Important distinction...Rapha isn't being bought by the vultures of Walmart...they're being bought the vultures who run and own Walmart. Which is an improvement, how exactly?**
**At a a guess...a tax dodge. Unsurprising searching for "RZC Investments" turns up a whole lot of nothing more than 24 hours old.
Isn't Rapha for the poor people who can't afford Assos? lol j/k
Jokes aside, I've never found any of their (Rapha) clothing interesting enough for purchase. They remind me of the fake Chinese stuff that sell on ebay.
Pretty much every cyclist I know, heck, every human I know, would consider Rapha to snobby for them and themselves to snobby for Walmart. So if they two offset each other and meet in the middle they may have a pretty big market.
I don't consider Rapha too snobby. I consider Rapha to be poorly styled and overpriced, so I don't buy any... Of course, I don't shop at WalMart either - for completely different reasons.
Walmart and Rapha...definitely a funny sounding combination. The two Walton's who are behind it are quite into mtn biking and I think have been instrumental in creating a lot of biking opportunity in Arkansas. I think their foundation also donated a lot of money to a greenway in that area.
It's all pretty fun till you realize WalMart won't own any part of this nor will Sam Walton's Grandsons have an active role at least as planned currently.
"RZC Investments is backing Rapha founder Simon Mottram and his leadership team to deliver the next phase of their strategy. The acquisition will allow Rapha to roll out its Clubhouse network, Membership club and range of products and services, expand its reach globally and strengthen its leadership position in cycling. Simon Mottram will remain as Chief Executive and has retained a significant part of his stake in the business."
I own no Rapha kit and that is unlikely to change going forward.
Outside of on TV, I've never seen anyone wearing Rapha, I've just laughed at the prices and could care less who owns them. Who in their right mind would spend $200 on a plastic shirt?
There are actually a ton of brands that are in that same price range (basically all of the trendy ones). It's not just Rapha by any means. People pick on them, but most of the companies pretty much cost the same. What I guess I chuckle at a bit, is that you can typically still wear the same stuff or similar at a reasonable/reduced price if you just catch it on closeout sale on a number of the big online retailers. Why pay a marked up MSRP for a jersey or bibs? To each his own though.
Most of my stuff (proteam) line is not made in China... I don't know or care about the lower end stuff. I have dozens of Rapha items and I think it's the shoes that are made in china
There's a lot of people around me who wear Rapha, and swear by it. I don't own any of it, but I have no reason to believe it's not good quality. There's no rule that says something can't be both marketing to "trendiness" and be of good quality.
I don't think anyone has derided the quality of Rapha products. Some folks are just turned off by their snobbish image. If folks like Rapha, regardless of the reason, that is fine with me
Here's a pretty good article on the whole topic. They do a nice job of exploring why Rapha became popular in the first place and how they made so much money kind of out of nowhere.
atleast according to the 2min of video I watched.. they changed the design (good) and they took back the climbers jersey that kept ripping (good) Somewhere I have a climbers jersey from a couple years back but I think I have only worn it once or twice and the heaviest thing I carry in a side pocket would be an iPhone. I like Rapha Proteam generally...but if they make a shitty product then it's shitty. I think the proteam lightweight bib shorts are shitty and I will not buy them again. The shoulder straps are too thin and rip.
But the problem is that they use the public as beta testers without them knowing. As he says in the video, none of their gear can be trusted until you test it yourself. As you mention, there's other problems with bibs and other pieces of theirs.
Almost as if they completely lack any real R&D, opting instead to suck the cash out of their customer base and make them the test subjects.
(bad)
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