Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

I'd be embarrassed to wear rapha tbh - it's not just the rapha clad city types grunting up box hill on lurid carbon that puts me off - it's the branding of cycling history and culture - the idea that a product can be somehow associated with the great cols, the great riders, the heroics and tragedy of great races etc... I actually find their brand and marketing crap a bit of an insult to the sport and its heritage tbh.

Of course great races have nothing to do with selling anything... apart from the fact that the Tour de France was started to sell more copies of L'Auto and the Giro was started to sell more copies of La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Professional cycling only exists because of branding.