Rapha to supply Team Sky's kit for next four years

OMG I just saw a fat (ish) middle aged man riding a carbon bike near Richmond Park in what looked like a black jersey with a solo white stripe on the arm. Don't worry though folks he got done by a bin lorry turning left. Must have upset the cycle gods, that'll learn him won't it.

So, let me get this straight, If I want to wear a bunch of adverts whilst cycling I have to pay someone a large amount of money! No thanks, that's the wrong way round.

Be interested to see how Rapha proceed with this deal. I'm sure they will be more likely to meet Sky's needs than Adidas if football teams can't get bespoke shirts why would a cycling team? Sure Adidas will do R&D but I bet they don't allow Sky as much power as Rapha will.

As for the Rapha haters, I bought a jacket in the sale and it was delivered to work. I explained to a mate the stigma of Rapha (as displayed above), he was amazed and asked me "why the F@ck" another cyclist would care what I was wearing. Genuinely shocked him the people would have any opinion other than "not for me". Don't get it in any other sport he said, hard to argue against him.

Overpriced? Easy answer, don't buy it. Save your money for that carbon frame or third bike you want. Chances are though, you've already spent a ton of money on something else, hope you like it as much as I like my Rapha jacket.

The Team JVA guys have just been handed some fresh material...

http://internationale.teamjva.com/

Just seen Rapha prices have gone up ... I bought 3 merino base layers last week as a 110quid bundle (usually 55 each). this week 140 quid bundle and 60quid each.
Other items I was looking at have also gone up 20 or 30 quid.

i'll stick to my assos

mmmmm is that a skyhike?

Can you imagine how happy the riders are? Not only are they getting what could be a really nice race kit but also quality off the bike stuff! And I'll be at the tour when they are handing out freebies I'm not a great fan of SKY kit as I'm not a fat middle aged man that rides sportives as races, so buy this kit and beware! If you are in the Alpes around the time of the TDF, I WILL find you and I WILL come flying past you as fast as I can in my un-matching mix of hand-me-downs and eBay-bought kit. You have been warned

Hasn't Cav's best bud Paul Smith collaborated with Rapha a few times over the years? Could be something he's involved with and would bring some colour in to the equation!

Sorry, I couldn't help it:

(apologies for the shonky photoshopping)

Very true. I recently saw a fat bloke in a polka dot jersey which might have been pushing it slightly though!

Will have to be some pink on the jersey!

Pleased to see a British company involved. Both Sky and Rapha appear well managed so I reckon they have both done there sums. A bit pricy for me probably but good luck to all concerned.

Hope RCS is not a casualty though.

Their is no way I'd buy a Sky Team jersey - now it'll be in the same bracket as Assos gear. What's the difference between a £20 jersey & one that costs £65 ??? or more..

The only situation is fit and that is spurious !

Apart from the obvious price hike. What about all the tech that Adidas had put into the design of the kit, thats not going to be past over.

The other thing, Yes a British team in British supplier kit. But Rapha don't supply to the like's of Wiggle or Evans. So their prices will be even higher than before because they can use the "official kit supplier of Team Sky" on their tags and labels now

I wouldn't be seen dead in a Team Sky item and my feeling about Rapha are worse than that. Good luck to them. But its going to price Sky's fans to other team kit or make the Chinese "replica" market even better

As for JTL to Sky......doubtful

Wearing Rapha and riding Pinarello, hmmm....does that mean they will only train in Richmond Park now?

Sorry, I jest slightly

Eh,I thought £16 for the Adidas made Sky race cap was a bit much, so I doubt I'm the target market.

Are Rapha still sponsoring the Condor-Sharp team in 2013, or does this deal impact that?

A couple of points...

This might come as a shock to some but...Adidas isn’t made in Germany. So please don’t bring out the very tired ‘Rapha’s made in China’ cr4p. And while Rapha aren’t designing super high tech skinsuits (yet) the Pro Team jersey and bibs are very much in the league of the kit that Sky currently wear from Adidas. I’ve got a friend who has actual team issue, not off the back of a lorry second rate repro Sky kit and the Rapha Pro Team stuff is much nicer.

I’m a big Rapha fan and a big Sky fan so the two getting together is fine by me.

I look forward to seeing Wiggo and Froomedog grimacing in moody black and white while being Epic™.

I must admit that when Sky launched I was hoping that Rapha would be kit supplier (at the time I was a massive Rapha fan, bit more grounded these days). But since Sky has been in existence and you see the technical kit that Adidas have supplied I did come to realise that Rapha would not have been able to supply the same level of technical expertise.

I'm not talking about nice Sportwool replica kit for us mortals. I'm talking the highly technical garments that Sky sport. TdF skin suits for example. No offense to Rapha Condor but they aren't in the same league.

Obviously Dave B knows what he is doing. I am just surprised that Rapha are seen as being able to meet the technical challenges of Sky.

Unless of course the technology and manufacturing know how comes from Sky/Team GB and Rapha is "just" the brand?

Good luck to them, even though I have reservations about Rapha's elitism they are successful.

It will be interesting to see how Rapha copes with the demand as their stock levels at the start of a season are often very poor.

Also while I'm supportive of British business I don't think Rapha manufacture anything on these shores which wouldn't be so hard to stomach if they weren't charging such as high price and trading heavily on the British image. Before anyone says you can't produce stuff like this in the UK (as Rapha say) I'd point to Shutt whose shorts I own include a made in GB sticker and also for high end merino, John Smedley produce in the UK for a similar price tag and design standard (not bike stuff admittedly but I think the comparison stands).

Great for everybody involved! My only concern would be that if Rapha grows in popularity are they going to improve their stocking levels? A few times they've run out of things when I ve come round to wanting to place an order this year!

Quote:

This is great news for the Brits, its just a shame that most folk wont be able to afford the jerseys. Its £130 just for a standard jersey with Rapha, even if they price them round the £100 mark thats still a lot for a team jersey when they bring out a new one each year.

I take it you haven't seen the price of the Adidas replica kit?! That's not exactly "cheap"...

Whether or not you like Rapha, they're a fantastic brand in that they've always supported and put back into the sport - the Rapha-Condor-Sharp team, sponsoring events, having their coffee van at races. Hats off to them for a brilliant marketing job really well done (in that almost every other new/start-up clothing company basically tries to copy them).

Typical, had to expect negative comments on this.

It's a British team in British clothing. No-one goes on about Castelli or Assos being expensive.

As for the company itself, I don't see Adidas as a big cycle clothing supplier. Apart from the replica team kit, what other ranges are there? (Or, at least, which you see out and about?) I think Adidas have been in this more for the brand awareness and association with a successful high profile venture.

Yes the replica team kit will be expensive, but as we all know, pro kit isn't really a big seller to non-pros anyway, because unlike fans of other sports most of us don't tend to wear jerseys we haven't earned. The rider-designed Sky t-shirts on Wiggle have already hinted at the penny dropping - I would be more likely to buy a casual t-shirt that showed support for a team, than a replica jersey, and Rapha's press release text mentions off-bike fan-wear.

I think this is good news. With post-Wiggo press-exposure, a British clothing brand is about to go mainstream.

Maybe we'll get some decent national kit now too? The current Sky GB kit looks like some horrendous hangover from the 80's. So many other countries national kits are so much more stylish than ours.

This is great news for the Brits, its just a shame that most folk wont be able to afford the jerseys. Its £130 just for a standard jersey with Rapha, even if they price them round the £100 mark thats still a lot for a team jersey when they bring out a new one each year.
Its great to see fans lining the roads in their fave teams kits, and the sky one you could spot on tv especially if they have the ltd edition rainforest one on.
I hope they do something for the everyday fan so that we continue to see lots of team sky jerseys at the sides of the roads supporting the team.