Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

The button falling off my trousers (before I'd eaten)

This happened to me. Twice. Well, once each on two pairs of trousers.

cool story bro.

Things not to buy:

• gloves, smell bad quickly, impossible to wash well. V expensive
  
  
  

Would have to disagree with you on some of the points about gloves. I guess it depends on which gloves your talking about but my R+PS track gloves are the best summer (even though I'm still wearing them in november) full finger gloves i've ever bought. There really soft and hard wearing leather which fit really well, with all the reinforcement/padding in the right place
I've had mine for six weeks now and they don't smell at all. My experince with leather gloves is that they hardly smell at all even with some heavy sweating (probably due to leather's antibacterial properties) . It was the clarino palms on my Charge oven gloves that began to honk, not the leather backs
As far as being impossible to wash well, I discovered you can safely put leather gloves in the washing machine without any ill effects(I put the oven gloves in the wash as the clarino palms stunk so much) as long as you dont use any detergent and feed the leather daily for about five days after - I used granger leather glove balm
I agree with you that they're too expensive at full price and got mine in the clearance

Things not to buy:

• caps, really don't like the cut they use and.. honestly they are just caps - caps die so don't buy expensive ones
  
• touring shorts - swrve are SO much better.
  
  

Wrong.

Gentleman's cap is excellent and has been a great buy, much nicer cut than the usual casquettes.

Touring shorts were another great buy, a little 'tight' at the top, but nice cut, weight, stretch.

Both the epitome of nice but a bit pricey tbh.*

*other than the fact the small caps are now only a tenner.

Frankly, the Rapha cap despite being expensive is worth every penny, especially when it doesn't smell and very comfortable even after a 100 miles ride.

easy to wash too which is great.

The Rain jacket is really good but too hot to ride in unless it's fucking pissing down. I also doubt he rain proof coating will last past a wash/dry or half season of rain.

Hmmm, that's interesting. I'd be keen to know if anyone has had issues with the proofing?

The leather gloves look nice (but a bit pricey)

^^ I have an old Stowaway (bought from the classifieds here) and the waterproofing has totally gone. I know the Stowaway/Wind jacket isn't a proper waterproof, but this is soaked through the second it gets hit by even the lightest drizzle...less waterproof than the winter jersey or even a regular jersey. Saying that, it's still one of my favourite bits of kit and if something happened to it, I'd buy a new wind jacket to replace it in a heartbeat.

Just ordered some Nickwax stuff that I'm hoping will revive the Stowaway.

Do you like it because of the fit Sanddancer?

All waterproof clothing needs to be reproofed.

^^ I have a wind jacket bought in the sample sale and it's among the things I wear the most. Versitile across a range of temperatures means it gets used 3 seasons easily. Not thick enough for the coldest days, but otherwise great. True that it's not waterproof.

Yep, the fit is perfect for me. Fits over jerseys etc as an outler layer, but is still 'fitted'. One of the few jackets that are good in the arms for me. I'm tall (6'6") and normally suffer from cold arms/wrists in most long sleeve tops. These are long enough and have the neoprene cuffs that keep the arms in place and stop them riding up and letting a cold wind rush up the arm.

And it works over such a temperature range that unless it's going to get really cold or properly wet (assuming it's properly proofed) it's the only thing I need to carry. And because it packs so small and light, I tend to have it with me a great deal of the time, even if the chance of bad weather is remote. It's a cliche, but the best jacket is the one you have with you.

Another thing for me is that I have tattooed arms that I like to keep out of the sun. A lot of the time I ride in the Stowaway, open or closed, just because it's more convenient than sun cream or arm warmers.

Rapha stuff i've used and like very much...Team Mitts, Stowaway, Touring Shorts, Socks, Bibs, Bomber Jacket, Base Layers.

That said, I wouldn't buy any of it outside of a sample sale execpt Bibs and Team Mitts.

^^ I have an old Stowaway (bought from the classifieds here) and the waterproofing has totally gone. I know the Stowaway/Wind jacket isn't a proper waterproof, but this is soaked through the second it gets hit by even the lightest drizzle...less waterproof than the winter jersey or even a regular jersey. Saying that, it's still one of my favourite bits of kit and if something happened to it, I'd buy a new wind jacket to replace it in a heartbeat.

Just ordered some Nickwax stuff that I'm hoping will revive the Stowaway.

Could you report back as to how successful the reproofing is? I am in the same position and would be keen to know if works out.

^ if you buy the right product and follow the instructions IT WORKS.

Will do. Hope to have the stuff and have it proofed by the weekend. Hope it'll be a long time after that before I'll be able to comment of the effectiveness of the treatment ;)

Nikwax Tech Wash and TX Direct are what I've gone for.

The leather gloves look nice (but a bit pricey)

it is very good, very comfortable, the best thing is that I can feel the shifter properly, which is nice as generally with thick glove it hard to feel the modulation of the brakes.

Can you explain what modulation of brakes means? Thanks.

Nikwax Tech Wash and TX Direct are what I've gone for.

You can also use Granny's soap flakes instead of theTech wash to save a couple of quid. I use em to wash my montane featherlite and they work great

^ True.

Can you explain what modulation of brakes means? Thanks.

*trollface

Sie haben ein Problem?

Would have to disagree with you on some of the points about gloves. I guess it depends on which gloves your talking about but my R+PS track gloves are the best summer (even though I'm still wearing them in november) full finger gloves i've ever bought. There really soft and hard wearing leather which fit really well, with all the reinforcement/padding in the right place
I've had mine for six weeks now and they don't smell at all. My experince with leather gloves is that they hardly smell at all even with some heavy sweating (probably due to leather's antibacterial properties) . It was the clarino palms on my Charge oven gloves that began to honk, not the leather backs
As far as being impossible to wash well, I discovered you can safely put leather gloves in the washing machine without any ill effects(I put the oven gloves in the wash as the clarino palms stunk so much) as long as you dont use any detergent and feed the leather daily for about five days after - I used granger leather glove balm
I agree with you that they're too expensive at full price and got mine in the clearance

Made the mistake of buying the white one's... They do not stay white.

The other gloves I had were the pro team ones - which are very nice but stitching and stretchy back panel smell bad very quickly - also bought in white, also a big mistake.

Each to his own and all that

Wrong.

see above :P

thick glove - not being able to feel the brake/shifter properly.

bugger off damos.