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TECH NEWS
Rapha takes aim at bikepacking market with new Apidura collaboration
Rapha has today launched a new bikepacking range, consisting of a Saddle Pack (£105) and Handlebar Pack (£85), developed in collaboration with Apidura, a British company that specialises in bikepacking products.
Rapha describes its latest venture into the rapidly growing bikepacking market as a “natural progression for the Brevet range," its range of clothing designed for long distance cycling and Audax type events. It has also coined the hashtag #packlighttravelfar.
- Review: Apidura Saddle Pack (mid size)
Bikepacking has gone mainstream. It has taken off as an alternative to the traditional method of fitting racks and panniers to a bike and originally grew out of mountain biking where it is pretty much impossible to fit a rack to a mountain bike.
- Apidura Mountain Frame Pack (Large)
With the rise of gravel and adventure bikes and events like the Transcontinental, a long-distance unsupported race where the emphasis is on travelling fast and light, bikepacking is only going to get more popular. I even saw a large number of bikepacking bags being used in the 200km Dirty Reiver gravel race a couple of months ago.
Some of the reasons for the appeal of bikepacking is because the packs as a whole are lighter than a traditional rack and pannier setup, and that’s important when you’re racing against the clock or competitors. The packs don’t impact handling, they’re more flexible and you could even argue they’re more aerodynamic than a pair of panniers.
Apidura, if you’ve never heard of them, is one of the leading names in this blossoming market. It’s a British company and Rapha is making the most of its expertise and adding its usual style, and some might say price premium. The Rapha packs are about the same price as the regular Apidura packs we’ve tested on road.cc, however.
The two packs are designed to fit on any bicycle easily, using a system of adjustable straps and buckles, and means you can fit them to any bike, even a carbon race bike, that doesn’t have eyelets for fitting a rack. There are three attachment points for security.
- Buyer’s guide to gravel and adventure bikes plus 16 of the best
A four-layer laminated water resistant material is used to construct the packs and it’s also claimed to be durable and lightweight. A synthetic rubber is used for all the fastening points and roll-top closures.
The packs are finished with the distinctive white and pink bands used on the Brevet jersey - the white band is made from a reflective fabric. Further reflective material is added to the shock cords and outer webbing. The Saddle Pack has an additional bungee cord on the top and a rear light attachment point.
This partnership with Apidura is the latest in a long line of collaborations that has seen the London-based clothing market move into new markets. There were the Giro shoes, Bang & Olufsen headphones and Carl Zeiss sunglasses.
You can check out the range at http://pages.rapha.cc/stories/rapha-apidura
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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27 comments
Only slightly tongue in cheek - audax, beards etc are hip because they are unhip. Read "the ladybird guide to the hipster" for more guidance
I'm so glad they've managed to print "pack light, travel far" somewhere on it. Hopefully there's also a "this way up" and "remember to pedal or you might fall over".
Touring and style should should go hand in hand better than any other ride. Think it's a nice direction for Rapha. Easy rides, coffee stops, bars, restaraunts. AirBnBs, meeting people, photography, beautiful scenery.
The idea that you have to look like a hippy to go exploring is a bit dated.
Out of the three pack concepts (saddle, bar, frame) I would only fully recommend the saddle bag.
On a road bike the bar bag is limited by the width of your bar MINUS the place needed for shifting, so on the Lotus with DA 7900 that left me enough volume to protect a bag of Walker crips - for a hefty price tag (I bought the waterproof one at Condor Cycles). The bag has been moved to the C40 with 6770 electronic shifting leaving a big more room).
The frame bag is limited in width as well unless you have O-legs. Not wide enough for my beloved Leica M-series even with a collapsable 50 mm lens. Nice for smaller things though.
The saddle bag gives the most space and is easy to mount and to remove. Simply stuff in the stuff and you're good to go.
Travel light: Just returning from a short trip, using the medium saddle bag and a back pack. I noticed a two things:
1) You'll always bring stuff, you're not going to use. I was wearing my brevet long sleeve on both days with/without vest.
2)You'll always forget something. I just say Sudo creme. No comments please.
I've spent the weekend with them already
in my opinion they do look nicer than standard apidura - the pink/white combo is very visible in poor light, and adds extra visibility for reflected light.
as someone who values that extra visibility, I have to say I think it's probably worth the extra money.
the size could be an issue for some, but with an ethos of 'pack light, travel far', i think they force the rider to make decisions about what to carry - and that works for me. I've got bags that are double the capacity and the more I have the more i fill, and the more i fill the more I faff and spend time not racing (transcontinental and this week coming around Ireland), so in my mind they help give clarity to decision making (again, that's good to me, i cant imagine it will be good for everyone!).
"this week coming around Ireland" @themartincox - thought I recognised your name....good luck in Adrian O'Sullivan's http://www.transatlanticway.com. Awesome work ahead, racing over 2500km!
It promises to be a great race, with a really strong starting line up. Looking forward to tracking it on http://trackleaders.com/transatlantic16.
Have a great ride on the #transatlanticway
It's easy to be dismissive of the big R, I know I have and I own a fair amount of their kit. Tbf though the Brevet clothing range has been going for 3/4 years? I do think the Raphael version looks better than the Adipura std which are a bit "dull" (yes they're bags, sorry packs, for bikes). Even so I wouldn't pay an extra £25 for the better looks/branding. Put I'll probably buy Alpkit packs anyway.
Can't but think how dumb this is for Rapha. Audaxing and touring is so unrapha. And I'm glad for that!
Not really, they're quite into big adventure-style rides and tours, all over the world. Can't quite understand why people would be 'glad' that they're not interested in such things.
And let's not forget the numerous PBP rides their employees have done. And, one would assume, the required audax style event beforehand.
How very "unrapha" indeed.
Their Brevet range is designed for long rides and a lot of the Rapha films also feature touring so I would also agree that this fits in well with the Rapha brand.
Actually their Brevet range is the one range I use the most, as it is useful for commuting as well.
I love my Brevet jersey. It seems to suit so many days on the bike, including commuting.
There is a quite lot of rapha wearing in Audax circles - it's not all beards and sandals. They did a nice write up of the Brain Chapman 600 on their site somewhere.
While I don't buy it myself (in both senses) Rapha have pretty much earnt their place in the cycosphere by now and are an established player. They have done some good work in encouraging women's cycling and some non-racing 'just have an adventure' style riding. Sure it's basically touring with a nice Vimeo attached but I am generally more in favour of more people riding. There's not a right way to ride, nor a right thing to be doing it on nor a right thing to be wearing while you do it - just people riding. Let them all in!
As for this item - one observation a mate of mine made was that it was not so great for Audax as the packing and repacking becomes harder as you get progressively more tired. The nice thing about a carradice is that you can get into it and fish about and you can just chuck things into them with impunity. These bags seems better for stuff you are not going to use in the day like spare clothes or a sleeping bag.
Quite noticable in the last year or two is more people on carbon bikes, more with this kind of gear over trad setups. Everyone still gets around as best they can. That's the nice thing about Audax - I was riding my £90 fixie from Cash Convertors with three other guys who were all on titanium bikes. Did anyone care either way?
Buy it if you like it I say.
As for beards on bikes rapha is not very extreme - you've seen this guy right?
https://www.youtube.com/embed/L9XA8xNcgZg
Is that Simon from GCN in the 2nd from top pic?
So they add no extra function, look worse and cost more than the standard apidura bags? Right.....
I have a 17l apidura saddle bag and love it, not sure why anyone would find this rapha version better though...!
He's a real fan.
rapha-apidura1.jpg
I have some ace army green coloured Alpkit ones, but my bars are too low so it's hard to stop the handlebar bag scrubbing the front wheel. On a proper touring bike it would be ace I'm sure.
Anyway, happy to see more entrants into this market. Want to get into bikepacking a lot more as the missus loves slower touring trips with the full photography gear (which of course I have to lug around). Anything that keeps her on the bike is great, especially if it's stylish - she loves fashion so anything Rapha usually appeals to her.
I like Rapha too, just the pink striped stuff doesn't suit me. Usually stick to their understated pieces. Some people can rock the louder gear really well though. More confident than me I guess!
Well the rapha saddle pack is 'about the same price' as the large apidura saddle pack. Shame that it's only the same size as the small one.
Liking the stripes though.
A little bit try-hard for bikepacking I feel. I'm a carradice man myself...
I can't imagine a subset of the cycling world less "Rapha" than bikepacking, though I guess it does attract its share of gearheads who like having flash bags. Will be interesting to see if this does sell.
Personally I'm happy with my current setup (nylon sports bag found in the garage, bungy cords, cheap seat post rack, £30 all up and good for the length of New Zealand).
a1edd6b9-bdbf-4a98-9eed-5a93eec3c631.jpg
Not sure why you say that, I love my rapha kit and I've just picked up an apidura bag for a summer trip to France. (Not a rapha travel trip where your bags are carried between hotels by singing/dancing alpacas, I assume due to the price) My colleague is also keen and I'm sure I have seen both Rapha and apidura on Audax events.
propper LOL
Someone PLEEEEEASE photoshop white and pink striped on that dudes tash
rapha-apiduramo.jpg
I'm never buying anything Rapha. Unless they release toilet paper that is.....
Bro-tastic! How much for the tiny version of the handlebar bag that you attach to your upper lip?
....Outstanding...i laughed outloud in the open plan...