Originally Posted by
Hiro11
I think people have a reaction to Rapha because the brand is trying to bring a sense of fashion to workout clothing. A lot of people feel the same way about Arc'teryx with outdoorsy gear or LuluLemon for women's workout stuff: these are brands that offer undeniably high quality goods but with a hefty dose of "image" and high price tags to boot. To me, Rapha brings some of the hate on themselves with the pretensions of cycling's "romantic" ideal of the "pedaleur de charme". Rapha really pushes image with their high contrast B&W images of deadly serious looking people with riding around with their sculpted facial hair and immaculate kits. It's a bit much, especially because cycling gear is inherently dorky. Personally, I couldn't care less about what other people wear while riding a bike.
This pretty much nails it. In layman's terms, these brands (esp Lululemon) seem mostly purchased by "tryhards", as defined by Urban dictionary:
A person who puts a large amount of effort into achieving a certain image, or counter-image, to the point where it is obviously contrived. Rather than achieving an image through genuine personality, the try-hard consciously attempts to fit a certain style through deliberate imitation, forced style, or scripted behavior. That is to say, he/she is trying hard to create an image.