Rapha Kit

I was bought a couple of
I was bought a couple of pairs of winter merino socks for Christmas a few years back, they lasted about 10 weeks before holes started appearing in the toes and heels (they were the correct size and I cut my toenails regularly), I sewed them up and kept them going for a couple of winters mainly because of the price & didn’t want to upset the Mrs, but ultimately they were pretty rubbish. Have been using merino socks from another brand at 1/3rd the cost for a number of winters now with & they haven’t worn at all.
I don’t buy their gear as I got locked into Assos shorts and Castelli & Etxeondo elsewhere after a few years of cycling & haven’t felt the need to try anything else.

I have a few Rapha bits,
I have a few Rapha bits, however I don’t believe they are worth their RRP – if you can get it on sale fair doos. They do look good and are well made certainly. The super light jersey was a good send in the alps when it was pushing 33c this past summer. However, I find the Castelli stuff to be far better when it comes to technical performance.

Yes Rapha does look great – that is undeniable; although it does seem to be one of the great divides in British cycling. There is a perception that its the guys in head to toe Rapha on their 3K Cervelos and Pinarellos out pushing the big gears struggling up the hills, while on the other side there evidently is the reverse snobbery that mocks the Rapha lifestyle and sneers at people spending so much on the kit (yet, as mentioned previously, no one laughs at people for buying the Castelli or Assos stuff that often costs more!)

In part, the controversy is there as Rapha is the brand most associated with cycling becoming ‘the new golf’…

Anyhow – all the racers I see here in Belgium tend to wear stuff like Santini.

I ordered a summer jersey and
I ordered a summer jersey and a rain jacket from rapha, just before I was clattered by a car, not had chance to wear it yet. But it looks well made and I had 30% of both of them it brought them down a price bracket.

Their stuff is very
Their stuff is very overpriced, you pay extra for things like the free repair service, which is rubbish. I have a long sleeve jersey which got small holes where the pockets are attached quite early on, I eventually sent it back for repair expecting them to sew it up and for it to be as good as new but it came back with bloody great patches stuck on it. It now looks ridiculous and is unwearable.

I don’t own any Rapha and
I don’t own any Rapha and it’s unlikely I ever will. At the same time I’m not going to critique someone for decking themselves out head to toe in Rapha.
I have no issue spending my hard earned on expensive kit if in my eyes it’s good value. I’ll look at a pair of Assos shorts and can see and feel the attention to detail, they feel like a clothing item that’s been developed and tested, developed some more and throughly tested again before hitting the shelves. To me it seems Rapha kit hits the shelves on the back of a fancy marketing campaign. I struggle to see how the item justifies its price tag.

Why is it ok to bash a Rapha wearer when similar but more expensive kit from Assos or Castelli usually earns a nod of approval?

Chasseur Patate wrote:Quince

Chasseur Patate wrote:

Quince wrote:

That was a good read. So much so that I told myself to f%&k off at the end of it. Which was oddly satisfying.

I give myself a daily ‘F%&k off’. Keeps me right.

It’s great, isn’t is? You get all the satisfaction of telling someone to ‘F%&k off’, with no need to worry about the consequences. Thoroughly recommended.

I really like riding my bike
I really like riding my bike and I tend to think that anybody else who likes riding theirs is bound to be a good guy. It’s always a crushing disappointment when I realise that the knobeads such as the Dynamo gobs are just as numerous as in normal life.
There’s so much talk about what to ride, and what not and what to wear and why, it’s embarrasing.
I often tell my girlfriend to stay in the car if I have to go into certain bike shops as I don’t want her to think I’m in any way affiliated with with the kind of arse muching tech chat that goes on in such places.
I’m must be guilty of some of that myself but try at least to keep it to good mates only.
Anybody who casts aspersions to complete strangers to try and show off is a dick, bike or no.
Personally I don’t own and may not ever own any Rapha kit, it feels like joining a club which I’ve never been into but I can see it’s really well made kit that’s had a bit of thought gone through it, great materials too. The stripe is too much like a badge for me but do I think any the worse of a guy dressed head to toe in it – no way…