Have Rapha just jumped the shark?

[j00pY]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark

[joema]

JEA1K said:

el stovey said:

Nobody looks good in cycling gear. Did you see the 2015 dads in cycling gear calendar? No?

Buying Rapha just means you look silly and you've spent more money than the others.

Any notions of looking good are all in your head.

Yes ok then ....

So you think that lycra looks good? Point is if you're going to wear lycra, there's not a lot of point trying to be fashionable as you're already wearing lycra... So why pay a fortune.

[Rolls]

Ok - I'll bite...
Rapha - expensive, yes, but it is quality kit that just works. Their shorts are IMO the comfiest I've got ( and I've had various other brands..)
It's often the little features they've built into their items that make the difference..

[JEA1K]

joema said:

So you think that lycra looks good? Point is if you're going to wear lycra, there's not a lot of point trying to be fashionable as you're already wearing lycra... So why pay a fortune.

You obviously don't ride a road bike ... looking good is part of the deal.

I actually look good in Lycra ... but then again, I look good in anything.

[MC Bodge]

Not all men who ride bikes are fat.

That doesn't mean we should all go out and buy Rapha, though.

I don't notice my Polaris shorts on rides.
-In my view that is all that is required. The extra touches of a pair of expensive shorts would be lost on me.

[Kermit power]

MC Bodge said:

Not all men who ride bikes are fat.

That doesn't mean we should all go out and buy Rapha, though.

It's not about fat or thin... Blokes just don't look right in Lycra whatever their physique. It takes the right sort of womanly curves to make Lycra look good.

[MC Bodge]

Kermit power said:

It's not about fat or thin... Blokes just don't look right in Lycra whatever their physique. It takes the right sort of womanly curves to make Lycra look good

Personally speaking, I don't spend any time looking at or assessing the aesthetic qualities of my male riding companions or passers-by.

I certainly don't worry about it.

If it bothers you, you could wear a sarong over your shorts.

[Some Gump]

I'm pretty sure that Rapha was never under the shark. That jahaaava website is spot on

[Dammit]

I think the most noteworthy thing about these headphones is how much collective sand the Internet seems to have found in its vagina about them

[MC Bodge]

...Am I the only one who wouldn't actually want to look like this?

Of course, you can only ride on continental roads if you are wearing Rapha:




Although few people seem to grasp it, what you buy doesn't make you the person you are. Being a cyclist requires riding a bike, not buying an expensive faux-traditional jersey and shorts.

I always liked the Howies marketing stuff:


...although they were still trying to flog you an organic satchel produced by a hermit yak herder from the hair of a snow leopard.

[drivin_me_nuts]

But the Howies stuff is very good indeed. Their Merino base layers are high quality, last years and are so comfortable.

[okgo]

Kermit power said:

It's not about fat or thin... Blokes just don't look right in Lycra whatever their physique. It takes the right sort of womanly curves to make Lycra look good.

It's everything about being fat or thin. People who ride a lot, race etc don't look out of place in Lycra as they're usually pretty lean and they're wearing the clothes designed for the job. Some heffer up at the Trust cafe on Box Hill who probably wears 36 waist + jeans doesn't look good in any clothing, Lycra certainly is no exception in that case.

[drivin_me_nuts]

That'll be me then. Still wear lycra though

[okgo]

It was me too.

But I do stick by the fact that it doesn't look particularly out of place on lean cyclists. As a chap said above I haven't actively thought about how I look in Lycra for years. It's just bike kit.

[TheInternet]

MC Bodge said:

...Am I the only one who wouldn't actually want to look like this?

Hopefully not.

[Kermit power]

okgo said:

Kermit power said:

It's not about fat or thin... Blokes just don't look right in Lycra whatever their physique. It takes the right sort of womanly curves to make Lycra look good.

It's everything about being fat or thin. People who ride a lot, race etc don't look out of place in Lycra as they're usually pretty lean and they're wearing the clothes designed for the job. Some heffer up at the Trust cafe on Box Hill who probably wears 36 waist + jeans doesn't look good in any clothing, Lycra certainly is no exception in that case.

A woman with a 36 inch waist wouldn't have the right sort of womanly curves for Lycra. That doesn't change the fact that women can look stunning in Lycra, whereas blokes either look like stick insects or baby elephants, with the exception of Chris Hoy.

Looking like a baby elephant isn't going to stop me wearing the stuff though, as it's the most practical thing for the job.

[MC Bodge]

Kermit power said:

A woman with a 36 inch waist wouldn't have the right sort of womanly curves for Lycra. That doesn't change the fact that women can look stunning in Lycra, whereas blokes either look like stick insects or baby elephants, with the exception of Chris Hoy.

Looking like a baby elephant isn't going to stop me wearing the stuff though, as it's the most practical thing for the job.

You possibly have body image issues.

I don't believe that I look like either an elephant or a stick insect and I don't feel self-conscious whilst out on a ride.

[Disastrous]

I think I look alright in Lycra. Like a superhero in many ways, I suppose. Fortunately my face is simply tremendous so even if I put on a few pounds over the years, my face will shine like a beacon so bright it simply eclipses my body so I expect I'll get away with it.

I can understand if your face is a bit rubbish that you might be concerned about your body too.

My only advice would be get a better face and lose some weight.

[keith2.2]

I'm going to jump into the "I happen to think I look pretty good in lycra" camp. I also want my riding gear to match my bike.

"Aesthetics in a sport as difficult as cycling is itself a contradiction; surely anything wrought with such suffering should be driven by function and function alone. Yet cyclists are both some of the hardest people in sport and the most vain. For a cyclist knows better than perhaps any other athlete that Morale is a fickle beast that lives upon a knife’s edge; it can drive us on to incredible heights yet squash us at will like an insect for little more than spotting grime on a freshly laundered jersey or dirt on the bar tape. In order for us to ride well, we must have good Morale. In order to have good Morale, we must look Fantastic."

[Kermit power]

MC Bodge said:

Kermit power said:

A woman with a 36 inch waist wouldn't have the right sort of womanly curves for Lycra. That doesn't change the fact that women can look stunning in Lycra, whereas blokes either look like stick insects or baby elephants, with the exception of Chris Hoy.

Looking like a baby elephant isn't going to stop me wearing the stuff though, as it's the most practical thing for the job.

You possibly have body image issues.

I don't believe that I look like either an elephant or a stick insect and I don't feel self-conscious whilst out on a ride.

I don't have body image issues. If I did, I wouldn't wear Lycra whilst cycling, or at the very least I'd be plagued with worry about what people might think about how I looked in it. I don't. I couldn't give a toss what people think about how I look. I just wear it because it's the most practical, comfortable option for cycling.

I'm just not delusional enough to believe I will ever look good in it, and I've yet to see a single bloke riding round the Surrey Hills who does. At best you'll look neutral. At worst you'll scare livestock as you ride past their fields, but good, as in sexually attractive to the opposite sex, or your own, if that's your thing???? Absolutely not a chance in hell!!!