Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

Depends if you are riding 5mi to the pub or 100mi out in the sticks.
If Rapha made decent cycling kit, one of the pro teams would be using it.

is that the case? it was my understanding that teams use the kit that the manufacturers pay them to use. therefore rapha would have to stump up shitloads of cash to get a pro team wearing it.

that's how it works with the bikes, at least.