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@Velocio
Disclosure: I've been given a couple of items by Rapha, a pair of shorts and a shirt. I've also had a faulty Softshell replaced by a newer one.
The thing is, I'd largely stopped buying Rapha in 2008/2009 when my second Softshell developed faults (the first had too). So I've not really experienced any of the newer items or the evolution of their products in the last few years, and then my quitting work to do a startup changed my financial circumstances so much that I was pretty much out of the game anyway.
Having bumped into and pestered Simon, he's gracefully furnished me with an outfit that will leave me looking semi-professional (in a business sense and not the Team Sky sense) when I turn up for meetings on a bicycle.
What is really surprising to me, is just how much the products have improved in the last few years.
The shirt, being the short-sleeve Gingham, is incredibly well cut. Basically it's much like an Italian slim cut shirt, bettering the recent efforts of Fred Perry and Ben Sherman. It's also a thinner and finer cotton, with a little stretch to it so that is still fits great when hunched forward.
Actually I really like the shirt, when I start earning some money again (when Microcosm has revenue enough for me to do so), I can see me basically furnishing my wardrobe exclusively of these shirts. Short sleeve shirts are a bitch to find at the best of times, and only Liberty occasionally match this quality.
The shorts, standard 3/4 length. Unfortunately for my mental well-being my waist size has expanded to 34", but rather pleasantly the Rapha shorts have a slimming effect. They're as good as they ever were, but they've fixed the excess fabric around the crotch that would sometimes catch on the saddle, and they've adjusted the cut of the legs so that there is far less bunching of the fabric. Basically, they've perfected an already good item.
And finally the Softshell. Which is the single item that put me off Rapha for a very long time. I'm the type of customer that never sends an item back, even with the free and lifetime warranty, I expect it to be right the first time, and after the first one disappointed me I had just purchased a second one. That second one also developed faults, and basically this meant I wasn't going to buy anything else from them and I'd vocally re-tell how it fell apart whenever the opportunity arose.
The faults they originally had affected two areas: 1) The zip, 2) The thumb-hole and seams around the end of sleeves. The latter being the most devastating, if you used the thumb-holes in winter, it pulled the seams apart around the thumb holes and that slowly ripped apart the rest of the end of the arms.
The new soft-shell has addressed both of those issues. The zip is basically not as fine as the earlier models and feels more reliable because of it. And the thumb-holes are gone... which is a bloody good thing as they really ruined the older version. Instead there's now a grippy cone of light fabric that forms the wind shield.
Otherwise, the cut is slightly improved, the under arm air vents I can't recall being so long (were they even there in the early models?), and the angle of the bias cut zip seems to have changed (which feels less silly around the top of the jacket).
Another perfecting of a good (but in my opinion, originally fault-ridden) item.
Anyhow, I've re-joined the Rapha-wearing cycle crowd, and given that this is all very under-stated and well-made stuff, I'm quite pleased.
Thanks to Simon for the generosity and Kati for dispatching it.