Rapha Cycle Club

mrpbennett

Is anyone a member? What are your experiences?

I mean it's £135 a year and seems to come with some good benefits. I live in Blackheath London, so looking for more people to ride with, certain clubs around the area have facebook pages and such, but they're not very active.

I love Rapha it's the best cycling kit I have worn, so looking at their club for getting out more and the benefits.

fenix

Surely the benefits of a local club is that they're handy to you - so you don't have to ride half way across town before starting the ride ?

Rapha will be far more spread out I'd guess.

I suspect that there's a lot of more informal club rides going on too - just not published on FB - groups of riders heading out as and when. I'd check out the local clubs first.

shirley_basso

If you use the free coffee it more than pays for itself.

While it's easy to be very snobby about it because of the cost, image etc, apparently it's a really friendly club.

mrpbennett

Fenix wrote:

I suspect that there's a lot of more informal club rides going on too - just not published on FB - groups of riders heading out as and when. I'd check out the local clubs first.

I have checked a few clubs around there seems to be one in Dalston. It's just a matter of finding them online, i have scanned through the british cycling site. I like the idea of the rapha club, and i have seen members in RCC kit ride past the flat. Just dont know if its worth £135 a year

Shirley Basso wrote:

If you use the free coffee it more than pays for itself.

I was thinking that. I do like coffee and cake.

fenix

Strava Flybys can be quite good for working out who has just cycled past you. Obv you have to be recording at the time.

mrpbennett

Fenix wrote:

Strava Flybys can be quite good for working out who has just cycled past you. Obv you have to be recording at the time.

That's a brilliant idea i never thought of that! I always record when im riding so this is a awesome little trick...shame there is a not poke feature on strava ha poke... please be my friend.

shirley_basso

What about Dulwich Paragon?

Thigh_burn

mrpbennett wrote:

Fenix wrote:

Strava Flybys can be quite good for working out who has just cycled past you. Obv you have to be recording at the time.

That's a brilliant idea i never thought of that! I always record when im riding so this is a awesome little trick...shame there is a not poke feature on strava ha poke... please be my friend.

Following is the equivalent of poking.

Not a member of RCC, but it's always struck me that it would be particularly good if you travel a lot to the types of places they have other club houses. The idea of knowing you can get a decent bike and join a club ride without much fuss is pretty appealing.

londoncommuter

ppp

MiddleRinger

Shirley Basso wrote:

If you use the free coffee it more than pays for itself.

You get free coffee?!?! Like, all the time?!?!
If so, then if I lived near a Rapha cafe/clubhouse then I'd sign up just for that...

lakesluddite

If I lived anywhere near a club, I'd consider it, especially for the free brews! And £135 is steep, but it used to be £200 per year didn't it?

ayjaycee

I think it was Groucho Marx that said “I wouldn't want to belong to a club that would have me as a member”.

bendertherobot

Can someone order me a jersey?

mrpbennett

bendertherobot wrote:

Can someone order me a jersey?

Haha +1 to be honest I am pretty close to becoming a member.

philclubman

What is it you're looking for in club?

My thoughts on the ones local to you (I'm in Shooters Hill):

Greenwich Tritons - a triathlon club, obvs
Well established club with good training sessions. Saturday morning rides from the tea hut on Blackheath. Indoor turbo sessions at the rugby club - core sessions too. Not many riders on a Saturday morning and ability can be mixed and variable week to week.

Limited Edition Cyling
My wife was riding with them. Bit of an odd club. Do some good work with kids and disabled riders at one end of what they do. Mostly middle aged guys on their normal club run. Some slightly odd (sorry to say).

Sidcup Cycles
Again, some good charitable work. Not a racing club by any stretch, but very friendly (Any Sidcup CC racers, feel free to correct me).

Woolwich CC
Long time since I rode with them. They have some very strong riders (National Hill Climb qualifiers etc). Not sure if the racers organise their own training rides and if this is seperate to the club runs. Not sure your ability so this might suit.

Bigfoot CC
Huge club. All abilities with about 6 rides going out each Sunday - from hybrids through to 100k, 30kph+ rides. Good TT scene as far as I understand.

London Velo Cafe CC
My favourite club. Much younger crowd than the usual middle aged men (sorry to those of that age!). Great coffee and social scene. Lots of strong riders and race scene. Young crowd, good coffee, good riding, nice club kit. All what I want from a club. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LVCCC/

Can't think of any others in the area for now. Let me know any questions. Find me on Strava (Phil Jolly) if you want to connect and go for a ride.

aberdeenal

I got birthday gifted membership last year. There's an app, similar to Strava, which I keep forgetting to use and there's a good network for rides all over.

You get free gifts, free coffee from Rapha stores, access to the RCC clothing and previewing sale items before everyone else.

prhymeate

Foxgrove are another club over in Bromley. Never ridden with them but know someone who does and they're a friendly bunch. Nice kit too!

JakeJ

londoncommuter wrote:

Both great clubs near* you with club runs, racing etc


400 members, ride Saturdays, 7 levels:

http://bigfootcc.co.uk/


Over 100 members, ride Sundays (and a smaller early Saturday ride), 4 levels:

https://www.gsavanti.co.uk/


*not strictly near you but they're in-between you and Kent where you'll end up riding so they're in effect local.

If you want to spend £135 you can ride past my house on the way and I'll make you a coffee......

The bike fitter who works in Panagua (used to be bigfoot) rides from Blackheath everyday and doesn't seem to thinks it's very far.
EDIT: Just checked, it really isn't very far at only 7 miles! That's 20 minuets or less to a decent rider.

JakeJ

Prhymeate wrote:

Foxgrove are another club over in Bromley. Never ridden with them but know someone who does and they're a friendly bunch. Nice kit too!

That's me!! I'm with Foxgrove, who do you know from the club?

We're having a kit re-launch very soon, changing supplier but keeping the same design, can't wait!

mrpbennett

PhilClubman wrote:

What is it you're looking for in club?

My thoughts on the ones local to you (I'm in Shooters Hill):

Greenwich Tritons - a triathlon club, obvs
Well established club with good training sessions. Saturday morning rides from the tea hut on Blackheath. Indoor turbo sessions at the rugby club - core sessions too. Not many riders on a Saturday morning and ability can be mixed and variable week to week.

Limited Edition Cyling
My wife was riding with them. Bit of an odd club. Do some good work with kids and disabled riders at one end of what they do. Mostly middle aged guys on their normal club run. Some slightly odd (sorry to say).

Sidcup Cycles
Again, some good charitable work. Not a racing club by any stretch, but very friendly (Any Sidcup CC racers, feel free to correct me).

Woolwich CC
Long time since I rode with them. They have some very strong riders (National Hill Climb qualifiers etc). Not sure if the racers organise their own training rides and if this is seperate to the club runs. Not sure your ability so this might suit.

Bigfoot CC
Huge club. All abilities with about 6 rides going out each Sunday - from hybrids through to 100k, 30kph+ rides. Good TT scene as far as I understand.

London Velo Cafe CC
My favourite club. Much younger crowd than the usual middle aged men (sorry to those of that age!). Great coffee and social scene. Lots of strong riders and race scene. Young crowd, good coffee, good riding, nice club kit. All what I want from a club. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LVCCC/

Can't think of any others in the area for now. Let me know any questions. Find me on Strava (Phil Jolly) if you want to connect and go for a ride.

Generally looking for decent friendly people to ride with. As I generally ride solo but I’d like to eventually get into racing / crits. I use to live in farnborough so use to ride with the pedal heaven team or the tunnel hill trolls. (Dad is a member)

I always bump into Bigfoot they’re always hanging out at a certain cafe shop and Dulwich Paragon riders on my riders. I have looked at London Vélo Cafe as potential too.

I’m 33 with an avg or 16/17mph so looking for people to drag me out and get me stronger. Reason I like the Rapha club is the app where you can sort rides, rental, COFFEE and I love their clothing. But I kinda feel it may be abit hardcore?!?

I will take another look into London Vélo and Bigfoot though.

Orkneylad

Isn't RCC the epitome of nouveau-riche bike snob culture? A beacon for the 'sartorially anxious' who desire a shortcut to preconceived notions of elegance, and a thumbing of the nose to the traditional cycling scene. When free coffee & some cake is more important than the ride, then the activity is more about artful posturing rather than riding.

meh.

There's a stack of good clubs in South London & Kent, all run by the members FOR the members, not some corporate style machine bent on turning us all into asymmetric c*ck-wombles.

iron-clover

londoncommuter wrote:

Both great clubs near* you with club runs, racing etc


400 members, ride Saturdays, 7 levels:

http://bigfootcc.co.uk/


Over 100 members, ride Sundays (and a smaller early Saturday ride), 4 levels:

https://www.gsavanti.co.uk/


*not strictly near you but they're in-between you and Kent where you'll end up riding so they're in effect local.

If you want to spend £135 you can ride past my house on the way and I'll make you a coffee......

+1 for Avanti, I ride with/ for that club.
We have a lot of well organised club rides on the weekend and are part of the local TT series with Sevenoaks Tri and Sydenham wheelers, so we also have TTs every Thursday night on a variety of courses during the summer months.

There's also a small but growing group that does CX in the off season too.

I've heard some good things about Bigfoot, they also have weekly TTs on Tursdays as well but they only use the Polhill course (which I'm not a massive fan of) and are likely to have riders doing different activities as well.

shirley_basso

Orkneylad wrote:

Isn't RCC the epitome of nouveau-riche bike snob culture? A beacon for the 'sartorially anxious' who desire a shortcut to preconceived notions of elegance, and a thumbing of the nose to the traditional cycling scene. When free coffee & some cake is more important than the ride, then the activity is more about artful posturing rather than riding.

meh.

There's a stack of good clubs in South London & Kent, all run by the members FOR the members, not some corporate style machine bent on turning us all into asymmetric c*ck-wombles.

While the quick to judge perception may be like this. The reality is the opposite. They are meant to be really great.

Orkneylad

Shirley Basso wrote:

While the quick to judge perception may be like this. The reality is the opposite. They are meant to be really great.

Trouble is, if you've forked out nearly 200 quid for membership, plus an extra slice for RCC-branded kit etc, then you have to convince yourself it's great to justify the expense. Much like the GCN bike club, forms of 'brand experience' masquerading as 'real' clubs all seems a bit suspect to me.

shirley_basso

I haven't. Read people's actual experiences of it.

135 isn't much if you drink all the coffee you want for free.

chippyk

Orkneylad wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

While the quick to judge perception may be like this. The reality is the opposite. They are meant to be really great.

Trouble is, if you've forked out nearly 200 quid for membership, plus an extra slice for RCC-branded kit etc, then you have to convince yourself it's great to justify the expense. Much like the GCN bike club, forms of 'brand experience' masquerading as 'real' clubs all seems a bit suspect to me.

I’m not sure it works like that, £135 isn’t a great amount in the scheme of things, you’re buying a new jersey anyway so you get the RCC one and if you go in a shop, sorry clubhouse, for a coffee frequently you’ll save a fortune. It’s not for me, even as a Rapha fan boy, but each to their own. As my son would say purely to piss me off, H8ers gonna H8.

Orkneylad

Fair points, I'm not a H8r per-se just question it's status as any kind of real club. If you've got the money & like it, and it gets you out riding, then go for it.

My club membership is £25 and jersey was around £35, I would imagine that's more in-line with other clubs.

Matthewfalle

So how does it work? You pay 135 notes to join their club but you can use their shop to lounge about in and get unlimited free coffee every time you go in whether you are out on your bike or not?

mrpbennett

Matthewfalle wrote:

So how does it work? You pay 135 notes to join their club but you can use their shop to lounge about in and get unlimited free coffee every time you go in whether you are out on your bike or not?

Yup. More or less. As well as gaining access to the app, which has its own forum, direct messaging service, bike rental and early sale items.

Matthewfalle

That actually sounds alright tbh - grab a coffee on the way to work, I presume it has couches etc so you can meet your mates and drink free coffee at lunch. Pastries?

Ok, you wouldn’t want to ride with them but as a way of getting somewhere to chill and drink coffee it’s potentially not too bad. Segregate yourself from the clubbies and it could work.

mrpbennett

Matthewfalle wrote:

That actually sounds alright tbh - grab a coffee on the way to work, I presume it has couches etc so you can meet your mates and drink free coffee at lunch. Pastries?

Ok, you wouldn’t want to ride with them but as a way of getting somewhere to chill and drink coffee it’s potentially not too bad. Segregate yourself from the clubbies and it could work.

I work in London and close to Soho, I would happily take clients there for a meeting and coffee. haha! I would like to ride with them for sure but just dont wanna get dropped haha.