Have Rapha finally disappeared up their own @rse?

245678

Comments

  • Mccaria
    Mccaria Posts: 869
    "Dressed from head to toe in Assos, it was time to ride........"
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,511
    Finesilver24 wrote:
    After a 10 year 'nonce stretch' in Pentonville, I knew my first 'ride' on the outside needed to be epic. What better than a day out in London, mincing around in my new hugely overpriced Rapha CC kit and DIY jailbird tattoos? Never has the expression 'ride it like you stole it' been so apt, while the rozzers chased me around Richmond Park on the Scott Addict I'd just nicked from LMNH, I claimed a KOM and I was then able to hide from the filth in the RCC London Clubhouse till the heat died down. What a perfect day.

    100 words exactly.

    You win.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    pinarello001 wrote:
    Finesilver24 wrote:
    After a 10 year 'nonce stretch' in Pentonville, I knew my first 'ride' on the outside needed to be epic. What better than a day out in London, mincing around in my new hugely overpriced Rapha CC kit and DIY jailbird tattoos? Never has the expression 'ride it like you stole it' been so apt, while the rozzers chased me around Richmond Park on the Scott Addict I'd just nicked from LMNH, I claimed a KOM and I was then able to hide from the filth in the RCC London Clubhouse till the heat died down. What a perfect day.

    100 words exactly.

    You win.

    Would have been a 'perfect 10' if he'd included a mention of the free coffee. I can only give it a 9.9...
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Finesilver24 wrote:
    After a 10 year 'nonce stretch' in Pentonville, I knew my first 'ride' on the outside needed to be epic. What better than a day out in London, mincing around in my new hugely overpriced Rapha CC kit and DIY jailbird tattoos? Never has the expression 'ride it like you stole it' been so apt, while the rozzers chased me around Richmond Park on the Scott Addict I'd just nicked from LMNH, I claimed a KOM and I was then able to hide from the filth in the RCC London Clubhouse till the heat died down. What a perfect day.

    100 words exactly.

    How you doing GM? :lol:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • mm1
    mm1 Posts: 1,063
    Like Marie Antoinette playing at being a milkmaid, there is nothing authentic about Rapha.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    mm1 wrote:
    Like Marie Antoinette playing at being a milkmaid, there is nothing authentic about Rapha.

    Say some more. I'm not sure I understand the comment. Which bike clothing company is authentic: Assos, Castelli, Endura, Aldi?
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    edited January 2015
    meanredspider wrote:
    mm1 wrote:
    Like Marie Antoinette playing at being a milkmaid, there is nothing authentic about Rapha.

    Say some more. I'm not sure I understand the comment. Which company is authentic: Assos, Castelli, Endura, Aldi?
    FTFY.
    Almost all companies are businesses out to make profit.

    Edit:- Thanks MRS. :wink:
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    PBlakeney wrote:
    FTFY.
    All companies are businesses out to make profit.

    Except the not-for-profit ones :wink:

    But, yes - it was actually the word "authentic" I was interested in. Something that isn't authentic is "fake" (or somehow dishonest). I don't really see how this applies to Rapha any more or less than any other (bike clothing) company. Their founder and CEO is a keen bike rider and sponsors bike teams. They're British too.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    I think everyone is being very unfair to Rapha. Has everyone forgotten that they actually invented cycling..???
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    Imposter wrote:
    I think everyone is being very unfair to Rapha. Has everyone forgotten that they actually invented cycling..???
    No.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • mm1
    mm1 Posts: 1,063
    meanredspider wrote:
    mm1 wrote:
    Like Marie Antoinette playing at being a milkmaid, there is nothing authentic about Rapha.

    Say some more. I'm not sure I understand the comment. Which bike clothing company is authentic: Assos, Castelli, Endura, Aldi?

    Not the kit, which like everyone else's is overgrown underwear and romper suites, but the hard man forcats de la route, grainy monochrome marketing shtick.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,495
    mm1 wrote:
    meanredspider wrote:
    mm1 wrote:
    Like Marie Antoinette playing at being a milkmaid, there is nothing authentic about Rapha.

    Say some more. I'm not sure I understand the comment. Which bike clothing company is authentic: Assos, Castelli, Endura, Aldi?

    Not the kit, which like everyone else's is overgrown underwear and romper suites, but the hard man forcats de la route, grainy monochrome marketing shtick.
    But they actually do the routes, in the bad weather, so it is authentic.
    Your point is that you don't like it. Which is fair enough.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    mm1 wrote:
    meanredspider wrote:
    mm1 wrote:
    Like Marie Antoinette playing at being a milkmaid, there is nothing authentic about Rapha.

    Say some more. I'm not sure I understand the comment. Which bike clothing company is authentic: Assos, Castelli, Endura, Aldi?

    Not the kit, which like everyone else's is overgrown underwear and romper suites, but the hard man forcats de la route, grainy monochrome marketing shtick.

    That's just marketing though. I love their "production values" (just heard that on the radio :wink: ) - some great images. But take it with a pinch of salt or just ignore it. All (sports) companies do it.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • feltkuota
    feltkuota Posts: 333
    Jeez oh. All I see here is a load of whining.. If you don't like the brand then don't buy it. If you don't want to join the RCC then don't. Why the need to slag it off? I joined and am happy to have done so. If that makes me a bell end to some of you here frankly that's more your problem than mine. I'm happy with my lot whilst there is a number here that seem less content...
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I've been to the rapha cafe in london. Seemed nice enough but the best cycling cafés are in some far flung locations out of the way where you need to stop to get enough food in to get back home. Somehow on a high street in London isn't quite the same.

    Maybe they should have a cafe on Box Hill ? That's if the high altitude would allow cafés to be built up there. ;-)
  • RDW
    RDW Posts: 1,900
    feltkuota wrote:
    I joined and am happy to have done so. If that makes me a bell end to some of you here frankly that's more your problem than mine.

    Speaking as a Member, I wonder if you could answer the burning question - exactly how much free coffee do you get? I was in the London shop, sorry clubhouse, the other day and the espresso in the cafe was, to be fair, excellent.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    It's good to have a wide variety of cycling clothing available for people to use. My wife saw the Rapha site and asked if they were focusing on the "pink pound" :o

    She also prefers mountain biking and thinks grown men in bib tights are hilarious :shock:
  • feltkuota
    feltkuota Posts: 333
    RDW wrote:
    feltkuota wrote:
    I joined and am happy to have done so. If that makes me a bell end to some of you here frankly that's more your problem than mine.

    Speaking as a Member, I wonder if you could answer the burning question - exactly how much free coffee do you get? I was in the London shop, sorry clubhouse, the other day and the espresso in the cafe was, to be fair, excellent.


    Don't know the answer to that one. I like the kit though..
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Fire up some pics of the kit!

    I was going to join after being accepted (it would have been 150 quid with my club discount) but bailed. I'm still getting 'please join' emails so they can't have maxed membership yet.
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    Fire up some pics of the kit!

    I was going to join after being accepted (it would have been 150 quid with my club discount) but bailed. I'm still getting 'please join' emails so they can't have maxed membership yet.

    Just emails? No fancy letter?
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Imposter wrote:
    I think everyone is being very unfair to Rapha. Has everyone forgotten that they actually invented cycling..???
    No.

    Cycling was invented in 2004 :shock:

    (Rapha started in 2004, named themselves after the 1960's cycling team)
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    SloppySchleckonds wrote:
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    Fire up some pics of the kit!

    I was going to join after being accepted (it would have been 150 quid with my club discount) but bailed. I'm still getting 'please join' emails so they can't have maxed membership yet.

    Just emails? No fancy letter?

    My invite arrived on a papyrus scroll made from trees recently felled from the Tourmalet approaches, bound in a red silk ribbon, sealed with an artisan-made wax seal and delivered by a short-toed eagle from the slopes of Mont Ventoux. Suprised everyone's didn't arrive like that...
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    team47b wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Imposter wrote:
    I think everyone is being very unfair to Rapha. Has everyone forgotten that they actually invented cycling..???
    No.

    Cycling was invented in 2004 :shock:

    (Rapha started in 2004, named themselves after the 1960's cycling team)

    Ha ha - good try. I think you'll find that Rapha invented it.
  • johngti
    johngti Posts: 2,508
    arran77 wrote:
    £200 a year just to get 'free' coffee :shock:

    Having been to the soho cafe once, your £200 will get you a couple of coffees and maybe a cake so long as you don't go for anything too big...
  • RDW
    RDW Posts: 1,900
    johngti wrote:
    arran77 wrote:
    £200 a year just to get 'free' coffee :shock:

    Having been to the soho cafe once, your £200 will get you a couple of coffees and maybe a cake so long as you don't go for anything too big...

    To be fair (again), that also applies to every other place serving drinkable coffee in the area*.

    * Except the Algerian Coffee Stores, and you can't sit down there.
  • TheHound
    TheHound Posts: 284
    feltkuota wrote:
    Jeez oh. All I see here is a load of whining.. If you don't like the brand then don't buy it. If you don't want to join the RCC then don't. Why the need to slag it off? I joined and am happy to have done so. If that makes me a bell end to some of you here frankly that's more your problem than mine. I'm happy with my lot whilst there is a number here that seem less content...

    This is a public forum where people are free to express their opinions. If you don't like it, best turn off your tinternet.

    As to Rapha not being authentic, I would tend to agree. It always seems that they're trying to con people into thinking they have some great Euro heritage, when they have nothing of the sort. That kind of bugs me.

    Having said that, some of their stuff looks really nice.
    Bianchi Intenso Athena
    Handbuilt Wheels by dcrwheels.co.uk
    Fizik Cyrano R3 Handlebars
    Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio Flow saddle
    Deda Superleggero seatpost
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    TheHound wrote:
    It always seems that they're trying to con people into thinking they have some great Euro heritage,

    I never got that sense at all - but then I know they're only a relatively new company. I appreciate that they're trying to make cycling & commuting cool (as perceived by a certain segment of the market) and that's fine with me. When I commuted in the Highlands, I'd never have dreamt of wearing Rapha, funnily enough, as it had too much of an "urban" image and, even today, you hardly ever seen it worn up there (Assos is still king of the heap). Rapha certainly draw on cycling heritage but that's cool too. The great thing about cycling is that it's still very accessible and inclusive - some of today's great riders came from pretty humble beginnings.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • Yellow Peril
    Yellow Peril Posts: 4,466
    edited January 2015
    meanredspider wrote:
    TheHound wrote:
    It always seems that they're trying to con people into thinking they have some great Euro heritage,

    I never got that sense at all - but then I know they're only a relatively new company. I appreciate that they're trying to make cycling & commuting cool (as perceived by a certain segment of the market) and that's fine with me. When I commuted in the Highlands, I'd never have dreamt of wearing Rapha, funnily enough, as it had too much of an "urban" image and, even today, you hardly ever seen it worn up there (Assos is still king of the heap). Rapha certainly draw on cycling heritage but that's cool too. The great thing about cycling is that it's still very accessible and inclusive - some of today's great riders came from pretty humble beginnings.

    But this is exactly my concern with this "club"

    But in a style more befitting an exclusive golf club than the traditionally egalitarian spirit of cycling, those applying for membership are warned: “In order to maintain the very highest levels of service, membership is limited. We regret that not all applications will be successful.”

    I don't think that is in the spirit of cycling
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 15,996
    Not applying for membership so couldn't give a wotsit.
  • mm1
    mm1 Posts: 1,063
    meanredspider wrote:
    TheHound wrote:
    It always seems that they're trying to con people into thinking they have some great Euro heritage,
    The great thing about cycling is that it's still very accessible and inclusive - some of today's great riders came from pretty humble beginnings.

    Always have. Garin was a chimney sweep, Bobet was a "Plouc" (bumpkin), Coppi a butcher's delivery boy...could go on. My (working class) Italian Dad always said that cyclists are poor boys and footballers (for example) are posh by comparison. Rapha endlessly quotes the proletetian heritage of the sport but has nothing to do with it in reality. Smart marketing, yes and some of the kit is ok (I even own some), but not as special as it's cracked up to be.

Categories