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TECH NEWS

Rapha to create bespoke cycling suits

Rapha team up with Savile Row tailor Timothy Everest

You wait for ages for a Rapha story then two come along at once, our story on their Spring/summer collection will be along shortly (even though they announced it last month) but first it is their bespoke cycling suit which was announced on Monday evening.

While we were being the new collection a few weeks back talk turned to the latest trends and the quest for a tailored suit you can cycle in. When I mentioned that Outlier were working in that direction things went quiet and knowing looks were exchanged. Now we know why. On Monday evening Rapha announced they'd got a suit for cycling in:

“For the past 12 months, Rapha has been working with Timothy Everest, the renowned Savile Row tailor, to develop a suit that is at home both on the bike and in the boardroom. Comprising a jacket, waistcoat and trousers or plus fours [shorts of similar length to the Rapha Fixed Shorts], the finished suit offers elegance, thoughtful touches and luxury finishing, the trademarks that have helped establish Timothy as one of London’s leading fine tailors'.

“Savile Row” and “bespoke” you know that this is going to be reassuringly expensive, and at £3,000 it is. Availability is by invitation only.

You can already get performance tailored suits, late last year we featured Dashing Tweeds and their Sporting Tweeds collection which includes a cycling suit and cape. Dashing Tweeds also supply their cloth to tailors so that you can have your own custom-made cycling suit.

Tweed may be the first performance material and something that both Rapha and Outlier have worked with, but their approach does seem to be different from that of Dashing Tweeds. Both Rapha and Outlier approach the idea of the cycling suit very much from a cycling perspective, just from the drawing we have so far Rapha's creation looks like a suit for cycling in rather than a suit you can cycling in – there is a difference. 

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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6 comments

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TRs Blurb n Blog | 14 years ago
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Somehow I don't think the picture does this suit justice. Will they be doing a technical smart shirt to go with it?

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James Warrener | 14 years ago
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I would love one of those to wear for my wedding...

the missus would not love me to have one of those to wear for my wedding.

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stever | 15 years ago
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Those crazy Rapha Guys. How far do they have to go to parody themselves? Ooh I've got one, walnut & inlaid gold, Swiss cycle computers. With gold connects.

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John_the_Monkey | 15 years ago
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I don't think they're aimed at people who ride modern road bikes as such. Although I did once meet a guy with a gorgeous Scott carbon bike who rode it wearing the Rapha tweed softshell.

They're for folk riding path racers and the like, along the lines of the Pashley Guv'nor, if you ask me.

Gary Fisher favours a suit made by the "Dashing Tweeds" people, by all accounts.

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Tony Farrelly | 15 years ago
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guess not

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jezzzer | 15 years ago
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[Rapha's creation looks like a suit for cycling in rather than a suit you can cycling in – there is a difference.]

Yep. One makes sense, one doesn't.

Actually the whole concept of a cycling suit makes no sense to me. Guess I'm not much of a dapper roadie.

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