Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

Will do, probably will sell soon as one is getting a little wider these days...

Just here to big up the classic softshell from around 2012, still coping well with mcr's downpours after all this time, first decent ones of the autumn commutes yesterday & today.

It's from 2016 I think. Fit wise very similar if not identical than the first gen RCC one I had before, and the first generation PTJ I had before that.

@Brain-Stew I'll check it for wear and stitching. Feel free to make an offer, meanwhile I'll have a look on Ebay to see what price they are going for.

Available again now

https://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/shop/bar-bag/product/BBA01XXKLP

Just noticed this.

I used re-useable cable ties to secure my 'bar-bag'. They definitely work, but they don't look especially pretty. Basically, the bar-bag is on my winter commuter, and I use it to keep my rain cape in. It never comes off, and I don't really care what it looks like.

I bought a box of re-useable cable ties, so happy to send you a few gratis if you want to try them out.

Thanks for the notice! The straps in the pictures look the same though?
+Mikey5000 did you have any luck reaching out to them?

Might just be the old pictures

Customer service said they have run out - try again another time. Straps in the new pic look like they have a locking clasp (which they needed) - I will try them again another time. In the meantime my decathlon hack works fine albeit not as elegantly as the original intention.

Apologise for the Torygraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/10/27/mens-lycra-pioneer-rapha-faces-uphill-pedal-combat-biking-downturn/

Always apologise for the Torygraph

https://road.cc/content/news/268073-rapha-scale-back-discounting-sales-fall-and-losses-mount

We realised after Tom and Steuart bought the business that we’d been
doing too much of this,” he admitted, explaining that the Waltons
injected £30 million into Rapha after their takeover to help it avoid
defaulting on a £20 million bank loan

One of the comments says 'mediocre but expensive'. Maybe rename the thread?

Read this article online yesterday. The company I work for is well recognised as a discounting brand, something it is working hard to move away from. It seems to be driven by those prioritising turnover over profit and typically by those who are looking for investment of some sort. Our change of owner has moved to a triple bottom line model which more closes matches our values and purpose.
It’s a long hard battle to move away from the discounting model, it needs a steady nerve to not discount at the first sign of pressure on turnover and of course some deep pockets to ride that storm when it arrives.

Speaking of discounting, there's a bunch of Rapha swag on sport pursuit, half price. May not be any better than Rapha's own sales but you might find something?

All the good stuff is in the extreme sizes though. I think Rapha sell their old sale stock to SP to recover some cash

Thanks for the offer! I got the Polaris straps in the end and they work really well. Likewise if you’d like to give them a try, drop me a pm and I’ll send you some.

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There is a Classic Winter Jacket on SP sale in Chartreuse, looks like 2017. Am tempted as don't currently have a jacket for this cold weather since Gabba died - does anyone on here have a view on it? Any good?

I have an earlier iteration of this jacket for context. It's great for properly cold weather, but if things even approach mild-ish and you exert much effort you'll sweat your bollock or lady bollocks off. That said, I run warm. Also IMO the water resistantness of this is maybe oversold in the road.cc review. I'd be surprised if it was as waterproof as the reviewer said - if it was it would be even warmer.

Thus ends the #jackettalk

I've got one in orange. It's a great winter jacket, but yes, it is warm and it will let water through in heavy-ish persistent rain (at least mine does).

I had a protracted to-and-fro with Rapha about this, who insisted me getting wet inside it was down to sweat and the jacket needing re-treating to restore water resistance and breathability. I was mightily dubious about this, but did it anyway (Rapha gave me a £10 voucher for re-proofer that was never in stock) and it made no difference – it still lets rain through, IMO. I still quite like it for cold, crappy weather, though.

Agreed. It will keep you warm in the rain, but it won't keep you dry.

Agree - Classic Winter Jacket isnt really waterproof and rarely useable above 9 degrees but my go-to for Winter commuting.
With a baselayer underneath at the moment, a long sleeve baselayer when we get under 6 degrees and a longsleeve jersey when we get close to freezing. Will last for years, has decent pockets and looks great. The jacket to wear when it's raining and you HAVE to go out.

Thanks for the input everyone. Would be for commuting so not too much danger of overheating, only the opposite. Sounds like something slightly more waterproof would be better. I'd likely not wear it for any 'proper' riding in the wet - if its wet I just ride the turbo :)

Any advice on a more waterproof, similar fitting jacket in that price range? At the moment I have a crappy 13 quid pack a mac thing from mountain warehouse that's a bit like a sail if the wind hits me

Unless your commute is more than a couple of hours each way, I think the CWJ will be fine – it's only use in prolonged rain (eg 200k winter audax) that poses a problem.

I too mostly used my wildly expensive jacket for ~5 mile commutes (as I'm sure is the case for 85% of the customer base)

Haha in my defense my commute is 25km each way these days - the second half of which involves standing around waiting at lots of traffic lights. It's still likely overkill but #buyer gonna buy...

The classic jacket is made from polartec powershield pro, an incredible softshell. Which is by no means very waterproof. But it will go a long way to keeping you warm when wet.

After much looking - and my 5 year old pro team jacket starting to fail - I'm just going to get a dhb softshell, a variety of base layers and a gore shakedry for the commute - covers it all and plenty of #buyer opportunity.