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Looking at the Randonnee shorts and merino base layer but my basket is sitting at £150. Are they worth it?
depends.
Is good quality stuff with excellent service. Not cheap though. Whether its worth it is up to you.
It's lovely stuff, fits well, looks good and is very comfortable. Whether that means it's worth it given you can buy a good pair of shorts and a merino base layer for half that is your call to make.
As above, the stuff I've bought, and I've got quite a lot has been worth it.
There's a Rapha outlet in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, where good reductions are to be had.
Training for my bike road ride this summer, I've been wearing my Morvelo jersey for every weekend ride and its been great. Now I've lost some timber, I've just got a Morvelo Nth series Jersey and Bibs and the quality looks great. Can't wait to test them out this weekend. Haven't bought new cycle kit for about three years, so I'm expecting magic from the new pad...(Like when you buy a new pillow!)
Edit: to answer your question I'd say look elsewhere.
Stuff is good. For me it's only worth it at 50% off in the sales.
Only you can decide really. I've got one piece of Rapha gear, a Pro Team Jacket, It's more than paid for itself on the wintery rides I've done in it and still is one of the better fitting and harder wearing bits of bike kit I've got.
Wouldn't dare wear it for mountain biking though.
I tend to buy stuff when the sales come up, always fits well and not fallen apart after a few washes unlike some bits I've had recently.
The stuff is lovely and very well made but it's a bit too pricey for me at normal prices, the sale prices make it more palatable.
Rapha bibs are pretty much an essential bit of kit for me now, superlights in the summer, classic in spring/autumn, 3/4 in winter on both road and mtb rides. Really is fantastic kit, comfy, great fit, free repairs.
Jerseys aren't quite at the 'essential' riding kit level, but again, really nice, looks and fit well.
If you can afford it, it's worth it.
Stuff is good. For me it's only worth it at 50% off in the sales.
+1
Much of it has 60% off in the outlet centre and there's a fair amount of stock. The boy bought a really nice roadie/commuting jacket for around £125, looked to be good quality and well made.
Another closet fan here - but only in the sales too
FWIW I have 2 Rapha merinos I bought just after they launched, so at a guess 10y or so ago
Ive worn one or the other on just about every bike ride I have ever done since (2-3 per week) and washed them when they smell, actually not that often
10y down the line they are starting to get a bit saggy and one has a couple of holes in it, but they are not dead yet
Id say that represents pretty good value so I will replace like for like - in the sale........
I was once in this game. The fabrics they are using cannot have cost more much than about £2-5/sq m, so work out for yourself where the mark up is.
The store in Shepton Mallet is the same prices at the end if sale 50% off ish and limited sizes, don't go expecting a full range in all sizes
Loads of xxl and xxs - when I popped in last week (twice 4 days apart) they had a total of 3 jerseys/bibs in large, and a handful in medium
The Randonée shorts are probably the same fabric as the touring - it wears quickly but they do free repairs, I have a couple of pairs in rotation, ones always away being fixed - usually 3000km or so
I wear it on the mtb as well, apart from the Touring shorts if it's wet as mud eats through them
Again I tend to buy in the sale/discount codes, but I have a few things I've paid full whack for
I do like the Rapha clothing I have bought over the years, not much of it is riding gear though.
That said, seems like sales are less common now and the prices have been creeping up steadily over the years.
What else could you get for £150 if you shopped around?
Or don't... if the brand means that much to you, buy it...
It always looks really nice and is well designed. Personally for me it isn't worth it as I believe it is diminishing returns. Shorts just as good can be had for less. How much do you like the image and brand?
Don't have much of their stuff but what I have I really like. Their merino base are brilliant, particularly the winter one with the long neck. Have an old Country jersey too which is one of my favourite bits of kit. All mostly brought in sales 🙂
For years I really thought Rapha was a joke. No way is it worth the money. Much cheaper kit will do the job as well.
Oldboy
I was once in this game. The fabrics they are using cannot have cost more much than about £2-5/sq m, so work out for yourself where the mark up is.
Finished product costs loads more than raw material - shocker! Sure a lot goes into marketing but the service and kit is really good too.
IMO it's worth it at sale price or bundle price, the shorts I have are great (better than my Assos pair), base layers really soft and durable and my Pro Team Jacket is easily the best jacket I've owned, was rarely off my back all winter and still looks as new. And the off-centre gilet zip is genius. So yeah, a bit of a fan...
For years I really thought Rapha was a joke. No way is it worth the money. Much cheaper kit will do the job as well.
Tried it, have you?
RAPHA.CC This would make me question the VFM but that's not what Ralpha is about. Happily I don't fit into their gear so it's a moot point for me.
The few Rapha items I have bought (on sale or on ebay) have been the best fitting, best thought out and most durable things I have bought.
I just don't have the disposable income to buy more of it or at RRP
That said, Howies are producing some nice stuff now.
Tried it, have you?
Dont need to I have ridden bikes enough in all conditions and over all sorts of distances and havent suffered for lack of Rapha kit.
I've got some Jerseys from the sales and really like them. Don't know if I would pay full RRP.
Sale prices only
It's nice, but not 'twice the price of everything else' nice
Rapha don't price on a cost-plus basis. They price on a 'it's way more expensive than anything else basis' - that's the entire point of their pricing strategy.
Premium pricing works very well in certain categories of goods - see [url=
goods[/url]
Rapha, to their credit understand the nature of Veblen goods very well and have built a very successful business on the back of it.
Personally I don't buy their stuff because I'd rather spend my biking cash on the bike rather than the clothes, and you can get great kit which will last you 10+ years for half the price... but if you want top quality kit and you have the cash, go ahead... just remember Rapha are one step ahead of you 🙂
I've got Aldi kit and it's every bit as good as Rapha, but without the s****y, pretentious image. I can grow my own straggly beard and look really gaunt and haggard and spend the money I save on flashy underwear instead. And don't get me started on people who take the Rapha coin, lead their so-called club rides or dress their defenceless 10-year-olds in Rapha when they're too young to know what it is.
And don't get me started on people who take the Rapha coin, lead their so-called club rides
A couple of my clubmates work at Rapha and lead their rides. Bloody strong riders, both of them. Nice people too...
Mind you, I participated in a Rapha ride once. The ability to ride in a group was near to non-existent, ability to accept instructions from the ride leader also non-existent and the moaning that the Rapha coffee van wasn't at the mid-ride stop was, I assumed, a joke. Until my mate who leads the rides said it almost certainly was serious. But that's idiots being idiots rather than anything you can blame Rapha for...
Aldi kit every bit as good as Rapha? 😆
I've got Aldi stuff & Rapha sale kit. There is absolutely no way that you could say that they are comparable. sorry.
People pay 10k for a bike. To them (and there are a lot of them) a couple of hundred on fancy pants is nothing.
At 50% off its worth it.
I like Rapha stuff.
My back pack has lasted years, and gets used daily.
The merino base layers are excellent.
I've taken delivery of some of their classic bib shorts, and shall know in a few years if they are worth it.
Also, I have bought the Cima Jersery [img]
RAPHA.CC but it just seems way to nice to ride in it... I don't want to get it all hot and smelly, but will do at one point.
The bib shorts are excellent snd last twice as long as cheaper stuff, so actually value for money. I dont likr jersey styles but I bought one and after 3 years usage got 50gpb for it on ebay.....
Wow, not many haterz here are there..
Where are the Faux black and white photos that CFH so loves posting ?
Epic fail.
😆
Na all the haterz are queuing up for cynical' posts.
Rapha kit certainly is a joy to use and seems to be lasting far better than high street stuff - can't see the problem with the cost of Rapha, the more you ride, the cheaper it works out
I've got Aldi stuff & Rapha sale kit. There is absolutely no way that you could say that they are comparable. sorry.
Yeah I know, I was being silly. I used to be very cynical about Rapha's marketing, you know, all the grimy, monochrome faux retro stuff and stuff about the Kings of Pain - try explaining your 'Kings of Pain' branded package to your postie - but then I got to try some of the kit for free.
I have to say that the bibs are really good, better than Assos ime, and the stuff's generally very nicely made and well cut.
Is it 'worth it'? Value's a moving target. As a lot of people have already said, I don't think I could justify buying Rapha at full whack, but given the other overpriced tat that our consumerist society throws out in the name of designer fashion and technological innovation, it's not so far out of kilter really.
Kings of Pain though... 🙄
The only piece of Rapha kit I have is a cycling cap, which is very nicely made (should be for £25 - thankfully it was a freebe)
However, I do have a pair of Oakley racing jackets, which I guess means I'm on a sticky wicket when complaining about overpriced riding kit.
Looking at the prices some 'hobby cyclists' are willing to pay for bikes I'd say Rapha have positioned themselves well in the market place...
Those who feel the need to spend £2k on Zipp wheels for the Saturday morning club run (yep - have seen them around where I live) obviously have no issues with paying £200 for a pair of bibs.
Looking at the prices some 'hobby cyclists' are willing to pay for bikes
My bikes aren't cheap, but I do reserve a big chunk of my nominal budget for clothing, helments and shoes. A good pair of shorts makes a lot more difference to your day than having Ultegra rather than 105, say.
🙂
I do like my rapha kit, have a club jersey for road biking, a couple of tour de france t-shirts, and socks lots of socks! Some of there urban range is good for mountain biking, ive got a a merino polo shirt really fits well and feels comfortable in the summer biking through the trees!
Heard good things about the padded bib shorts, but a little pricey for me, hopefully will get a pair with my bonus this year.
Those who feel the need to spend £2k on Zipp wheels for the Saturday morning club run (yep - have seen them around where I live) obviously have no issues with paying £200 for a pair of bibs.
If you want to spend 2k on a set of wheels for a club run then why not?! It's just a hobby. If you've got the cash and it makes you smile then go for it. People spend a lot more on stamps, model trains, beer, coke and hookers... etc.
(I don't have 2k Zipp wheels btw!)