Alternatives to Rapha?

I reckon my Swrve jeans are the best pair of cycling trousers I own. The cordura denim seems to just go and go. I've gone through the crotch on one of their shorts though, didn't stop me buying more.
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I'll second that Jimmy, my Swrve 3/4 shorts I pretty much live in in spring summer, also got the Union 34 Schoeller trousers from Rutland Cyling for 20squid, 80%off! In their recent sale, really quite impressed. As for full-kit wankery, there was a time when roadie kit meant you would end up looking like a try-hard covered in logos that u quite frankly hadn't earned, a portly parody of the guys that cycle for a living. That meant that your only option was general sports kit or casual clothes, not aerodynamic and not windproof and when the only forces you're battling are friction and wind resistance this is just not acceptable! I mean why bother cycling at all if you're going to waste all that energy? Why get a bike with skinny little slick tires if you're going to act like a giant sail? Why pedal fast when the seams on the insides of your jeans are going to act like a cilice belt? Might as well just drive.

Rapha's niche is for people who want the performance of full-kit wankery without the full kit wankery. Yeah it's expensive but it's amazing how little you spend on anything else when you cycle for commuting, leisure and pleasure. And yes it is all marketing, but Rapha again is aimed at all those people who cycle not because they can't afford a car or the tube or the bus, but because they want to, because they love to. Those people need to be given a reason to want to get on their bike every day, and whether that reason is looking good (clothed and unclothed) or feeling prepared for all conditions or just trying out new kit, that vanity is motivation, which, in this world of creature comforts, cigarettes and alcohol, fast food and television, is absolutely priceless.