Rapha, nice but a bit pricey?

Wow! A feedback loop of capitalism vs morality! I'm off to write the screenplay.

I'm only mucking about you know. It's just fun to poke holes in marketing bullshit.

So with that in mind here's how Rapha describe London bike messengers (taken completely out of context of course).

"They are true convicts of the road"

When I order mine I'm going for this option..... keepin' it real yo!

Fast Friday courier deliveries

Rapha customers can now choose an exclusive delivery option for those 'must have by the weekend' purchases: on Fast Fridays we will send your goods straight to you by bike courier.
This service is available on orders placed between mid-day on Thursday to 2pm on Friday, for delivery to the postcodes shown below.
The cost is just £20, and **the number of delivery slots is strictly limited **so you will need to get your order in quickly.

Strictly limited number of delivery slots? Eh?

I'm only mucking about you know. It's just fun to poke holes in marketing bullshit.

So with that in mind here's how Rapha describe London bike messengers (taken completely out of context of course).

"They are true convicts of the road"

Which shows that as well as knowing their marketing, they are also well aware of the history of cycle racing.
That phrase was of course first coined by the renowned French writer Albert Londres, writing about the 1924 Tour.

there are five pages of great editorial in this highly interesting and entertaining thread but my favourite thing in it has to be the lonely two tags:

'silkworm rape'

genius.

good on 'em. spoiling my fun. gits.

Mine too. And I had to change my shorts for size 30! I've been 32 for as long as I can remember! What a topsy turvy world we live in.

My 36 fit fine :(

Has anyone exploded in an indignant cloud of muesli yet? No doubt if they did Rapha would be quick to identify the consumer demand for a 'hippy hissy fit pouch' to pack the resulting mess of fair-trade sultana fallout into. As long as it's made from pure leopard arse flap I'll be happy.

think it's just one guy who does Fast Fridays...

"Convicts of the road"....could not be truer, the despatch industry (bike, motorbike and van) is well kown for being one of the easiest to get into if you've done time.

We're on page 5, I'd say it was brilliant value for money.

Page 6 after this one

which one?

why buy expensive rapha stuff when you can get the whole team

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/29761/Wanna-part-own-a-pro-bike-team

Cough £1000 and you could join 99 other folks in part owning the Rapha Condor team. Corporate memberships cost £10,000

http://www.highsnobiety.com/home/the_daily_news/archive/2008/september/08/rapha_bycicle_film_festival_cap/index.htm

anti-Rapha rant in 4-3-2-1........

we could raise a grand...lets do it! :D

i wonder if they get any say in how the team is run, and what dope is used

we could raise a grand...lets do it! :D

i'll throw in a tenner

i like it, i wonder how much over 50quid it costs

+1

list time, 10 quid entry

1.Chris Crash
2.Mjs
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list time, 10 quid entry

1.Chris Crash
2.Mjs
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x10

What's the point? The perks of the part-ownership is for an individual, so we wouldn't be able to share that amongst the thousands here.

Ownership:
25% = Rapha
25% = Condor
25% = Team management
25% = Team riders

Do you see the 'members' who pay 100 x £1k in there? Or the companies who pay £10k?

So you own nothing, you're just a member for a year.

So what does this buy you?

Well if you're buying the £1k membership then you have to be an individual and the perks are listed as:

• Exclusive team kit (jersey, shorts, cap)
  
• Access to team members' private website/intranet (communicate with riders, team management and fellow members to share tips)
  
• A yearly bike tune-up by Condor
  
• 10% personal discount at www.rapha.cc and Condor Cycles
  
• Access to Pro team training rides (15 rides a year, available for booking)
  
• Private members VIP area at three Rapha Condor Nocturnes for yourself and a friend
  
• VIP hospitality at the Tour of Britain (or an equivalent stage race)
  
• Members/team day in Spring (rides, talks, kit and meal)
  
• A race day in Rapha Condor team car during the 2009 season
  
  

How much of that is worth £1k?

What is laughable is that a tune-up by Condor is probably just a standard service.

The training rides, well why not just join London Dynamo and go out with the Elites on the non-stop, fast 8am Sunday ride over Surrey Hills? And they have a Majorca training camp too.

And the absolutely hilarious 10% personal discount at Condor Cycles, if it's anything like the 10% LCC discount at Condor won't evenget you a discount on Rapha, or Sidi, or Campagnolo, or pretty much any brand item.

So what on earth is the benefit? Qudos?

On the face of it it seems pretty shit but I bet once you've paid your money you get a well cool badge or a t-shirt or something else worth a grand.

I really like it. I bet it's as cheap as the other ones.

It'll be one of the cheap ones... £15 if it were printed... £20 because of the embroidery? It's just cotton, so it's not go any of the waterproof benefits of their £25 cap so they'd be hard-pushed to justify it for that price or above.