If they stand by their claims, it's also heavily warranted. They claim to repair damage. It looked like nice stuff to me and I like the look, however I often just wear cross functional athletic wear that I use for more than one activity. My merino stuff costs that much or more full price although I watch for close out sales. I wouldn't even notice what brand someone else was wearing.

Rapha has some great merino base layers, FYI.

well, that’s what they market.

I just buy my racing cycling club gear

This isn't surprising at all. "Manufacturing cost" would probably be the marginal cost (the additional cost of building the car), which would not include R&D and design and other overhead costs, marketing, transportation, distribution, warranty service, etc -- and hence it is lower than the actual total cost of building a car. A 100% markup from marginal cost to MSRP doesn't seem that high, and is probably pretty typical. The conclusion that MB's markup is not unusually high is further supported by the fact that they are in a fairly competitive market (i.e., one with many close substitutes such as BMW), which constrains their pricing power.

See my post (#16) above.

Nope. That's what you choose to see.

Agree

When it comes to cycling "kit" I struggle much. It has only been in the last 3 or 4 months if that since started wearing road cycling pants in public.In the past I've always worn mountain bike shorts or way back touring shorts. Anyway, I want clothing that fits and is comfortable. I'm not big into brands or using my person as an billboard, all of my items of "kit" are as plain as possible. I cannot see me wearing a pro team jersey or bike brand, I'm just not that good and that seems pretentious anyway and I lack cycling talent. I do belong to two recreational teams/clubs and have team jerseys for them but I only wear them when I have to. I think the $60 or $70 bucks I paid for each of them is upper limit for me, 90% of my riding is with plain $20 jerseys.

But as others have said well it's their money.

I’m confused, because I don’t think I’ve seen any Rapha marketing with 3/4 pants or people combing their mustache.

Seems more you have an axe to grind with people that look a particular way and not so much with the clothing.

About 5 yrs ago I "discovered" Assos. Their kit fits me perfectly and is high quality. I'm a total fan now. I have nothing bad to say about Rapha. Actually I have nothing at all to say. Buy what works for you.

Make sure it is an Ineos team kit so you don't look like a dork in Rapha gear...

I was once car shopping, just at the exploratory stage, and the salesman walked up to me for the usual schmooze, but then he started cataloging what I was wearing OUT LOUD. I don't imagine he lasted long in that business, saying the quiet part out loud.

That’s gotta be hard these days, when the person showing up in running shorts might be buying a $50k car. Or $100k.

:twitchy:

Right. Is that guy in a worn T-shirt and jeans, with a 5 day growth of beard a wealthy Silicon Valley guy trying to project an air of insouciance? Or some working class guy who wants to sit in a Porsche?

In this case, the guy seemed especially taken with my Timberland shoes. I mean, he literally said, "And you've got your Timberland shoes." I didn't tell him I'd gotten them on sale for half price.

As with just about any manufactured product there can be a big difference between "inexpensive" and "cheap".
Disclaimer: Don't own any Rapha gear and am completely neutral on them.
West

I don't know, I see a lot of people around Marin wearing Rapha. They can't all be from SF.

There is some evidence that customers who appear to be well-educated professionals (i.e., well-groomed people in nice clothes and etc) get better prices on new cars. Salespeople just assume that such customers are better-informed and better negotiators, and so they allow them to more successfully negotiate down the prices. At least, that was the conclusion from a study that was done about 25 years ago.

I did test this during my next new car purchase. I put on a nice suit, combed my hair, and - when the car salesman approached to introduce himself - I gave my name as "Dr. Wily Koyote" - which is something I would normally never do, because I'm not a d-bag. And I'll be damned - I got a great price on that car, with almost no pushback from the salesman. Still, wearing a suit and tie is so onerous that I haven't used that method for either of the two new cars I have purchased since then.

I'm just a a normal schmuck, well nearly normal. But, when I rolled into a Porsche dealership on my Ducati I got lots of service.

lol:)

Isn't Marin like SF, only more so? ;)

No, but 90% of them could be...

One of the best deals I ever got on a car was the time my wife and I took our 3-month old baby to the dealer. Feeding and changing the baby unsettled the salesman, and then when he said, "Sorry, but that's the best we can do" and wife and I exchanged a glance and wordlessly began packing up to leave, he dropped another $1300.

SF= hipster/dentist, rando/techie

Marin= hippy/dentist, MAMIL/mtnbiker, neo-hip gravel groupies

Now do the Peninsula.

Another one of these threads?