Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

Rapha is iconic, man. It hasn't changed, we've changed. We got old. All we are is dust in the wind, dude. Dust. Wind. Dude. Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

This is pretty much it. Rapha is iconic. They are the reason brands like PAS and other upmarket brands exist. As a young poor b-stard, I sneered whenever they were brought up. Now I can appreciate the quality on offer (at sale prices). I remember pre Rapha cycling clothing market and it was uninspired. That weirdo complaining the owners are Republican when Rapha has a pretty in your face left leaning Diversity and Inclusion stance is hilarious. Their quality is less consistent than 10 years ago I grant you, and I'm not a fan of the latest colourways but no one is going to buy classic designs over and over to sustain their business. How many black jerseys with an white armband does one need? Fashion is a hard enough business, you evolve or you die at 44x P/E .

Delivery - there does seem to be some hold up in despatch these days. I don't blame delivery delays on Rapha but I do take umbrage with them continuing to use Evri.

Returns - Evri took my return and did jack all with it for 10 days. Chatted with Rapha CS and they refunded me on the spot. Their CS is top notch.

I had a crash on the weekend and tore holes in my Shakedry (tears), the crash repair team came back and said it wasn't repairable but offered me a very generous voucher for my next purchase. They didn't have to do that - thats an accident they had no hand in.

Criticize their price points, designs, and somewhat corny marketing, but their customer service is top notch and their kit is still really nice, thought out, technically very good (shake dry and fur insulated gilets are my fave) and you know they stand behind their products.