[Closed] Cheaper alternatives to Rapha

A trawl through the road.cc kit reviews is worthwhile at this point. Quite a few reasonably nice looking things been reviewed recently, but I've no personal experience.

Hincapie do a retro top that is similar in style to Rapha, but not that much cheaper.

http://www.alwaysriding.co.uk/bodywear-146/jerseys-46/hincapie-vintage-wool-jersey-519.html

according to most folk on here - lidl and aldi to stuff thats the same for a fraction of the price .....

personally i think "most folk" are havering shite 😉

find clothing to be hit and miss my self , some endura stuff is ace some is crap , some altura stuff is ace some is crap , some demarchi is good some is crap , assos can be a hit and miss even within the same model of garment !

Northwave are very under-estimated but still quite costly at full price.

Solo?

on-one are doing merino jerseys for 25 quid. I've just got one, it's very nice.

http://www.shuttvr.com/

At the risk of ridicule, Aldi (when it comes into the store) and/or SportsDirect.com (mainly Karrimor) - http://www.sportsdirect.com/cycling/cycling-clothing

Cheap as chips and you get far more than what you pay for. I've ridden stuff from both shops all through the winter and you just can't knock it for the price.

I have noticed recently that many Rapha items are in fact not that much more expensive than other brands (to my amazement) when you are comparing with the likes of Assos and the top end Pearl Izumi, Gore etc.
I personally think it is really good stuff and looks good too. I have decided to have a bit less gear, but get better stuff so now I more or less only buy Rapha.

I know that probably means that most people here will think I'm a dick, but to be honest, it makes more sense to wear Rapha kit than it does to be riding my Cervelo R3SL and I even wear it mountain biking 🙂

Go on, flame me 🙂

The Shutt looks pretty good. I'd buy the Rapha but I go through so much kit over the week. It would be horible to have one or two expensive bits then have to wear cheaper stuff for the rest of the week.
There are some good shouts there. The Shutt winter jersey and Rapha leg warmers will go on order which should fit the spring Autmn comfort bill.

Hang on there - just remember looking around in Ponds Square on Sunday morning - it was a bit scary wasn't it? 😛

Yeah I'm obviously a marketing mans dream. Looks bloomin good and as oddjob says it doesn't seem that much dearer.
So much of the stuff out there is as tastefull as DFS sofas.

Still when it gets hot and the racings underway just plain old technical Nalini works a treat.

Exte-Ondo, Castelli, Gore etc.

I've found that rapha ss jerseys work well in hot weather as well, and they don't seem to develop a minging smell either.
It is a bit sad now that they've brought out women's gear and L and I go out in our (nearly) matching jerseys for the Saturday club run.

crikey so much of their stuff has those dreadful Euro paterns all over it. I really like plain and simple looking kit.

Exte ondo do plain stuff as well, as do Mavic, Castelli and so on, please don't fall for that black and white photography invented Euro race tradition Rapha stuff...

Some of it is nice kit, but the way it's sold makes me heave...

A few years ago if anyone mentiond the word Rapha I would have stopped them right there, but they seemed to have changed and dropped the brogues and tweed and turned more road technical.

When we were in Flanders there was a trio of be-tweeded gents walking round with plus fours, caps and pipes - then they ended up on the TV highlights of the race itself. 🙄

Not cheaper, but more exclusive and just as classy..... http://www.lecol.net/
BTW, I used to wear +2's in the early 60's. Every club cyclist did.

Lidl shirts are fine at 6 quid the lycra shorts are crap though so I trawl ebay for whatever nos trade kit is in offer

Thanks for the link to the Shutt gear, very nice looking, might well be worth investigating further.

Agreed about the comment that Rapha looks well priced when compared to Pearl/Assos/Gore etc.

Rapha kit just works right, makes me feel great when I put their kit on which is always a good thing. Things like the pockets are just right, I've not got another jersey that compares to rapha in 'just right' terms.

Bought a le col cap just to check out the quality and I wasn't very impressed.

Not tried columba stuff but it look good [url= http://www.colomba.cc/ ][/url].

I've always loved the 'cool' factor of the Rock Racing gear - [url= http://www.rockracing.com/collection ]http://www.rockracing.com/[/url]

Not cheap though

on-one are doing merino jerseys for 25 quid. I've just got one, it's very nice.

but it says on-one in big letters on it.
one of the reasons Rapha exists is so that it's customers don't have to wear stuff that says 'cheap''northern' and 'bargain basement'

http://www.alwaysriding.co.uk/ has lots of nice stuff in the same place.

I can't recommed highly enough Earth, Wind and Rider merino jerseys. Have had a long sleeved one for years, still going strong. Beautifuly made, retro, less than £100......

http://www.ewnr.com/

on-one are doing merino jerseys for 25 quid. I've just got one, it's very nice.

You get what you pay for. Mine fell to bits.

one of the reasons Rapha exists is so that it's customers don't have to wear stuff that says 'cheap''northern' and 'bargain basement'

😆

Hadn't seen the shutt stuff before, it looks pretty nice and good prices too. Having said that, I just got 2 parcels from Rapha this morning so Mrs Oddjob will go even more mental if I spend any more money on cycling gear. (She doesn't know about the new club kit that is heading my way in a week or two either - I'll have to hide that:-))

Oddjob putting on the new club kit away from Mrs oddjobs prying eyes.
[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.carradice.co.uk/categories/drywool-jerseys ]Carradice ones, quite sober-looking. [/url]

http://swrve.co.uk/ - well made and reasonable prices