rapha -worth the dough?
 

as much as i like the style 80£ for a pair of gloves(grand tour) is pretty steep. but i dont want to knock it till i try it. should i try or just say no?

http://www.rapha.cc/index.php

just say no.

A few London couriers were labrats for Rapha. Apparently the small things like caps and gloves are o.k. but their really nice looking jacket wasn't breathable enough.
Their stuff is stylin' tho.

well i hope so.. considering the price. thx

beautiful stuff. I think the price is almost appropriate for the apparent level of quality. do you have a wad of hot dough burning holes in your pocket?

no but i have a serious craving for the grand tour gloves..

I disagree about the jacket - it isn't suppossed to be a summer rain jacket. It is for cold and wet weather. Although they have since released a summer version. I got the thing for Christmas and I could ride in with it and a SS jersey in 38-42 degree weather and be totally comfortable. Top notch quality, superbe functionality. Nicest garment I've ever owned, period. If I had the money I would buy everything Rapha makes. It is true that you want to put that jacket away at about 65 degrees. That said, I wore it in several early season races and found it breathable enough, people were like: aren't you too hot in that thing. "No."

BTW, Santini is also nice.

yes, but they dont make gloves that looks like my granddads driving gloves..

i like the arm warmers and the sportwool jerseys.

and the gloves too. i really dig the hot pink trim on them.

check out their return policy. good stuff. i may just have to order one of those happening club jerseys... the gloves, too, my yes.

http://www.rapha.cc/index.php?page=94

the mag has an article on fixed gear. it looks like a pretty unique cycling mag.

They look nice, but I would say don't bother. Gloves wear out...very quickly when used every day. I have no problem buying expensive gear, but I wouldn't put the money into something I knew I was going to have to replace in several months.

Ok they carry XL cycling caps. I love them for that. I have a big head.

http://www.raphausa.com/

still expensive though, still great looking.

nine - thanks for posting that. DIdn't know they had a us version.

Too dude-o-centric.

I'm gonna punch them in the neck for claiming their water/wind proof jacket breathes better than others. News flash - something that is 100% water/wind proof does not breath. You want it to breath more you have to reduce the water/wind proofness. blahblahblah

I'd like to know the CFM rating on their jacket.

P.S. Vanilla and Rapha should team up and be the most stylish cycling company of all time.

Holy bling.... I'd drown kittens for the lightweight jacket...

The aren't offering the same 20% discount for friend referrals that their main site (rapha.cc) has... 20% of a lot is still a lot... just a little less. I'm still trying to talk myself into ordering a couple of those epic caps, they look *****en and might actually fit my slightly larger than average cycling cap size head.

I was drooling over everythign on the rapha site just last night. I kept switching back and forth between a currency coverter to figure out how much it would cost me.
It makes me want to cry.

That said, I'm still drooling.

I like the cap. It's plain and comes in XL.

the cap is v. nice, just got mine. i like the magazine as well, its like the anti animal magazine - all class. not that i think animal is bad, just different. well maybe i do think animal is bad, hmm.

A couple weeks ago I purchased their mid-priced winter pack and the softshell jacket from the UK site. I was pretty worried about sizing so I emailed them and they were very nice about giving me some technical measurements for some of their stuff. They got back to me quickly too. Based on the info they gave me I told them what sizes I wanted and the colors. The middle winter pack I ordered came with a short sleeve sportwool jersey, sportwool armwarmers (which come standard with the short sleeve sportwool jersey) , short sleeve base layer, and an epic cap. I wanted everything in black except the cap which I wanted with a white stripe.

It arrived about two weeks after I told them what I wanted. I opened up the package and pulled out my jersey. It was a long sleeve jersey, what the f***! I was a little upset. Then I took the rest of the stuff out, and noticed they also sent me the armwarmers. That was cool of them. They ran out of the medium short sleeve jerseys, and so they gave me a long sleeve one. I'm still a little perturbed they didn't email or call and ask me if it was alright to send me that instead, but I'm happy with what I got. The addition of the armwarmers appeased me.

So, how is everything?

The wool t-shirt is extremely comfortable and well-designed. There have only been a couple days I haven't worn it (on and off the bike) since I got it.

The armwarmers seem durable, are really warm, and have a huge (roughly 2 inches wide) reflective stripe on them.

The jersey is really nice too, it's warm, has loose arms to allow layering, waterproof back pocket, and a nice high neck. I don't like the cuffs on it though. They are stitched so that they don't stretch very much at all, which is annoying. I can fit my hand through them fine and everything, but there's no way you could pull the sleeve up on your arm if you wanted to. I suspect this is to keep it from getting stretched out and thus allowing cold air into the sleeves. I find it slightly annoying.

The epic cap I haven't had a chance to test yet, as it has been far too cold for anything but my balaclava or a winter hat lately. It does look very nice though, and the headband is soft as silk.

The softshell jacket is awesome. I wore it in some light rain the other day (about a twenty minute ride) and the water just beaded. The storm flap was a little disappointing because although it helped, my ass was still wet. I was wearing jeans though so the velcro on the flap would probably stick better to a pair of cycling shorts or tights. The leather on it is very soft and the jacket seems very durable. It is definitely breathable. I love the thumbloops! I wear a glove liner under the loops and then a glove on top of that, and there's no way my wrists could ever get cold.

Overall, I love the way everything looks. When I first got the stuff my girlfriend called me a f****t and just shook her head. A few days later she was telling me how hot I looked in it.

Having said all that, I still think their s*** is too f****** expensive. On the US site especially. Buying a winter pack, - the VAT, and with the 20% discount I paid $360 (including shipping) for all my stuff. On the US website their softshell jacket is $325. That is ridiculous. The base layers and jerseys aren't too unreasonabe, but......

Is it worth the dough? Some of it is. If my stuff holds up like it should I'll definitely buy more from them.