 5-7 days
One physical sample per specification, built to the confirmed spec, not a placeholder version of it.
Review
The sample gets checked against the original spec, not against a general quality bar — fit, construction, and any chamois integration are compared to what was actually asked for.
Revision, up to two rounds included
Two rounds cover it for most projects. Sign-off on a revised (or first-pass) sample is what releases bulk scheduling.
What Counts as a Revision vs. a New Sampling Round
The distinction that decides whether a change is covered by the two included rounds.
A revision
An adjustment to the sample already cut — a seam moved, a panel resized, a fit corrected against the same base spec. This is what the two included rounds cover.
A new sampling round
A change to the spec itself — a different fabric tier, a different chamois reference, a different garment category added mid-process. This restarts the sequence from spec confirmation.
The difference isn't about how large the change looks — it's about whether the original spec is still the one being built to, or a different one just replaced it partway through.
Spec Already Confirmed?
Start Your SampleWhere Sampling Sits in the Order Timeline
Before bulk scheduling opens, and separate from how bulk quantity gets counted.
A sample doesn't count against your bulk order minimum — sampling exists to confirm a spec, not to fill a quantity, and it runs before that minimum applies at all. Full minimum-quantity logic lives on the MOQ & Wholesale Pricing page; this page only covers what a sample itself is and how it moves.
Once a sample is signed off, that sign-off is what starts the bulk production window — for how that window is read backward from a season or event date, see the homepage's delivery and scheduling section.
One Rule Behind How We Sample
A sample exists to catch what a spec sheet can't show — how a seam actually sits, how a chamois actually integrates, how a fabric actually behaves once it's cut. Skipping straight to bulk on an unsampled spec doesn't save the five to seven days; it just moves the correction to after a full production run instead of before one.
Three Things This Page Doesn't Cover
The sample-and-revision loop is this page's job — these three things belong elsewhere.
Two Ways to Start
Four Points Where a Sampling Project Goes Wrong
Naming where the mismatch actually happens is more useful than promising it won't.
Cutting starts before the spec is actually confirmed. A verbal "roughly this" gets treated as locked, and the first sample ends up correcting the spec instead of the fit.
A spec change gets requested as if it were a revision. Changing fabric tier or chamois reference mid-loop restarts the sequence — it doesn't fit inside the two included rounds.
Feedback on a revision is vague instead of specific. "Doesn't feel right yet" without naming where costs a full round finding out what "right" means.
A sample gets treated as good enough to skip sign-off. Moving to bulk on an unsigned sample means the correction happens across a full production run instead of one piece.
Common Questions Before You Start a Sample
Start Your Sample
Send your confirmed spec — that's the actual first step.