Rapha keep finding sharks to jump.
https://road.cc/content/tech-news/266855-rapha-unveils-mechanics-bike-clothing
Ha ha, I can't think of a single bike mechanic that would drop that sort of money on gear to wear in the workshop.
£40 for a T-shirt? I know a lot of roadies don't do their own maintenance, but that's a lot of cost to pass on to customers who need a well dressed mechanic...;-)
I, for one, will only be having my bikes serviced by mechanics dressed from head to toe in Rapha Apparel.
£40 for a T-shirt? I know a lot of roadies don’t do their own maintenance, but that’s a lot of cost to pass on to customers who need a well dressed mechanic…;-)
Good style is priceless 😉
Who’d wear a white t shirt in a workdshop??
😂
Still - smart jacket.
utter toss.
Need to get a job in the workshop at the Rapha shop.
(They're not really for bike mechanics, obvs)
LOL words.. i have none here !
I've got an ace apron my mum ran up for mechanicing. It's even got an embroidered bike on it. That's a proper work outfit.
I feel you're all missing the point, a Rapha mechanic in a Rapha workshop would have the main duty of drinking espresso with the 'riders' whilst staring at spotlessly clean Pinarellos.
The actual task of maintaining the bikes would be delegated to the under-study, who would be dressed in rags and not allowed to speak to customers.
You all obviously need to spend more time in your local Rapha club house....
Blimey - You could get a Festool Tshirt for that.
*checks date*
*It's not April 1st*
*Speechless*
Shamelessly stolen from Bearbones...
That Tee shirt has a Ribbed collar... cut for comfort and a contrast collar for a stable fit.
I'm in! Been struggling with collar instability for ages, its been a real toil working on the bike in these conditions. This is the ANSWER to all my hopes!
Whats that about a fool and his money?
They’re not really for bike mechanics, obvs
Although would be useful when popping into a shop. If the mechanics are wearing that stuff then go somewhere else.
Is the Mechanics shirt on loan from Chairman Mao?
Jesus ****ing wept, reminds me of reading about 'this season's gardening clothes' in a Saturday supplement 🤣🤣🤣 A fool and their money indeed.
I'll buy that jacket to put on when opening wine with my Campagnolo corkscrew
And the slacks will look great covered in spaff from a failed attempt to inflate a tubeless tyre
I think you'd have to quite stupid to genuinely believe this stuff is aimed at bike mechanics as workwear. It's just a hook to hang some casual clothing on. It's a bit like pretending that Land Rover Evoques are genuinely going to be driven around farms and over remote mountain passes on unmade roads.
I'm enjoying the outrage though 🙂
I think you’d have to quite stupid to genuinely believe this stuff is aimed at bike mechanics as workwear. It’s just a hook to hang some casual clothing on. It’s a bit like pretending that Land Rover Evoques are genuinely going to be driven around farms and over remote mountain passes on unmade roads.I’m enjoying the outrage though 🙂
Well, yeah, obviously, but why call them 'workwear'? Just say they're casual stuff with our logo on it that have some useful features if you fancy a quick spanner. I dunno. Roadies are weird.
The reviewer, he know style
Thank god. I don't know how I've got this far in life without some mechanics trousers.
Nice one Rapha!
I’m enjoying the outrage though 🙂
Me too.
Paupers 🤣🤧🥳
I think you need to differentiate between outrage and ripping the piss.. 😊
I can see a lot of posters getting a lifetime ban from the RCC for this thread....
@BadlyWiredDog 👍 got it in one. The inverse snobbery makes me wince.
I picked up one of the Rapha mechanic aprons years back for £20. Still going strong and a nicely useful piece of kit irrespective of the label attached.
inverse snobbery
Bang to rights, guv
I picked up one of the Rapha mechanic aprons years back for £20.
What was the RRP, though?
TBH, if these were similarly reduced, I'd buy them for everyday wear, as there's not a lot that screams grease monkey about them. But not for fettling bikes. That would be ridiculous.
Paupers
[TJ]How dare anyone be rich![/TJ]
😉
Luckily, I can afford those sorts of prices. Doesn't mean I would buy any of it, however.
I think you need to differentiate between outrage and ripping the piss..
Quite.
Lovely pictures of Rob Quirk though 😉
Le Labourer, Vetra or even Universal Works has more relevance?
I've got a few Rapha bits, probably worth the sale prices, but definitely over priced at RRP for the quality etc.
Don’t most folk follow a rigid clothing hierarchy like me? Wear for best, wear for work, wear for playing out, wear for gardening, wear for fettling and finally used to clean things / mop up whilst fettling.
Buying clothes when the hierarchy of clothing life cycle exists....Madness!
Wear for best, wear for work, wear for playing out, wear for gardening, wear for fettling and finally used to clean things / mop up whilst fettling.
Nope, I wear the same T shirt, shorts and trainers for work, leisure, gardening and DIY.
I do however have cycling specific clothes for that...
Have Rapha done specific clothing for Zwift or e-gravel yet? I'm getting outraged at the mere thought of the possibility
The inverse snobbery makes me wince.
I quite like it. It's a bit like one of those slightly odd artisan beers with a back-taste that's not easily identifiable and should be jarring, but strangely isn't.
Have Rapha done specific clothing for Zwift or e-gravel yet? I’m getting outraged at the mere thought of the possibility
Funny you should mention that, they've produced a capsule collection of hipster travel gear promoted with an artful little video of Lachlan Morton, I think, looking hairy and hippy in Vietnam. It made me so angry.
Trigger Warning: do not click on this link if you are easily outraged / like to 'take the piss':
I think the Rapha “mechanics” range looks rather nice, actually.
The clothes made me think of that gardener bloke Monty Don, he of the calculated retro-scruff re-imagined Victorian gor-blimey dustman's trousers and coats hand made by Paul Smith or somebody on Savile Row. For 600 guineas a garment.
My lovely Auchentoshan apron, heavy canvas and leather straps (£18 from the distillery shop) is going strong and, like the whisky, maturing nicely with age.
The mechanics shirt looks like something you’d get for free if you committed a serious crime and got sentenced to hard labour.
The mechanics shirt looks like something you’d get for free if you committed a serious crime and got sentenced to hard labour.
Like riding a bike without the regulation length socks?
if you committed a serious crime and got sentenced to hard labour.
Explains why prisons are so expensive to run.
If Rapha did prison outfits.....
Isn’t that how Carhart started out before skaters started buying their stuff and then it got fashionable?
I really like the t-shirt.
Funny you should mention that, they’ve produced a capsule collection of hipster travel
Bib shorts with a hip flask holder, genius!
Isn’t that how Carhart started out before skaters started buying their stuff and then it got fashionable?
Carhartt in the USA is a workwear company, Carhartt in Europe imported them for a while but now just licence the name and make streetwear.
Cheers spoon. Must’ve got railroad and manual labour mixed up with forced labour 😀 I remember buying their workwear (and Dickies) fir skateboarding duties in the 90’s. Hard wearing stuff, wonder if the Rapha mechanic range compared favourably. The mag should do a test!
capsule collection
Little bit of sick in my mouth.
What's a capsule collection?
It’s a small collection, one or two items.
Simple no?
I love watching you lot froth over anything Rapha do.
It’ll be a long thread, no?
🤷♂️
Looks good to me, I’ve ordered a complete set to wear in the man cave
I have the bib shorts with the side pocket and technical t shirts. Very good actually. Bib shorts especially.
There’s actually some really good Rapha videos on YouTube about the gravel rides cannondale have been doing this year. Well worth a watch. Quite respectful towards the gravel community imo.
Quite respectful towards the gravel community imo.
I didn't realise they were a pariah sub genre....
Quite respectful towards the gravel community imo.
It's not a f***ing religion, disability or sexual orientation. Its riding a cross bike for more than an hour.
Respecting the gravel community sounds like the kind of marketing dross Rapha would come up with.
Another page of people talking about daft Rapha kit.
I think they've achieved their marketing objective yet again...
A member of the gravel community seen earlier today.....
I think the Rapha “mechanics” range looks rather nice, actually.
So do I. I like the chairman Mao/prison look to it. It is also well priced - £80 is pretty average for a shirt and less than average for trousers.
Just ordered a shirt in fact.
£80 for some cotton twill work trousers?
I would want them hand made by Hebden Bridge artisans for that money.
Carhartt in the USA is a workwear company,
Not anymore. has been a fashion brand for a few years over there as well.
Just ordered a shirt in fact.
Little bit of sick in my mouth.
Why thank you. I chose the term carefully for maximum impact. Of course I could have done the whole hackneyed 'Why this capsule collection? Why yes, yes it is' trope, but hey, there's only so much hackneyed tropeism any one forum can stand 😉
I would want them hand made by Hebden Bridge artisans for that money.
I thought Rapha was way cheaper than PoshCoTrousers Inc or whatever they're called...
I like the shirt, but I'm far too tight to buy clothes at full price. I'll wait for the sale.
I still wear Carhartt stuff all the time. It lasts for ages.
£80 is pretty average for a shirt and less than average for trousers.
Is it really?
🤣 @BWD!
Is it really?
Yes, compared to comparable branded shirts. Walk around somewhere like John Lewis that only sells middling brands and the shirts are typically around £80 (Barbour, Lauren, Fred Perry etc,.)
I wear one of these aprons when working on the bike, although mines a bit dirty now with oil, etc :
no glove though...
Wibble.
Does it come with a bottle of bucky or do you need to get your own?
I hope those jogger come in light grey and have enough stretch to be able to slip a hand down the front whilst walking along the local high street. Will there be a matching Rapha over the shoulder bum bag type affair?
The Limited Edition Transfer Long Sleeve T-Shirt (£190)
they certainly know their market: ****s.
Whereas I like the mechanics range and find the pricing about right, the transfer stuff is awful and very overpriced. Guess there is a bigger market for sweatpants than utilitarian shirts.
Whereas I like the mechanics range and find the pricing about right, the transfer stuff is awful and very overpriced.
Heretic!
The matching Limited Edition Transfer Hoodie is a whopping £400. It is reversible and features hood padding that's designed to make for more comfortable sleeping on the move.
400 notes for travel pajamas. Sounds like a bargain to me!
A day late, but I remembered that website.. you know the one where Rapha cyclists buy their daywear
https://www.ssense.com/en-gb/men/
I actually quite like the mechanics stuff, although the 'transfer' sweatpants are awful. Usually, even if it's way over what I'd pay, I can see the quality/purpose of Rapha stuff but the sweatpants are...
Okay, that Pro Transfer stuff is another level of expensive w nk.
Still like the look of the mechanics range.
The Mechanics range is actually really nice, I tried on the jacket at the Harrogate pop-up and the other stuff looked smart, well-made etc. Not saying I'd use it for "mechanic-ing" though.
Tranfer - my (very old) Transfer Jacket which they sadly no longer make is one of the best general purpose jackets I've ever had. And a while ago in the sale, I bought the Transfer Sweatpants - mostly for a long touring trip as they were lighter and folded down much smaller than trousers and they were warmer. More "trouser-like" than normal tracksuit trousers, much better fitting.
Again, fantastic bit of kit. Certainly not worth £300 though!
I’ve got the original transfer sweat pants and gillet.
Bought in 2009, 10 yrs old and still blooming good to this day.. although the sweat pants are now just round the house stuff.
Rapha do collaborations, obvz, and the latest is with some designer who seems to be quite good at knitting 🤷♂️
Not for me that.
