Rapha launches Core range with £75 jersey and £100 bib shorts

jimt wrote:

I'm no Rapha apologist but one thing to my mind that is often overlooked is the free repair or replacement program.

Only one "trip" down the road in slippery winter roads and the kit is then not so expensive!

throw in a bit of judicious sales shopping, and you're away. One year I bought a winter jersey, which went on sale the next day. They gave me the difference as a voucher, which I used towards getting a pair of half-price shoes, for about £90. The carbon sole edges cracked, so they replaced them with a new pair

You could try that with Castelli or Torm. There's an undoubted marketing element to it all, but I don't care, you can get it cheap, it'll do the job marvellously, and they'll take care of it if it goes wrong, whoevers fault that is ....

Yeah, I'm underwhelmed too. I was expecting something fancy to keep my core warm and instead we have a piece of kit that doesn't seem to differ much from what the competition offers for that price.  

Interesting that they didn't promote this at the same time as their more typical Rapha products.

stenmeister wrote:

Interesting that they didn't promote this at the same time as their more typical Rapha products.

 

Why is it interesting? And they did announce it at the same time, they've staggered the releases of the Spring/Summer kit. The new Pro Team  items will be next.

peted76 wrote:

Massive hype, however I personally am utterly underwhelmed by the kit.

Summed up by 'Alex Valdman - Rapha Head of Design' himself, on their site... "That was the real challenge – how do you take something that is supposed to be so toned-down but still make it very interesting?"

Answer: as there is Zero innovation here, you look to the marketing/pr team to make it interesting.

I can't see how this move by them will do anything other than undercut their more expensive kit sales. People have already moved from buying 'full price' Rapha to buying 'sale priced' Rapha kit (on the bell curve). I'm not a hater of Rapha, I'm a big fan of a lot of their kit who sees the stuff as 'aspirational' gear to own.

I've just had my expecations mis-managed by product managers and marketeers with targets to hit. If they'd have just said, 'we've made some cheaper gear to give  everyone the chance to own the best kit' it'd have been far more appealing to their existing customer base.

 

I think I've just trolled... I need to get a life....

I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm really surprised to see this happen; it reminds me a great deal of Apple's move into the "Performa" range back in the early 90s where they diluted the brand at a time when the company was already struggling. The Core range will undoubtedly allow more people to access the armband; it'll also stink as it's made of polyester. Not stinking is one of the key attractions of the merino blend Rapha kit I've now had for well over 5 years and done an awful lot of riding in. 

I'm sure they know exactly what they're doing but, IMHO, it's a major dilution of what you point out quite rightly to be an aspirational brand. I do wonder if there's a move afoot here to pacify investors or something similar who want to see bigger numbers.

bristol2brisbane wrote:

Look at Torm Jersery's, Sports wool, better looking, cheapier and comes without the Rapha "tag".

Torm are great. Need to make their pockets deeper though. Far too shallow. 

Paul J wrote:

I can get a pure wool jersey for that price elsewhere.

Well done. Here's a medal.