Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

Lovely gang in the manchester store. And they get donuts from a local bakery that are (excuse the swear) fucking immense.

Saw a new brand stocked in Cyclesurgery with bibshorts using a very very familiar Cytech pad for £100

Spokesman clothing

with the new Core line out at similar lower price and repair services etc dunno if similar pad is enough to not buy rpaha

Ghost Jersey "Made with Coldblack® fabric, pioneered by Team Sky"
I wonder if Rapha and/or Team Sky are happy with that wording ?

The shorts look kind of familiar too..

Wow, dat photoshopping...

The 'Ghost Jersey' seems to have something to do with the dead cyclist Anthony Smith and his ghost bike which is on Middleton Road

do the arm screens come up smaller than the arm warmers? I'd like to buy my gf a pair of the pink arm screens but the xs arm warmers I got her are too large so I guess the small arm screens would be far too large right?

I take the same size in both, the screens have a more 'compressed' feel to them, I prefer them as they don't slip down my cyclist arms like the classics do. Rapha offer free returns so you can always give them a go and send back if you don't like them.

I have the same problem with the classic arm warmers, too loose at the top.
I guess they're aware of the problem, hence the recent give away (with a jersey)

The 'Ghost Jersey' seems to have something to do with the dead cyclist Anthony Smith and his ghost bike which is on Middleton Road

How come? Did they know him?

Dat lack of proof-reading on the text on the site...

Reflective climber shoes!? Just for RCC members!? Booo....

Commuter slippers

The Mrs has a 20% off Jerseys code going spare...

just buy the almost certainly superior Giros?

Decided to treat myself to some Rapha, went to the Brewer Street shop, @Señor_Bear had decided to shut it. Will try another day, seams or no seams.

I thought the Rapha shoes are based on Giros - so you'd be getting the same shoe, but cheaper.

Giro make the shoes, but the reflective Empires are very different to the Rapha shoes, even if only in closure systems (and I think they're less alike that similar).

Yeh, Empire is a different model to Apex / Prolight or whatever the Rapha reflecto shoes are based on.

I have the reflecto Giro's, they are extremely comfortable, big fan of them.

I'm never one to complain about retail staff because everyone's just trying to do their job, but honestly the tall asian guy at the Spitalfields store was just plain fucking rude. I'm sorry I can't be an adonis like him but to laugh in my face when I told him my size and then tell me I'd never fit into that (while I'm stood there wearing it) was beyond pale. My girlfriend was quite annoyed as up until then we'd been enjoying a pleasurable shopping experience.

Learnt my lesson, rapha is beyond the realms of people like myself. Went and bought a pair of Dickies instead.

pair of Dickies instead

Slim straight model - marvellous piece of clothing (and has repair service like Rapha).

Yeah, cost me half the price too. Shop staff in Goodhood were cooler than Moe-Dee as well. Funny you'd expect pretentiousness in a clothing boutique rather than a sports shop but hey I guess it's a new era.

That's a shocker. I'd definitely email to complain - that's totally out of order. Can't imagine Rapha would be happy. For what it's worth, I've found the staff at the Soho branch really helpful. (Had the opposite experience, as it goes - one of them suggested I try a size smaller when I was overcompensating for the beer gut.)

Rode the Tour de Yorkshire this weekend. Perfect workout for my new(ish) wind jacket. Whoever it was on here that said it was the best thing that Rapha makes wasn't far off - very impressed.