Paul Smith Cycling Apparel

LeighM

High-end price, like Assos and Rapha.

Paul Smith Cycling Apparel

navrig2

At those prices I sincerely hope he doesn't sell much and crawls back into the pretentious hole of fashion.

Bozman

I like my Paul Smith stuff but sod that, blimey.
The bloke loves his cycling though.

flasher

My Rapha kit now looks like a bargain

Bordersroadie

The millionaire hipster market, now there's a niche. . .

type:epyt

For those prices you can buy Rapha AND some Paul Smith everyday threads to wear off the bike.

As posted a few above, I'm partial to the odd bit of Paul Smith stuff but not even a 50% off sale would tempt me.

Philly8mt

Paul Smith windproof Gilet £350.00 !?!?!??
Castelli Gabba Vest £90.00 - £100.00

Somebody is having a massive giggle surely.

I've owned the odd bit of Paul Smith but never been that impressed by the quality/durability tbh ... He can keep it!!

MountainMonster

That is just ridiculous. Blatently that price simply because he says 'Well, it's me".

philbar72

Looks bland, vastly overpriced and just a massive disappointment really. He's (or rather his design team have)completely dropped the ball on this one.

nibby

Well I suppose those riding around in kit like that wont be posting any
"what bike should I buy for under £500" threads

Philby

Ridiculous prices, and not particularly attractive designs IMO. Also the '531' brand is pretty lame and fairly meaningless. I will stick with Shutt VR who have great designs IMO.

jordan_217

Pretty poor designs and colour schemes for PS. I like PS stuff but I think another collaboration with Rapha, on a Winter range would have been more successful. I think Vulpine have done a better job of the hipster/city/casual thing.

I'm sure it's lovely to wear and will no doubt feel quality in your hands but the orange jersey, gilet and hoodie looks like early Lusso or, dare I say it…Aldi. The jackets don't look different enough from Rapha.

Good luck to you if you have the cash to afford it. It's probs a nice little earner for David Millar.

bendertherobot

Philby wrote:

Ridiculous prices, and not particularly attractive designs IMO. Also the '531' brand is pretty lame and fairly meaningless. I will stick with Shutt VR who have great designs IMO.

Meaningless? I was wondering whether he'd sought Reynolds permission.

jordan_217

bendertherobot wrote:

Philby wrote:

Ridiculous prices, and not particularly attractive designs IMO. Also the '531' brand is pretty lame and fairly meaningless. I will stick with Shutt VR who have great designs IMO.

Meaningless? I was wondering whether he'd sought Reynolds permission.

I thought it was Reynolds related too but apparently not:

"British cyclist and Paul Smith collaborator David Millar stars in our launch film, setting the pace as the leading group is whittled down from 5, to 3, to 1."

Joeblack

philbar72 wrote:

Looks bland, vastly overpriced and just a massive disappointment really. He's (or rather his design team have)completely dropped the ball on this one.

This is exactly what I think about this and every rapha collection as well, when compared to castelli this kind of over hyped over priced, buy it because we're cool sh1t doesn't cut it,

To me it's for old men who ride titanium bikes really slowly :roll:

jordan_217

jordan_217 wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Philby wrote:

Ridiculous prices, and not particularly attractive designs IMO. Also the '531' brand is pretty lame and fairly meaningless. I will stick with Shutt VR who have great designs IMO.

Meaningless? I was wondering whether he'd sought Reynolds permission.

I thought it was Reynolds related too but apparently not:

"British cyclist and Paul Smith collaborator David Millar stars in our launch film, setting the pace as the leading group is whittled down from 5, to 3, to 1."

Actually, I'm talking boll0cks. It is indeed Reynolds related:

"Bringing together Paul Smith's passion for cycling and the latest developments in technical fabrications, the 11 piece collection features lightweight jackets, merino jerseys and an all-black racing bike designed for city cycling.

Named after the famous Reynolds lightweight bike tubing used by Tour de France champions, Paul Smith 531 refers to the ratio of manganese (5), molybdenum (3) and carbon (1) in the steel alloy. A limited edition bicycle, built in collaboration with Mercian Cycles, a British bespoke bicycle retailer, forms the centrepiece of Paul Smith 531"

bendertherobot

Frankly, dahlings, I'd not wear any range with anything less than 953 on it.

mrushton

Remember the phrase 'nobody got rich underestimating the public' and you won't go wrong. Not really any different to firms like Jaguar branding a £5.99 sports bag and charging £59.99. Someone will buy the PS kit and no doubt will be in Regents Park or on Box Hill displaying it. Assos at least are a cycle clothing company and were pursuing tech fabrics/tailoring etc a long time ago

hopak

mrushton wrote:

Remember the phrase 'nobody got rich underestimating the public' and you won't go wrong. Not really any different to firms like Jaguar branding a £5.99 sports bag and charging £59.99. Someone will buy the PS kit and no doubt will be in Regents Park or on Box Hill displaying it. Assos at least are a cycle clothing company and were pursuing tech fabrics/tailoring etc a long time ago

Remember also Gerald Ratner's view that his stores sold "total crap".
Make that "overpriced crap" and it just about sums up the PS range.

thegreatdivide

Joeblack wrote:

This is exactly what I think about this and every rapha collection as well, when compared to castelli this kind of over hyped over priced, buy it because we're cool sh1t doesn't cut it,

To me it's for old men who ride titanium bikes really slowly :roll:

You should try frying that massive chip. It could probably feed quite a few families.

lakesluddite

I long since realised that some brands were not meant for me and my pocket - this is just another to file in that large category!

All high end and designer stuff is overpriced, but someone will buy it, as long as there are people that can afford it.

ugo.santalucia

I am not sure why people moan about expensive cycling apparel. There is plenty of cheap stuff starting from Aldi, up to DHB, up to mid range etc... so I don't see why you have to frown at the "top end" of the market. You might have noticed there are folks with money out there...

As a matter of fact, you are probably wasting your money upgrading bits on your bike, but you are hardly ever wasting money buying quality clothing. My luxurious Assos jacket has kept me warm for 4 winters so far, thing that previous cheaper stuff form the likes of Aldi (or was it Lidl?) and Inverse failed to do...

LegendLust

philbar72 wrote:

Looks bland, vastly overpriced and just a massive disappointment really. He's (or rather his design team have)completely dropped the ball on this one.

I agree

mrushton

I think he's well balanced. A chip on each shoulder

Joeblack

I have no chips, I just don't see the need to go to that extra level when looking at cycling clothes, take the new alpha Jersey and jacket (of which I have both) they are excellent quality and do the job just as well as anything else at a lower price point than this PS stuff.

Don't get me wrong I rate Payl Smith, I live in nottingham (where he started) and have many of his clothes and shoes for off the bike, I just see sports clothes as being functional and if rather the money went into the tech side of clothing like the gabba than into styling tbh.

Ps - the titanium bike comment was a bit harsh and a bit tongue in cheek, I'd love a Ti bike some day

CHRISNOIR

LegendLust wrote:

philbar72 wrote:

Looks bland, vastly overpriced and just a massive disappointment really. He's (or rather his design team have) completely dropped the ball on this one.

I agree

Me too. That was my first thought - bit dull, really. Which is a shame as I rate Paul Smith clothing quite highly.

cookeeemonster

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I am not sure why people moan about expensive cycling apparel. There is plenty of cheap stuff starting from Aldi, up to DHB, up to mid range etc... so I don't see why you have to frown at the "top end" of the market. You might have noticed there are folks with money out there...

As a matter of fact, you are probably wasting your money upgrading bits on your bike, but you are hardly ever wasting money buying quality clothing. My luxurious Assos jacket has kept me warm for 4 winters so far, thing that previous cheaper stuff form the likes of Aldi (or was it Lidl?) and Inverse failed to do...

+1000

pastryboy

It is quality clothing? Or is it made in the same Chinese factory as numerous brands costing a tenth of the price?

jscl

pastryboy wrote:

It is quality clothing? Or is it made in the same Chinese factory as numerous brands costing a tenth of the price?

Was given one of the water resistant jackets and a merino hoodie. It definitely has a very Rapha-esque feel to the gear and I would recommend it, it feels like really good quality stuff.

The truth is that all brands have stuff made in China, even Rapha. But I don't get why you view it as a negative thing. There's a reason for it and it's that they're a manufacturing power-house. Sure it'd be nice for the products we all buy and wear to be 'Made in Italy' or even better 'Made in the UK', but very few of them are.

It's expensive gear, but it's beautiful. If I could afford to, I'd go out and buy some other stuff out of the range. But I much prefer freebies!

navrig2

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I am not sure why people moan about expensive cycling apparel. There is plenty of cheap stuff starting from Aldi, up to DHB, up to mid range etc... so I don't see why you have to frown at the "top end" of the market. You might have noticed there are folks with money out there...

As a matter of fact, you are probably wasting your money upgrading bits on your bike, but you are hardly ever wasting money buying quality clothing. My luxurious Assos jacket has kept me warm for 4 winters so far, thing that previous cheaper stuff form the likes of Aldi (or was it Lidl?) and Inverse failed to do...

I suppose it is all a matter of degree. There are constant comments on here about the cost of Rapha and Assos stuff mostly tongue in cheek. Why tongue in cheek? I would guess probably because Rapha pricing is affordable many cyclists who chose not to buy at the price mark simply because there is no need to as equally serviceable and smart kit can be bought for less.

However, in my opinion, the PS is priced at a level where few people could justify buying not because other equivalents are cheaper (including Rapha) but because it is way over priced. If I saw someone wearing PS gear my first thought would be "gullible" I dont thing that when I see someone wearing Rapha/Assos.

I struggle to see how the design and materials can justify that level of price compared to other brands.

I guess there will be gullible people out there though!!

letap73

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I am not sure why people moan about expensive cycling apparel. There is plenty of cheap stuff starting from Aldi, up to DHB, up to mid range etc... so I don't see why you have to frown at the "top end" of the market. You might have noticed there are folks with money out there...

As a matter of fact, you are probably wasting your money upgrading bits on your bike, but you are hardly ever wasting money buying quality clothing. My luxurious Assos jacket has kept me warm for 4 winters so far, thing that previous cheaper stuff form the likes of Aldi (or was it Lidl?) and Inverse failed to do...

I would be prepared to pay a good amount of money for ASSOS kit because I can see it is designed to last and a lot of attention has been put into fit onto the bike - so much so that you see ASSOS man sometimes bent over to show the fit of bib tights and tops. When you pay for ASSOS you pay for the fit, R&D, the repair scheme and the quality of manufacture. The same to some extent can be levelled towards Rapha. However, with the Paul Smith brand, it appears that you are paying for his name and a significant price premium over ASSOS and Rapha.