Rapha Kit

Chasseur Patate

Chasseur Patate wrote:

[quote=CasperCCC]I’ve got a fair few bits of kit from Rapha, and it’s all great. Comfortable, lasts well, and works well. It’s expensive, yeah, but if you spend enough time on the bike you get your money’s worth. And if you keep an eye on the sale then you can get it for a decent price. (Got a winter baselayer on the way – £40 for a merino baselayer isn’t too bad in my book.)

To be honest, my biggest problem with Rapha is other people. There’s a lot of people who have a real issue with it. It’s so tied up with the whole Mamil, city-wanker thing that I feel really self-conscious wearing it.

Twice I’ve got snide comments from total strangers about wearing something by Rapha. (Both on the Dunwich Dynamo, as it goes.) No doubt that says more about them than me, but I wasn’t in the mood for getting grief from a random guy at five in the morning…

I still wear it – it’s too nice not to – but I wear it in spite of the fact it’s from Rapha, rather than because it’s from them. If I could buy a totally unbranded version then I reckon I’d own more of their kit than I do at the moment.

Ugh. I cannot get my head around people’s seemingly uncontrollable need to pass judgement on others’ kit, bike etc. These cretins are everywhere. https://patatechasseur.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/the-snobbery-complex/%5B/quote%5D

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.

Softshell jacket – best
Softshell jacket – best softshell I’ve ever owned 🙂

My kit is mostly a mix of
My kit is mostly a mix of Aldi and vintage Flemish club jerseys off eBay, although I do have a Gabba jacket which is the best £100+ I’ve spent on bike clothing.

However, the regular mentions of Rapha have piqued my curiosity, so if I was to buy one Rapha item what should it be?

I don’t like Rapha or DhB.
My
I don’t like Rapha or DhB.

My favourite stuff was Campag, unfortunately it’s no more.

notfastenough wrote:Wow, I’ve

notfastenough wrote:

Wow, I’ve not had anything like that. I don’t even know how I would respond. What was said and how did you answer?

The first time was at the Dynamo a few years ago. I’d taken along a musette that I’d got with a Rapha jersey – It’s just handy, because you can fill it with food and then just stick it in your jersey pocket when you’ve eaten everything.

We were hanging about outside the food stop, and a few guys were making general piss-taking comments about Rapha behind us. Thought it was just a coincidence until they started on Rapha musettes. It wasn’t malicious and, in fairness, they were pretty entertaining – I’d probably have laughed if I wasn’t the target. Totally ignored it.

The second time was at last year’s Dynamo. Was at one of the food stops that spring up after dawn. There was someone a few people ahead of me at the queue in a Rapha jersey, and another guy wandered through and said something like “Nice jersey – usually Rapha make shit clothes for wankers” to him, then nodded at me and added “No offense mate, but you know it’s true”. That was just a dick being a dick for the sake of it. I really don’t get the point of it.

Anyway, what can you say? I think I just said something like “Thanks for the fashion tip” and carried on queing for my bacon sarnie.

notfastenough wrote:

Interestingly, my most expensive item of cycling clothing isn’t my Rapha stuff; it’s from Castelli, but no-one ever reports snide comments for wearing that…

Heh. I was going to say exactly the same thing in my first post, but thought I’d probably waffled on long enough.

It doesn’t stop me from wearing Rapha – I reckon that I’ve got more use out of my gillet than I’ve got out of any other item of cycle clothing I’ve got, and my merino hat was my winter essential until my girlfriend “adopted” it. (That’s girlfriend for “steal”, obviously.) On offer for £15 at the moment, so I might give up all hope of getting it back and just buy another one.

It rather depends how much
It rather depends how much the money is worth to you, which is likely to depend on how well off you are and what other financial commitments you have. Without knowing that it’s impossible to say whether it’s worth the money.

CasperCCC wrote:I’ve got a

CasperCCC wrote:

I’ve got a fair few bits of kit from Rapha, and it’s all great. Comfortable, lasts well, and works well. It’s expensive, yeah, but if you spend enough time on the bike you get your money’s worth. And if you keep an eye on the sale then you can get it for a decent price. (Got a winter baselayer on the way – £40 for a merino baselayer isn’t too bad in my book.)

To be honest, my biggest problem with Rapha is other people. There’s a lot of people who have a real issue with it. It’s so tied up with the whole Mamil, city-wanker thing that I feel really self-conscious wearing it.

Twice I’ve got snide comments from total strangers about wearing something by Rapha. (Both on the Dunwich Dynamo, as it goes.) No doubt that says more about them than me, but I wasn’t in the mood for getting grief from a random guy at five in the morning…

I still wear it – it’s too nice not to – but I wear it in spite of the fact it’s from Rapha, rather than because it’s from them. If I could buy a totally unbranded version then I reckon I’d own more of their kit than I do at the moment.

Wow, I’ve not had anything like that. I don’t even know how I would respond. What was said and how did you answer?

Interestingly, my most expensive item of cycling clothing isn’t my Rapha stuff; it’s from Castelli, but no-one ever reports snide comments for wearing that…