It's ironic that the rapha condor team kit isn't made by Rapha

^^^^have you been drinking madam?

So let me get this straight, you've never seen a messenger wear anything made by Rapha? Not even... a hat?

Isn't it? Rapha sell it on their website and I just assumed that they made it.

didn't really think about the hats but then i don't own or wear one and i don't admire/covet them either as i always wear a lid with a buff underneath.

lots of team stuff is often not as it seems frames/wheels/tyres/components are often substituted for what the riders prefer then rebadged to keep the sponsors happy.

mr smith styling his lid and 'buff underneath'

If i was a were a girl I would instantly find any man dressed in Rapha gear more attractive than an man not dressed in Rapha gear. And that is what is really important.

hehe

does this go for all girls? or just ones that think like Tommy?

I don't know if I want to know the answer to this.

lets leave it at the rhetorical stage

my backside is more sylph like. i don't ride with a bit of bog roll stuck to the back of the saddle either

i like the rapha stuff for the high merino content - i sweat alot, and it doesn't smell. brilliant. all other cycling gear does. so i buy rapha.

saucy mr T

Hmmm.

I love the look of the stuff but I've got a mortgage to pay and an 18 month old. Looking at Rapha's Design Council article, I guess that I'm not in their socio-economic target group, oh well... Realistically I need two sets of gear to cycle to work, one on and one in the wash. What I'd like is something styled like Rapha but cheaper - Euro day-glo lycra isn't my first choice either...

i really need a blue skinsuit with a cock hole like that

i've seen at least a couple of messengers with Rapha caps around...

i got no problem with rapha, if i could afford i would buy. maybe some real essentials like socks or baselayers would be nice... :/

"...maybe some real essentials like socks or baselayers would be nice... :/"

^socks will do and maybe wait for rapha shoes

I think the majority of people are in the same boat. I'd love to buy some Rapha socks and baselayers if I was able to easily afford them but because I'm a student I've not really got much money going spare. Once I'm on working full time, hopefully as a doctor if I get accepted to study medicine, then I'm sure I'll be buying some Rapha gear. That is unless I buy a house quickly after starting work in which case I'll maybe not have so much cash lying around.

I saw a guy in his forties or fifties drop about 400 quid on rapha clothing in alternate black and white colours in Condor. Kinda put me off it a bit, felt a bit like he was buying an image.

That said, I had been coveting the softshell jacket a month previously. Nice South African guy in Condor talked me out of it and sold me an Etxe Ondo top that was less than half the price and is very nice indeed. Quite like the fixed shorts, but don't like how much they cost.

I have no real point to this. Am a bit ambivalent about Rapha, basically.

who gives a shit about rapha?

2 pages of round and round discussion sez that we do.

Or don't.

Or somewhere in between.

Sink.

"felt a bit like he was buying an image"

deep v's
risers
drops
NJS
mercian
condor
surly
nitto
brooks
sidi
chrome
campag
oury
hatta
phil wood
......
etc....
...





i think there will be another rapha thread in about 3-4 months

He must be fast if he got through Oldham wearing that kind of clobber. It's a bit camp isn't it?

it looks nice, but can i afford it?
can i fuck!

I reckon I know a guy who fits this description, a friend's dad.
He invited me out on a ride with his cycle club, and it was hilarious.

I wish I could afford decent quality cycling-specific clothing, I have no idea what rapha's quality is, bt at the moment I'm stuck with running gear, and some old blue board shorts.

so, not being english and not owning a single item of rapha gear, can someone tell me how it compares to, say, pearl izumi or assos stuff in terms of quality etc etc?

at some stage i'm going run out of my current bike kit, no doubt.

Friday and Saturday, Velorution is hosting a sample sale of Nalini <http://www.nalini.com/> clothing. Lots of decent jerseys for £20-30, some with nice flowery patterns. No cream cheese logos.

Beats Pearl Izumi stuff. The merino is lovely, it feels and looks OK so you don't feel like a prick if you wander too far from your bike (pop into a restaurant).

Assos stuff beats Rapha for quality and feel. But that starts to look a little alien, so if you are going to go for a meal mid-ride... well you'll look a little more daft than you would wearing Rapha.

If riding is your thing, buy Assos. If you're going to stop and speak to people and don't want to look too lycra'd up... buy Rapha. If you can afford neither, deal with it however you can, jeans or Pearl Izumi or whatever.

cheers.

well, my other bib is an assos aka the upper-income-bracker-cycling-shorts
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=nvCo1jDcBIg

unless you're wearing a tiger skin print lycra body suit with a cock hole, I can't see how Rapha gear, with it's pink and white stripes, makes you look any less daft than wearing ordinary cycling clothing really.

I can't help thinking of Bassets liquorice allsorts when I see someone decked out in the whole rapha bundle.

apologies to the immaculately turned out rapha advert that cycles down garret lane every day, me and my mate shouted things like "fakenger" and "condorman" at you from an upper storey window a few months back. How do you manage a London commute without collecting a spec of dirt?