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the ace of clubs
when i moved to islay over thirty years past, aside from a few distilleries, the island was notorious for one specific point, namely, it was allegedly host to more committees per head of population than any other similar community. quite who had carried out and verified this nugget of information, i know not, but i eventually lost count of the number of times i had this possibly apocryphal fact recited to me. as a hebridean newbie, i may have inadvertently contributed to the future; i joined more than just a single committee, flattered that, as a relative unknown, i had even been asked.
upon reflection, and with the benefit of hindsight, i seem to have fallen hook, line and sinker for this tactic, one that i have seen practised upon others recently arrived on islay's shores. rest-assured, it's many a long year since that one worked against me.
in relation to the above discussion, i may have mentioned once or twice, that i am distinctly not in favour of joining clubs. do not misunderstand, i'm not imposing this oddity upon others, simply yours truly. if push came to shove, i cannot deny i'd have a bit of a hard time explaining, and though committees cannot, strictly speaking, be defined as clubs, i tend to think the sentiment is pretty much the same. for that matter, though not the sole reason, i have so far refrained from applying to join the rapha cycle club or rcc.
i have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with rapha, pretty much since day one, but even i blanched at the price of admission asked for the club when originally formed several years past. the benefits then were certainly enticing, including a free espresso on every club visit, exclusive, monogrammed clothing, and the availability of a quality road bike for hire, should world travel preclude me from taking my own bicycle with me.
but in january of this year, rapha re-launched their cycle club, with a much-reduced entry cost of £70. not unnaturally, some of the benefits also changed in reflection of this lowered cost of admission. rapha sports an entire global network of physical clubhouses, and seem happy to persist with promotion of club membership allied to the existence of those myriad clubhouses. danny barnes is the man in charge at the rcc, so i asked him (rather bluntly, i admit), what he sees as the whole point of the rapha cycle club?
"Ultimately, the point of the club is two-fold. It's about being closer to Rapha, becoming a member of the brand and getting more of what you like in return. Secondly, it's about creating memories and friendships and being part of a community. After five years of the RCC, it's the memories and friendships forged amongst members, all over the world, that really matter. It's a lasting legacy and is truly life enhancing. It's the combination of these two that we strive to ensure all members can experience, or at least have access to".
as mentioned above, the club's early days commanded a substantially higher financial commitment, though given the average cost of rapha's quality apparel, it was possibly not too unseemly for the company's biggest fans. but at a price in close proximity of £200, it could hardly be described as 'inclusive'. arguably, the introduction of the lower-priced core range may have been a tenuous influence, but i asked danny what had been the reason for the substantial drop in the membership fee?
"We simply wanted to make membership the best value for money for as many people as possible, no matter where they live. Many of our members don't live in close proximity to a Rapha Clubhouse and they felt they were not able to gain the same value as those who do. To address this feedback, we reduced the price and evened out the benefits with changes to the coffee offer and bike-hire pricing and invested more in expanding the ride leader and partner café programme globally. This provides more people with the chance to meet and ride with other members in the club, while enhancing the global benefits of priority at Rapha, yet retaining clubhouses as hubs for members."
of course, as with the majority of clubs, the option exists not to join if you'd prefer not to; rapha have not decreed compulsory membership in order to purchase or wear their clothing. however, with a range of rcc specific clothing available only to members, along with exclusives (for instance, ef education first winter bibtights were initially available only to club members) and advance access to certain garments, is there not an inherent danger of encouraging what french cycing once described as 'deux vitesses'; a them and us mentality amongst rapha customers? for instance, is it possible that long-time customers of rapha who are disinclined to join up, are likely to feel disenfranchised by being excluded from the benefits afforded those willing to join?
"Certainly, this is something we have to be mindful of, and ensure does not manifest. We value all those who choose to buy from us or spend time with us, especially those who have been loyal to the brand for many years. Members will however always get more, which is true for membership to any club or brand, but we do try to ensure it's mostly in addition to the Rapha offering such as early access, reserved number of spaces or limited product, and we certainly don't treat people differently - everyone will receive the same standard and level of service."
nonetheless, there will be, undoubtedly, an amount of soul searching by prospective members, based on, as danny mentioned above, proximity to a bricks and mortar clubhouse. from a purely personal point of view, one no doubt shared by every scots rapha customer, with not a single rapha clubhouse situated north of the border (there are two in london, one in manchester and another in bicester), would i be likely to gain as much from my membership fee as friends and colleagues in the big smoke? i'd imagine there are similar situations in other locations across the world. do the benefits brought with membership of the revised rcc in any way mitigate this state of affairs? for instance, a free or discounted black and pink espresso is somewhat harder to come by north of the border.
"Indeed, as I mentioned, a key focus for us is to help ensure as many members as possible experience the club both globally and locally. We are achieving this through the member ride leaders (300 globally) and partner cafés (over 30). We already have one partner café in Edinburgh, Gamma, where discounted coffee is available to members and we intend to build on this in the near future. Our focus is to expand this to more and more cities worldwide where there is a concentration of members but no clubhouse or on the ground Rapha presence. While we won't be opening clubhouses in these cities, the ride leaders help bring members together and the partner café gives our members a base and place to meet, with more features in development in the (smartphone) app to bring this all together."
while danny mentions the dearth of clubhouses in certain regions of the world, it would be a naive cyclist who realistically expected otherwise. to once again take north of the border as an example, scotland's population stands at close to 5.5 million, yet 2018 statistics note that there are 8.9 million in london alone, a combinant of england's population of a smidgeon under 56 million. from a position of numerical superiority alone, that surely justifies england's four clubhouses, against scotland's none. bearing this in mind, are there plans to open more clubhouses throughout the world, or has the optimum number been reached for the time being?
"I am certain we will open more clubhouses in the future. Physical locations and being face to face with our customers is as important today as ever. Miami is the most recent example of this, becoming a permanent location over a year ago, following its success as a pop-up. You will see more of these pop-ups from us, such as that in Leeds in 2019. More are planned in the UK this year and around the world, and this is the first step towards proving that a permanent clubhouse will work in a particular city."
of course, it would be equally naive of rapha to simply follow the trend of most cycle manufacturers, many of whom seem content to offer a photo of their creation(s) with the subtext 'we make these. buy them'. having admitted that i have a distinct aversion to the joining any form of club, i can but assume, via the law of averages, that in this, i am not alone. statistically, therefore, there must be an entire clubhouse worth of individuals who would take a great deal of persuading to hand over their three-score and ten pound notes to imperial works. how would danny pitch membership to those who rarely, if ever, join clubs of any sort?
"This is a tough one to answer, because the reasons for someone joining or not joining are usually very individual, and the first step to pitching membership is about asking a lot of questions from that individual and seeing if there is a fit. That said, a common thread of why people join, is firstly because they like what we do and want to enjoy the early access to the best we offer. Secondly, it's the local and global nature of the club. Locally you can help shape it to fit you and the members around you, or maybe it's just an identity to ride with. Equally you can easily connect to the wider global community and be on the other side of the world or at an event like the Etape and have a ready-made group of people to ride with, or join an event and suddenly be off riding in places you never thought of ever going to. As with all clubs, it's what you make of it that will matter the most to you."
i cannot deny that i am in somewhat of a unique geographical instance, with relation to club membership. i have frequently suggested to rapha's ceo that a clubhouse in bowmore village really ought to be on the list, but currently, their partnership with edinburgh's gamma transport division places a rapha espresso on the opposite coast from the hebrides, some 200 miles plus a two hour ferry trip distant. and the chances of my joining a club ride are minimal, to say the least. despite this, one of my fellow sunday ride pelotoneers is a member, frequently cycling in full member's regalia, so all is probably not lost. if it seems like the very thing for you, danny is likely to be more than welcoming.
thursday 6 february 2020
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