When i was ill I promised myself a Rapha jersey when their sale came round. Now it has and I am on the mend I am not paying £80 for a jersey that doesn't even have a full length zip
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Almost seduced by Rapha
(30 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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Ah, damn it. Last year this topic made me go and look and I ended up buying one of their merino t-shirts for £40. And now I've just seen women's t-shirts on sale for £30 and I'm seriously tempted once more. I wore the t-shirt all year round as a base layer and I have to admit it's been bloody brilliant and still looks in perfect shape. That said, I've been alternating it with my Aldi £8 long sleeved base layer which has been almost as good but a bit more itchy.
Posted 10 years ago # -
If you're going to pay silly money for cycling gear then you could do worse than buy a Team IOM jersey, designed by Cav for Spesh:
Posted 10 years ago # -
@crowriver
And for those of us with a Skeletor build rather than He-Man?
Posted 10 years ago # -
I like their white arm bands - to commerate someone who is feeling alive (the rider?)
Still not forking out that kind of cash though.
:D
Posted 10 years ago # -
I'm an Assos man for bibs but where Rapha come into their own is in winter gear - well made and dependable - I've got stuff ten years old that's still doing the business.
Posted 10 years ago # -
You know, if I hadn't seen this thread I would now have more money.
On the plus side I will be able to alternate merino tops between Sept-March, rather than live in the same one continuously...
Posted 10 years ago # -
Also (if Mrs Darkerside happens to be watching) I saw that their brevet jersey/gilet combo was on sale and didn't buy it. Even though it looks superb.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Boo. Splashed this months cycling cash on a new pair of CX racing shoes...
Still maybe I can just not eat or drink this month...
Posted 10 years ago # -
One of the few advantages of being 'normal' in stature. There is no chance of any Rapha garment ever fitting, so my wallet is pretty secure.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Also Castelli going cheap at Wiggle. Not quite a Gabba, but have just ordered one of these in black/orange (and fingers crossed it will fit):
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/castelli-trasparente-due-wind-jersey-aw13Posted 10 years ago # -
There is no chance of any Rapha garment ever fitting
What style of body does one need to have to fit into this extraordinarily expensive kit?
Posted 10 years ago # -
Skinny
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Normal" skinny or pro-cyclist skinny?
Posted 10 years ago # -
Normal skinny but you might be advised to go up a size. So I am 38-39inch chest but if I ever felt I could part with the cash I would go for a large. They never sell out of extra small, as not clear who that would fit, except children I guess.
I might check out Thorm again. They copy Rapha at fraction of price. Their sizes seem a bit weird but they might answer the phone.
Just trying to work out wht to wear today - very heavy rain but very warm. Think I might go with getting wet.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Extra small fits me. Which is quite nice because then I can pick up things (well, *a* thing) in the sale.
Posted 10 years ago # -
The old-style Rapha stuff (ie, the sportswool jerseys / non-pro looking stuff) actually has quite a "forgiving" cut to it - after all it is aimed at dentists and stockbrokers who may appreciate a bit more gut room. The protteam stuff is much more sized for the serious/whippet-thin cyclist.
They stock it at Ronde if anyone wants to try some sizes (and, who knows, perhaps even buy some - they've got a sale on at the moment).
Posted 10 years ago # -
I have just had a look at their website and I do like this:-
Rapha Performance Skincare products are an essential addition to a rider’s kit and are designed to protect your skin against the elements and repair the wear and tear of riding. The products are handmade in the UK and are based on the aromatic plants and herbs that grow on the slopes of Mont Ventoux.
:-D
Posted 10 years ago # -
As mentioned by Ned Boulting in his book, "On The Road Bike". The chapter about Rapha is very funny and quite revealing too.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Here's a taste of it:
Many years later, cosseted by the drifting of quality espresso steam in and around the Rapha office, I listen to the Man in Black (Simon Mottram, the founder of Rapha) tell me how it all began. Or rather, what it was that he was running away from: British cycling, and everything that looked and smelt like it.
‘Impenetrable. Totally unaspirational, unengaging, undesirable. I hate it. I never joined a cycling club. I didn’t want to go to a scout hut and talk about changing a bottom bracket. That’s not my world. I wanted to be on my bike on the Tourmalet, riding in the tyre tracks of the great.
‘I’m a Brit who was lucky enough to go to France every holidays. That’s where my heart is. Over there. Not drinking tea in a lay-by in a deck chair. I have no interest. British cycling history isn’t what I’m about, frankly.’
And then he concludes with, ‘I’d rather be in Provence.’
I put it to him that British cycling’s got considerable charm, great character, a wonderful, eccentric heart.
He cuts me dead. ‘You can romanticise anything.’
But his most withering criticism is not for circuit racing, which, despite its lack of a Tourmalet, is at least racing, but for time-trialling. He loathes time-trialling. And Britain’s backward, nerdish, fetishistic love for this discipline.
‘Lots of British cycling is still populated by testers (time-triallists). Lots of geeky stuff and winning on your own. It’s hard for Rapha to really connect.’ I wonder briefly if he uses the word ‘Rapha’ as the Queen would use the word ‘one’.
‘We’re about looking to the Continent, people in love with the experience of it. Riding in mountains. Riding in groups. Wearing a cap back to front, and maybe sunglasses.’From On the Road Bike by Ned Boulting
Posted 10 years ago # -
"We’re about looking to the Continent"
They must hate it now, probably more Decathlon, than Castelli.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Decathlon is a genuinely continental brand though.
Posted 10 years ago # -
That excerpt made my skin crawl.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Scottish cycling means changing your bottom bracket not in a Scout hut but outdoors. In the rain.
Posted 10 years ago # -
IWRATS ... in the rain, at 3am, after cycling 400km with no sleep (if the Audax chat I see occasionally is anything to go by)
Posted 10 years ago # -
With an owl!....
Sorry - obscure quote. Anyone get it?
Anyway - his description of Rapha in the chapter isn't all quite so disparaging. He does wonder whether he'll be getting any more regular freebies at the end, though.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@fimm
Yes, I know a committed audaxer from a previous job. I like him greatly but wonder why he doesn't just make a bomb threat to the US president and get himself rendered to Gitmo. Sleep deprivation, partial drowning, starvation, extremes of heat and cold, stress positions...do Rapha make orange merino jumpsuits?
Posted 10 years ago # -
Based on that extract, it would appear Simon Mottram is a right tw@t.
I quite like some the Rapha designs, but I hate the elitist ‘I’d rather be in Provence’ snobbery of it's philosophy.
Pass the sick bag, I can feel the quinoa repeating on me.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I cycled up to Les Baux de Provence on a hired clunker one August many moons ago. It was nice.
Tip for the top - don't try eating an olive off the tree thinking it will be lovely and ripe. It will not be, and the taste will remain with you for weeks.
The local police later stole the hired bikes by cutting the locks. I only spotted them by accident when I went to report the theft. Not too Rapha, all that.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Finally caved in and bought the further reduced jersey in tangerine. I can wear it to DUFC cup finals (I avoid most of their other games now). The light blue one looked nicer but would need white shorts to pull off the look. I am against white cycling shorts, white bar tape, white saddles etc. £60 still a bit much but eddy m. Is the man.
Also IWRATS these local police stealing your bike reminds me to ask if you have got to the bit in early doors where phil and nige cross the line?
Posted 10 years ago #
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