..........................................................................................................................................................................................................
rapha custom
cycling strikes me as one of the few sports/activities designed to scare the heck out of all those who decide to indulge. let's face it, if you're a soccer player, 'tis but a simple matter of wearing the jersey of your preferred team (with your own name on the back, obviously) for kicking a ball about. if you play for a team, there will be jerseys available for the corporate image. few of us intent on following the antics of our cycling heroes find the price of admission to be quite so simple.
the obvious solution would be to acquire a yellow jersey for pootling about with the sunday morning crew, but only if you are willing to suffer the slings and arrows of adherents of velominati's rules. unfortunately, those rules usually extend to the wearing of team kit, so despite championing the early season victories of the impossibly named deceuninck - quick step, there will always be one midst that sunday peloton who takes a dim view of team kit on non-team members.
but then, there's always the apparel rails at the back of the nearest bicycle shop; but where to start? we've all been there, and it's not just jerseys. my first pair of cycling tights made the rapha/education-first jersey look like a drab pair of your grandmother's curtains. going out riding at the end of a long day was less a means of relaxation and more a way of hiding from the gaze of any who might see me. and in the case of footwear, should one head straight to the clipless and bypass the toe-clip altogether? and if so, road or offroad? do you even know what kind of pedals the bike shop recommended?
we've all been there, even if we don't all admit it.
but let us assume that perseverence has got the better of us; we've either resorted to jeans and a tee-shirt, pretending that we know no better, or simply listened to the bike shop advice and arrived idiosyncratically clad, but willing to indulge in velocipedinal perambulations. however, at some point in time, it is going to occur to the great unwashed that here gathers, each and every sunday morn, a group of like-minded individuals, spearated only by a wide disparity in speed. and wouldn't it be a wizard wheeze if everyone was dressed in similar fashion, even if that extended purely to the jersey region.
i'm tempted once again to say 'we've all been there', but that might be very far from the truth. the velo club, having commenced battle in an ardbeg distillery jersey, decided to become less generic and are currently on the second iteration of a debbie's jersey. however, based purely on the club rule book (there are no rules), any form of dress code is very far from being formalised. i do not recall that last time more than two of us were to be seen in team kit.
let's face it, heading down the "why don't we design our own jersey?" path can be fraught with as many problems and foibles as the faux pas of wearing a yellow jersey. it's hard enough to get two cyclists to agree to anything, let alone a whole peloton and even if someone's a dab hand with a graphics software programme, how do you all come to a collective decision? and can you even agree on a singular means of letting everyone see the design possibilities?
and then there's the branding. on my first visit to portland's fair city, i was introduced to members of hup united, whose jerseys were manufactured by vermarc in order to maintain the faux belgian persona, beloved of the hup peloton, across road and cyclocross. so when time comes to design and order a new team kit, you may wish to acquire garmentage that sports the logo of your preferred apparel provider. until today,were your affections to have resided solely with the chaps and chapesses in london's tileyard road, to put it bluntly, you were out of luck, unless your local peloton happened to be education first or rapha canyon.
launching today is rapha custom, a curated online opportunity to not only acquire a full set of custom rapha kit, but squirrel through the many design options and colours available. not only can you choose from plain, stripes, hoops, diagonals, patterns, pantone colours, upload club logos and add text here, there and everywhere, but you can keep checking the possibilities until you arrive at something on which everyone appears to agree. one mouse or trackpad click will then tell rapha to go ahead and make as many or as few as you need.
and its not just jerseys. though there are both pro-team and classic jerseys available, you can currently accessorise with accompanying gilets, bibshorts and arm warmers. aside from jersey and bibs, the press kit arrived with socks, musette, cap and essentials case, all of which are likely to arrive sooner rather than later (these appear not to be available at launch). and though the minimum order of five s/s jerseys at pro-team or classic level will cost a minimum of £110 each, that price drops dramatically to £75 if you head north of 100. if those prices currently give cause for a sharp intake of breath, coming soon is the lower-cost core range along with leg warmers, knee warmers and long-sleeve jerseys. the most obvious omission at present would appear to be bibtights and jackets, none of which currently appear on the price-list.
as you can see from some of the accompanying illustrations, i have taken advantage of previewing the online design module (if rapha want to send me one of those to try, i promise to wear it on as many sundays as i can).
rapha custom has been a long time in the works, often promised, but never quite arriving. i have come across many rumours over the years and i even have a personally customised team sky kit in the wardrobe, featuring my name on the side panels along with the scottish saltire, that was sent to promote a launch that never quite happened. but it is here now, something for which many a sunday peloton and wednesday evening chain gang has been clamouring.
some lucky folks were kitted out by rapha custom last season, one of which was the richard sachs cyclocross team. according to richard...
"The goal was to get the correct materials, the optimum fits, and the exact colours and graphics dialled. Everyone on our side of the pond has been extremely happy with the style, durability, and technical aspects of each garment used throughout the season. I've lost count of how many people have turned to compliment us, only to mention how envious they were that we looked so darned elegant from head to toe."
knock yourselves out.
wednesday 6 march 2019
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................