Jersey & Bib Shorts – Matching or not?!?

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:If you

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

If you want to get people ‘loving’ your brand, you have to behave in such a way that people will hate your brand.

Final comment on Rapha… the
Final comment on Rapha… the fact there are haters is the result of great marketing. If you want to get people ‘loving’ your brand, you have to behave in such a way that people will hate your brand.

As long as you get enough people loving you, the haters can just go on hating…

Rapha have done a brilliant job.

Can we all talk about helmets
Can we all talk about helmets now? 😉

Rather a MAMIL than a MAMIM
Rather a MAMIL than a MAMIM (middle aged man in Micra)…wear what you like withpride and rejoice in the freedom that is leg powered transport/recreational/fitness vehicle

I think your clothing should
I think your clothing should match to an extent but it’s easier if you just stick to black shorts. I wear a variety of Garmin jerseys and as they are made by Castelli I can match them with the Castelli shorts and socks that also go with my other non-team Castelli gear.

I used to wear a Brazil football jersey when I was young, now I wear team cycling gear. I bet football fans all round the world don’t get stick for wearing team gear along the lines of ‘You can’t wear a Real Madrid jersey because you don’t play for them!!!’

drfabulous0 wrote:I bought a

drfabulous0 wrote:

I bought a bunch of Rapha gear a while back because I liked it and worked for a “retail partner” so got a discount. Now I think twice about wearing it because everyone thinks I’m a douche.

People who genuinely think you’re a douche for wearing a particular brand must be, well, massive douches. And who cares what they think?

Anyhoo, like someone else above I usually go for mainly black bibs and then whatever takes my fancy when I’m in the market for a new jersey. I don’t have any team kit myself, but it’s not that I wouldn’t wear it on principle or anything, I just generally don’t like it as much as other stuff.
That said, I wouldn’t wear a WC or leaders jersey!

Wear what you want, you’re a
Wear what you want, you’re a cyclist, you look ugly no matter what you wear!

Marginal gains and gross indecency – The ugly side of a beautiful sport

Cycling is about how good it makes you feel not look.

My thoughts on Rapha
My thoughts on Rapha resentment…. its the same as resenting the owners of Porsches and Ferrari’s.

On one level (a big one) its pure envy… envy that you can afford to spend so much money on cycle clothing (car), envy that you have the balls to go, “sod it, I know there are cheaper options out there that are just as good, but I want Rapha (A Porsche)”… on the other level, its resentment… its seeing someone with the balls, and with the money, making the obvious, boring choices. If you can afford Rapha, you can afford anything, so why buy Rapha? Its resenting the lost opportunity.

Oh and for me personally, I hate the way Rapha has singlehandedly doubled the cost of lycra.

Not too many years ago a premium cycling top was £50. Now that’s the standard cost across the board (Aldi aside). The materials/designs haven’t changed, and from my insight into the industry the costs haven’t changed, only the margins given to retailers/manufacturers has increased.

Rapha as a brand helps make cycling expensive… it provides the affluent an avenue to spend their cash, an avenue readily jumped on by other manufacturers, and suddenly a race bike costs £5-10k instead of £1-4k and we all have to have more awkward conversations with the wife.