Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

K, so further to earlier discussion on Rapha sales strategy... point in case being email just sent out "easy to be green" features four brevet items as being in sale at up to 40% off.

Jacket. Not available in any size other than XS in that colour. Ditto purple. Black or yellow near full price.

Shorts. Only in XXL. All other colours available but full price.

Technical tee. Sold out, all colours.

Long sleeve Jersey. Available in green and purple, unavailable in all others.

So out of four featured items, and supposedly "easy to be green", only one available in any range of sizes on sale and in two pretty marmite colours. I find that a bit weird.

Yeah that’s shit

Speaking of bibs and tights - I was recently very surprised that pro team lightweight bibs didn't fit me even though i've been wearing brevet bibs of the same size for the last 2 years. My legs would get squeezed like those dried sausages and shoulder straps barely reached my shoulders.

I've read that pro team is a little bit "tighter race fit", didn't realise that it might be that tight. I've got brevet bibs and deep winter tights of the same size (M) and their fit is way different.

Yeah I don't know, their sizing continues to annoy and frustrate me. Especially as they don't provide actual measurements of the different ranges, you're left to guess what size you might be in one or the other with not that much to go on apart from what has fit you previously - until they change the cut and it's all wrong again.

For example, as you describe, the 'pro team' stuff isn't just a racing cut and therefore skin-tight, it's just an undetermined amount smaller all-round. I don't get how anyone thought doing such an intransparent mix of sizes in their ranges was a good idea. But then, it's not exactly exclusive to Rapha, I'm having some such issues with other brands as well.

i.e cargo bibs shorts "up to 30 percent off" but in practice only dark green in XL.

I ordered a set of these in their last sale to see if I could get away with the dark green (because it was the only colour on sale too) - was way too green, have no idea what anyone would wear them with. No wonder they were trying to get rid of them. Sent them back & did eventually snag some dark blue ones on eBay which is a much more versatile colour for my cycling wardrobe.

It could be that they come from different suppliers. It’s difficult to maintain size continuity when products are made in several factories

Yeah fair enough - I'm seeing this exclusively from a customer point of view. The thing is, even with different suppliers and different sizes etc., it'd be nice if they provided more accurate sizing guides for the different existing ranges, rather than just the one. Basically transparency in their inconsistency...

Take a look at swissiconic , (assos) they send out alot of emails where hardly anything is in stock.

It's a weird shade-a bit too Ag2r for me and I like green but yeah, wouldn't go with anything other than full kit same colour or black.

Was in Amsterdam over the festivities and the wife pointed out the Rapha store on day one of the sale.
Got speaking to one of the guys who was really friendly and helpful managed not to buy anything.
They had some great Canyons with eTap groupsets. I had no idea they were so cheap although picking one up city centre might be a pain...

Limited to 200 pieces? A little plain and tbh I was hoping it would have been a skinsuit instead of a jersey...

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Rasmussen MIB kit tribute LOLZ

Seems like the system is broken if you to buy just ‘one’ with this message:

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And on that note, we are sold out completely. What are the chances we will see these pop up on eBay this time next week?

Who gives a fuck?

my hero.
x

I got some Rapha stuff from Sportspursuit where the stitching has all come out. Who should I be contacting to get it fixed (obviously I'd prefer to go to Rapha but I don't know what their view is on dealing with Sportpursuit stuff).

Repairs are only valid on Rapha.cc purchases.

However, your consumer rights are still in tact and you have a contract with SP as the retailer who will look after you.

Cheers, I thought so. A bit annoying as I assume it will have to back to Rapha for repair anyway (or, more likely I suspect, Sportspursuit will have taken them cheaply on a no returns basis and I'll just spend ages arguing with them).

Assume it must be seconds or something going through sportspursuit as quality was noticeably worse than stuff bought direct from Rapha.

I tore my beloved transfer jacket and the repairs service can’t help. Any recommendations for something non-rapha but similar? Spendy or not so spendy

Where’s/how bad is the tear? In light of recent changes with the rapah repair system is it worth trying somewhere else to repair it?

It’s a couple inch tear, right along the seam of the logo armband bit. It caught on a scaffolding bolt, made a right mess of it. I know a seamstress, I guess I should put it under her nose before I give up on it

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The Arcteryx Atom LT is pretty good if you can’t fix.

https://outdoor.mcnett.eu/outdoor/tenacious-tape/

That’s nothing, should be easily repairable. She might be able to find some material elsewhere on the jacket to make a patch out of, depends how vain you are really. Simply sewing over it with similar colour thread would be sufficient to seal it up and be barely noticeable.

Can’t believe they’ve turned you away, I’ve seen them repair way worse, another sign of things to come.

I had a tumble and took some chunks out of my down jacket this morning, going to cover the worst hole with a hipster patch.