There’s always plenty to talk about when Rapha launch a new range of clothing and their 2010 Spring Summer collection is true to form with a new small but perfectly formed "capsule" women’s range, an expanded City range, that jumper – yes the £285 one, updated versions of some of Rapha’s classics plus the promise of a series of Rapha CDs and even the promise of an iPhone app to come and a hint of rotisserie chicken, something for everyone then. Rapha launch their ranges all in one go, but individual products come in at different times so it’s with checking the Rapha website for availability.

 

Okay, let’s get the sweater out of the way. The merino/cashmere mix Transit Elite will set you back an eye watering £285 for what is essentially a smart woolly jumper. Rapha are past masters at putting a super-expensive limited edition something into their collections that gets the press and twitterati talking. Remember the technical tweed jacket or indeed the bespoke suit? This time to be fair there is a point. The Transit Sweater is a collaboration with Apolis Activism whose mission is to link third world artisans and craftsmen up with first world consumers by the means of their jolly expensive designer goods – in the case of the Transit Sweater it is a Nepalese women’s cashmere cooperative. Check out their website and the video at the bottom of this story.

The Transit looks a very wearable piece of kit but to our eyes at least there is a sort of irony in producing something that will only be affordable to the very sorts of bankers responsible for shaping and reinforcing the patterns of trade that lock third wold producers out. That said, it’s easy to carp Rapha and Apolis have actually gone out and done something so chapeaux for that.

TRANSIT ELITE from Dave Christenson on Vimeo. 

Women’s capusle range

Women wear Rapha and the big news of the new range is Rapha’s response: a small range featuring re-tailored versions of the Stowaway jacket and the classic jersey for a more feminine fit, plus a completely new garment: their first ever pair of non-bib shorts. Both the reworked garments have all the features you would find in their male equivalents in terms of pockets, zips (full length for the Classic jersey) bite tabs and the like. Rapha’s courting of female custom goes beyond just this range they will also be holding greater levels of stock in sizes XS, and S for much of their standard range too.

 

Women’s Stowaway Jacket
The Women’s Stowaway comes in a choice of red or cream and has a more waisted cut and a deeper bust, the front pocket has been repositioned to retain the shape – early versions of the jacket just didn’t hang right when the pocket was kept in the same position as on the men’s version. Cost £165.
 

Women’s Classic Jersey
Like the jacket the Women’s Classic Jersey has a more feminine cut. It’s a totally different shape from the men’s version, colours are a choice of black or cream. The jersey comes with contrasting cream armwarmers, each the jersey main colour detailing – so the red jersey gets cream arm warmers with red detailing. Sizing is UK standard 8, 10, 12, etc. Rapha made the conscious decision to stay away from anything that might be interpreted as girly in this range – so the only flash of their trademark pink is some discrete detailing on the inside of the black version of the Classic jersey. Personally I reckon they could have gotten away with the pink – the shade that Rapha use is sophisticated enough not to look girly. On the other hand it does give them another colour option for their next range. Cost: £125.

 

Women’s Shorts
The women’s shorts are completely new garment for Rapha – they don’t do a men’s cycling short. As you’d expect they feature a female specific Cytech pad and are cut higher at the back so you don’t get that "gap of flesh" when riding on the drops, they are also longer in the leg for a more flattering shape with anatomically curved seams on the leg for extra comfort – all the seams are flatlocked and their is a soft fabric panel at the front with no gripper to stop them digging in. At £135 they will dig in to your  wallet or purse though. 

Rapha City Range

The other big area for Rapha this season is their city range. Rapha were one of the pioneers when it comes to producing clothes you can wear on or off the bike and they’ve pushed the boundaries too – remember last year’s bespoke cycling suit produced in association with Saville Row tailor Timothy Everest. It was very expensive, but they still managed to sell 20, and their trousers are pretty much a classic. That said their range of such clothing has never been huge. That changes this season with a bigger City range and an emphasis on the smarter end of smart casual.

 

Merino Boxers
Rapha’s Merino Boxers have a thin pad at the back, it’s not like a nappy say Rapha. You can wear them with normal clothes for commuting or scooting around town and they combine the benefits of technical clothing and normal underwear; they’re made from wool so they are breathable and wick moisture and the idea is that you wear them all day. The idea isn’t new, there are similar pants around for mountain bikers who want to wear their own shorts/trousers rather than ones with a liner. Rapha’s pad by the way is a triathlon one, could this be the first mainstream cycling spin-off from triathlon? (No, we’re not counting tri bars). Cost £40.

 

V-neck Base layer
Also new is a super soft base merino baselayer layer with a v-neck designed to be worn under a shirt, so that city riders can avoid the fashion crime of having their crew neck baselayer peeping out – mind you that doesn’t seem to concern the chap wearing it on the Rapha website. Yours for a reassuringly expensive £55, stick that in your pipe Howies that almost makes their merino base layer look like a budget item, well, almost though Howies do point out that theirs is MAPP registered which means no sheep were scraped in the making of their garment.
 

Long Sleeve Shirt
Obviously you’ll want to team up your Rapha merino V baselayer with one of their shirts which are now available in long and short sleeved versions made from cotton with small amount of nylon to give a bit of stretch. The accent here is smart, button down collars or hidden buttons hold the collar in place. The look is very tailored; cycling specific touches include a discrete back pocket and dropped shoulder seams to make carrying a bag more comfortable. The long sleeve shirt will cost £90 while the short sleeve comes in at £75.
 
Soon you’ll be able to go even smarter still with an off the peg jacket based on the one used in the bespoke cycling suit, we’ve seen a prototype version and it looks pretty good, it’s made from water and stain resistant material. Nice touches include front panel buttons up to stop flapping about and a flash of Rapha pink under the collar – the final version will have articulated shoulders too. Nice. 

Pocket T
For those more casual moments Rapha have their technical T-shirts: slim fitting anti-bacterial cotton numbers cut long at the back and featuring a back pocket too. Available in either blue or grey one will set you back £50. Oh, and depending on the colour you are getting either a Merckx or a Moser… don’t ask me which is which.

Training and racing

This is still the core of what Rapha are about and the core of their range, most of the products in this range have now been in it for years and for the season we’re talking colour changes and tweaks rather than radical redesigns or completely new products.

 

Stowaway Jacket
The Stowaway Jacket (£165) along with its winter equivalent, the Rain Jacket, is a Rapha Classic. For 2010 there are two new colours Grey and a very bold Pink. As the name suggests the Stowaway is light weight jacket (165g for the medium say Rapha) that’s designed for cooler spiring and summer days, long descents and for emergencies, it’s water resistant rather than waterproof but it is windproof. When you’re not using it if packs down small enough to stow in your jersey pocket. All the detailing you would expect in a good cycling jacket is present: dropped down tail, tailored fit, reflective detialing on the arms and back (the Rapha logo); plus some other nice touches, taped shoulder seams add extra protection to the part of the jacket that is bears the full brunt of wind and rains and Lycra cuffs on the arms add in some extra windproofing.

 

Gilet
Another staple of the Rapha range, the Summer Gilet (£115) has been re-vamped for 2010. Like the Stowaway this is a performance garment made for cool days and emergencies, it is an extremely light and packable 115g. Previous versions featured a black front panel – something of a Rapha trademark which was extensively copied. Now the gilet features contrast detailing on the front which is mirrored on the back central panel too for what Rapha consider a more sophisticated look. As well as looking good the main part of the gilet is made from a very breathable fabric while the central rear section is an even more breathable micro mesh.

 

Country Jersey
Rapha’s Country Jerseys – France, Belgium, Italy, UK – now go full zip rather than half zip at the front for better temperature control on hot days. That means moving the country detailing from the chest to the arm and results in a more minimal look. To our eyes Rapha look to have repositioned the Country jersey as a more performance oriented garment. . They are still made from Sportwool, 60 per cent polyester and 40 per cent merino so it’s itch free, doesn’t smell rank after a day in the saddle and holds its shape well too. All the usual Rapha details are still present, pocket ports for iPod cables, an inner pump sleeve and a hidden valuables pocket plus some reflective detailing on the rear pocket which also has some new country themed embroidered detailing. The red British jersey comes with a red cap and you can also accessorise your Italian jersey with matching leg and arm warmers. Cost £100.

Club Jersey
As the Country Jersey becomes more performance oriented the Club jersey goes the other way, yes it’s a Sportwool cycling jersey and features all the detailing in terms of pockets, and speaker ports present on the Country Jersey, but Rapha have changed the cut making it longer at the front so you can wear it with jeans. Rapha realise that a lot of these jerseys are worn as casual wear off the bike, particularly in the US so it made sense to produce a top that worked as casual wear too – so no full zips here.

This year’s Club Jersey comes in three different three colour designs each of which relates to a different cycling legend: the grey is Johan Museeuw, the Lion of Flanders and features a lion embroidered on the pocket, the pink is Franco Pegoretti – with a flame on the pocket, and the Blue is Sean Kelly – although given that the embroidery on the pocket is of a very Spanish looking bull we’re not sure that can be right. We’d say the pink and grey Pegoretti number is the pick of the three, but taste is a very personal thing. Cost £90.

Lightweight Jersey
Not many changes to the Lightweight jersey, there’s the addition of a natty powder blue colour option and it loses the mesh panel that ran down the centre of the back on last year’s version – well, how much more light weight does an ultra-lightweight hot conditions jersey need to be? As well as the normal Rapha jersey pocket layout which they standardised across their range last year the Lightweight Jersey also has an additional ballast pocket running the width of the jersey for stowing your Stowaway jacket or gilet. As you’d expect the zip is full length.

Team Issue

Hmm… we couldn’t help thinking Manchester United away kit circa 2005 when we saw the new Rapha Condor Sharp team jersey, but then if you’ve got Sharp as a team sponsor front and centre across the chest that’s always going to be a danger. The team jersey will be available to buy soon and will cost £115.

The other bit of team kit that will be on offer is the bibshort which for this year features a black bib to match the rest of the shorts rather than the white which Rapha used in the past – problem with that was that it tended to peek through when Rapha riders raised their arms in a victory salute – which they did from time to time last year. Race radios may be on the way out but the team short will feature two race radio positions and a pink and white flash on the right leg. Cost £145.

Lifestyle

Rapha’s range is divided into four sections – we’ve covered three: Training and performance, Womens, and the City range, the final bit is lifestyle which includes their accessories range and their burgeoning travel business. This year sees an extended series of Rapha Randonees and big ride point to point holidays through some of Europe’s top ride spots in partnership with La Fuga.

Long expected and finally here, is Rapha’s ‘performance skincare’ range first up are a chamois creme and embrocation both inspired by the Ventoux and containing herbs that grow on the legendary mountain. Our man with the nose, TR, likened the aroma to rotisserie chicken – it was the rosemary apparently and the faint hint of garlic the mind boggles although we can’t vouch for the accuracy of the McGowran nose.

Rapha aren’t stopping at soothing your nethers either, they want to soothe your soul too with a series of albums (CD not vinyl) inspired by the great races, not only will these contain music to put you in the mood for the Giro or Tour but sounds too: the idea is that you’ll be able to immerse yourself in the ambience of the great race of your choice without actually being there. The first one is available in May in time for the Giro – no word on price yet, and for contractual reasons it won’t be available as a download…

…Which is a shame because then you would be able to enjoy it on your iPhone along with perhaps the most radical departure in Rapha’s lifestyle range – the Rapha iPhone app. This launches in May, no details on price yet, but availability will be via the Apple app store and Rapha website, and word is that is some sort of social networking tool to help you organise rides with like-minded riders.