SSU insolvency and the bike industry generally

[EWG]

SSU insolvency and the bike industry generally

Rapha just closed their North American office. Laid of 6 out of the 8 employees they had.

[buttahflake]

I think we covered this on the last page
Take a Lap

[EWG]

I think we covered this on the last page
Take a Lap

Fuck I'm too tired for another lap. Yeah, now I see the 6 people comment but no one noted that North America office was shut down and that they only had 8 people to start with. So I'll use that as my excuse for no lap.

[sfotex]

What is the Rapha market play? It looked like the Assos/Castelli/$$$$ dentist market segment?

[jamal]

Trek just started carrying rapha and put in this big push of "we're carrying rapha now buy some it'll increase sales" on the b2b so I wonder if this is related or if the deal is going away or what.

[SKIP IN7RO]

What is the Rapha market play? It looked like the Assos/Castelli/$$$$ dentist market segment?

Step #1 should be to keep the Trail Knee Pads in stock. Those things are hard to get.

[Andeh]

Step #1 should be to keep the Trail Knee Pads in stock. Those things are hard to get.

Yeah. Honestly, I was super skeptical of Rapha's entry into MTB (I associated it with espresso sipping hipster roadies), but every piece of their MTB stuff is super well thought out and constructed, with very minimal branding. As someone who's turned off by giant Fox heads and moto-inspired gear, it looks really good to me.

I keep picking their stuff on sale and love every piece. Besides 2 pairs of the knee pads, I've got their trail pants, trail shorts, 2 trail tech tees, 1 tech LS, and their wind shirt (merino/wind shirt). There's plenty of pockets on the pants/shorts which are also well placed so stuff in them doesn't get in the way. The cell phone sleeves in the thigh pockets work so well that I keep checking to make sure my phone is there because I can't feel it. The knee pads have great upper shin protection, but are also comfy enough that I can leave them on for half a day without any irritation or chafing.

[nickwm21]

As someone who's turned off by giant Fox heads and moto-inspired gear, it looks really good to me.

Yeah. Very non-TGR comment - but most MTB apparel is pretty far behind modern fashion trends… baggy, lots of branding, aggressive fonts, logos, colors… much of it looks like it was a 2006 14 year olds wet dream… The Rapha stuff is modern. Minimal logos, Clean design, muted colors. Well fitted…. More importantly, the stuff is workwise on the bike…


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[Abies]

Agreed. Their trail pants are my favorite piece of mountain biking clothing I own. I just ordered some of the lightweight trail pants and they shipped from the UK…


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[zion zig zag]

I had to go check out Rapha since I had never really heard of them. $160 shorts that don't come with the $125 liner? $130 jerseys? So nearly 500 bucks for one set up? I hope there are some generous 50% off sales floating around….

[buttahflake]

Yeah, it’s full-on road weenie, dentist kit, I’m actually shocked how many of y’all are running this stuff. It’s very good looking kit, just too pricey for me.

[Abies]

Their MTB line is relatively new. Never owned their road stuff. The prices are not out of line with other high quality mountain bike brands, and are often cheaper on sale. Patagonia, 7mesh, POC… all that stuff is very pricey. Not saying it’s “worth it” but the quality is there in my experience.


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[buttahflake]

SSU insolvency and the bike industry generally

I’m a full-on road weenie, I usually look at NeoPro when I need kit.
Also a big fan of The Black Bibs

[Dumbest Known Time]

The Rapha mountain bike stuff is legit. A number of different companies are making them now but a long sleeve jersey with a block of windproof fabric in the front of the torso is quickly becoming my go-to layer for anything other than splitter t-shirt weather.

[Jax]

Love my Rapha vest as well as their wool leg warmers. Didn't seem like they needed their NA office, stuff ships from UK if you order direct anyways. Takes awhile but IMO worth it. You'd think if they were going under they wouldn't have so many riders on their stuff nowadays, usually the first sign of impending doom when they drop their riders. As smmokan said- Walton money, I doubt they are going anywhere.