I recently received these 3 x MAAP jerseys and will be returning them all. All received from MAAP directly (1 in store and 2 online).
All made in China and the quality seems really poor – they feel almost like something you could get from AliExpress.
Has MAAP recently changed to manufacturing in China? Have you noticed a decline in product quality while prices remain the same or increase?
by MGH1985
6 Comments
Mine that were purchased a couple of years ago were made in Albania
China can make things from good quality to bad. So it depends how MAAP speced it and their quality control.
FYI: some of my three things I’ve just checked that I purchased few years ago were made in Albania, Lithuania and Italy. So they source all over the place.
I noticed they stopped doing the rear zip pocket on a lot of their models, which indicates some cost cutting is going on. However, i haven’t had any complaints about jersey quality.
I’d buy that Sydney one off you if you shipped to the US
These are all 3.0 jerseys, that have a different, lighter fabric. Are you sure that the quality has decreased, or is it just a difference in material. Did you previously already buy a 3.0 jersey you can compare to?
Yep. Different products are still being made in different areas. What I do know is that there’s indeed been a shift of production from Italy to China.
This started with the solar pro/pro race jerseys being made in China. At the time the justification was that the diamond panelled textured fabric joining to the rest of the jersey was something that only China could produce. Full credits to them, it is indeed a very fragile and technical jersey to manufacture from the reflective heat bonded logos to the fabric which shreds if you stare at it too hard.
At this time last year, most pro air 2 jerseys were made in italy, with some pro air 3s as well. This shifted to Romania. And eventually this year, China.
The first Chinese pro air 3 jersey to hit the market was the Maap x Zwift collection. The fit was different. The mesh was certainly thinner and had much less stretch, feeling quite constricting. The fabric also had a very thin sort of feel to it and not in a good way. But rather in a fragile and non durable way, like it’d become loose after a few washes.
This carried on with the next few releases. So now it seems they’ve shifted their entire pro air 3 line to China for production. Not that it’s bad, but this is clearly a margin protecting move on maap’s part. I agree it feels lighter, the zipper feels less sturdy. And the fit has changed slightly. It isn’t as conforming as the previous pro air 3s.
This all said, the stitching work is impeccable, and I’ve not had issues with construction. Whereas the Romania pro air 3 jerseys (drome era) had lots of stitching issues or issues with the hems not being sewn on properly.
Far as I’m aware the bibs are still made in Europe. Eclipse Pro bibs are made in Italy, while the Evo bibs are made in Romania
The new maap training 2.0 jerseys and LS ones are made in Vietnam. They’re amazing and feel second-skin. No complaints with the new production compared to Lithuania/Romania
There are outstanding garment makers in China and across Asia. Equally, there are plenty of poor quality manufacturers throughout Europe.
Quality isn’t dictated by geography. It’s determined by the skills of workers and the standards upheld by the brand.