Is there a poor man's Rapha?

Further to my discoveries last week regarding The Rules, considering getting some new bike clothing to help me look dapper on the road bike. Love the Rapha stuff, but £100+ for a jersey? No way. So are there any more reasonably priced alternatives out there?

kappa

they do have sales now and then..

my advice – birthdays!

i think it is over priced, but i’ve not really seen anything that compares either..

Tørm do Rapha style clothing for those that hate or can’t afford Rapha but want to look like they’re wearing Rapha

Its like, standard road jersey price £20-60
NICE road jersey, flavour of the month, £45-85
Rapha jersey, £180

Not even a little bit more than the competition, but often 2-3x the top end value again.
BUT most of their stuff is reputed to be very nice.

Theres a company I’mthinking of but can’t rmemeber the name, they specialise in Merino sportswear, still pricey, but pennies compared to rapha

Lab Gear? http://www.au.lab-gear.com/%5B/url%5D
Morvelo? http://www.morvelo.com/%5B/url%5D

Lidl, Aldi, do you feel that Rapha may in some way endeer you to ladies? I think you might find the opposite may happen. 😯

Oxymoron. Rapha exists BECAUSE it’s expensive. Cheap Rapha is just clothes!

NICE road jersey, flavour of the month, £45-85
Rapha jersey, £180

Is it like that? Really? Rapha jerseys are 90 – 120 quid mainly, comparable to Assos and top end castelli

Shutt do jerseys for a bit less than rapha, but mine shrank, and they didn’t respond when i emailed them twice. My Rapha gloves stitching came away after about 2 months, and they replaced with a new pair within a week. You get what you pay for, to the extent of repairing crash damaged clothes FOC. By the way I buy Rapha jerseys in the sale. Can get them for 60 quid, absolute bargain, nothing other than Assos comes close IMO

Im a fan of castelli and santini, usually pretty stylish well made and ‘reassuringly expensive without being silly!’

It’s not the same look as rapha by any means but dhb kit on wiggle is functional and logo free.

What look are you going for exactly?

tinsy – Member
Lidl, Aldi, do you feel that Rapha may in some way endeer you to ladies? I think you might find the opposite may happen.

Your saying laydeez prefer it when you wear cheap pikey tat??

Wow.

Everyday is a school day..

Btw I have never worn Rapha but Assos is purely function and the shorts I’ve had have been unbelievable.

6 years and thousands upon thousands of road miles and they still look new. Well worth the £95 I paid.

Tørm is good, the fitting is on the small size.

Short sleve jersey is very good quality.

Shutt VR also quite good, Torm quality is better though

I think the Torm stuff looks pretty good actually – might give it a go!

do you feel that Rapha may in some way endeer you to ladies

Not really I don’t think, although I’m sure my lady would appreciate, she has an eye for the roadies.

I just appreciate the aethstetics of cycling kit as well as it’s function and performance. Can’t really explain why.

All I know is when I look at a picture like this, it sort of makes me think “that’s cool”

I got some 3/4 cycle shorts from Aldi or lidl. Terrible quality, not nice to wear, never mind look at.

finnistere! thats who I was thinking of

what a pair of ****.

what a pair of ****.

Actually now that I look at that picture out of context from the wesbite, I sort of agree.

Oh-oh, what have I admitted to?

Decathlon

PaulD

what a pair of ****.

They love each other and that’s the important thing.

shouldn’t he have his little finger stuck out daintily while sipping his espresso?

if you’re good looking, you’ll look good in whatever you wear

nice clothes dont make people pretty

that said, you pay for quality… go be reviews and recommendations though, price doesn’t always mean quality 🙂

I’ve had a wool jersey from rapha clearance and it is really nice, so keep an eye on the sales.

I also got a Torm jersey, baselayer and arm warmers as a bundle at some bike show and have been very pleased with their quality.

Rapha stuff is good quality.

Keep an eye out and hopefully you may see the etape jersey for £35 like they were last year, in the summer sale,easily worth the money.

At £95ish, their sportwool jerseys are, again, easily twice as good as an endura or altura (for example) imo.

Also, after sales service is great. My leather Rapha/Paul Smith white track gloves broke some stitches on the palm after 11 months. Free return, free repair. Awesome.

Don’t care if people thinks it’s poncey marketing shite, it’s good quality, well thought out stuff. Overpriced? Thats subective, like £3k frames, £2k wheels, Audi’s, etc etc etc. 🙂

Gore stuff is good. Also generally subtle. To me, when i see someone out dressed head to toe in Rapha, i generally think that they are trying too hard.

But then i am a bit of a snob like that 😉

Not even a little bit more than the competition

Rapha kit is pretty similar in price to its competition. Jerseys are £100 ish, not generally £180.

Gore stuff is good. Also generally subtle

Far from subtle (IMO) GoreWhores stand out a mile….

….when I see someone Gored up I just think “there’s someone trying hard to look like they’re not trying too hard”.

what’s the Rapha kit like on a hot day (assuming anyone can remember that far back)? I like the look of some of the jerseys but not convinced by sportwool in 25c

I’ve not had any issues with being too hot in a rapha jersey on a hot day, keeps me cool and doesn’t get sweaty.

Although I live in the west of scotland so my definition of hot might be different to yours 😉

+1 for Gore. Excellent quality. Especially the jackets.

😯 😯

🙂

Oxymoron. Rapha exists BECAUSE it’s expensive. Cheap Rapha is just clothes!

^this

I have a few bits of Rapha stuff, every now and then I’ll treat myself to something. However I guess i’m even more poncy as I mostly by the casual stuff 🙄

Lidl, Aldi, do you feel that Rapha may in some way endeer you to ladies?

I think I’d agree insomuch as the laydeez prefer the contents to the packaging and we’ve already proved that marketing doen’t work.
Liking the Torm stuff though.
EDIT: There would appear to be something missing from ^^^^^^ that photo. 😕

I’ve seen Rapha bits pop up on ebay if you want to get it cheaper.

I personally think it’s ott, I’d rather look plain and be comfortable, with the money invested in my bike. Road kit just looks a bit cringey to me (I ride track so wear a bit myself). Let your legs do the talking, not your faux wealth clothes.

I like that Lusso stuff is made in the UK and not some Asian sweatshop, it’s a similar price to Endura etc. Check it out on Ribble.

I think I’d rather wear Smartwool than Rapha, if I had tons of cash.

Got a couple of bits on serious sale, and I love it.

Re wool in the heat – I have the lightest weight Icebreaker tshirt and it’s one of my fave things to wear in really hot weather.

I like Rapha but tend to buy in the sale. I got two Galibier jerseys for 80 quid in the sample sale and a Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic jersey for 35 quid earlier this year.

Just to counterbalance my liking of Rapha, I do find myself agreeing with a lot of this site[/url]…

Far from subtle (IMO) GoreWhores stand out a mile….

….when I see someone Gored up I just think “there’s someone trying hard to look like they’re not trying too hard”.

Good point i guess. It does depend on the restraint of the rider when looking at the colours available i guess.

You could send in your CV and try and get the models discount 😉 But you’ll have to start shaving your legs to get that gig.

The mistake you’re making is in thinking that Rapha is some kind of pinnacle in terms of kit.

It’s over priced, over sold, reasonable quality cycling clothing. That’s it.

They have no heritage, no serious commitment to development or research, they are selling fashionable kit at high prices to people who are new to cycling.

Kit from ExteOndo, Castelli, Nalini, Giordana, Descente, Assos and so on is usually better and cheaper, but not as ‘cool’.

Rapha is fashion clothing.