why do they have an image problem?
They do have an image problem in circles such as this forum, which is hard line and committed to a certain type of fundamental anti commercialism. The things Rapha do tend to be expensive, although I'm told the quality is good. Many people on here have the money to afford Rapha kit, but will go from Lusso clothing, which works, to Assoss which is seen as the best. Those riders, and I could give you names, will see Rapha as catering to the 'Dentist on a Pinarello' market. They'll have 'GPs on a Colnago' in their club though.
Rapha have tried to plug into the 'boutique' market with something they call 'The Continental', which is a sort of Audax style of concept, but is a filming activity really. The link to vimeo upthread has bits in it that I can see are staged. They ride off towards Achiltibuie at one point, and the next moment they are on the road they've just been seen riding past. I've also staged descending shots in similar conditions, and it requires a lot of takes, usually driving back up the hill. Which is all fine as long as you're not trying to be 'authentic'.
But the further I delve into the Rapha UK Continental project the more impressed I am.
http://roadcyclinguk.com/zfeaturedbox/bespoked-build-up-rapha-continental-project-rolled-out-in-uk.htmlThe bikes they have had built are the bikes we would have had built.
One's a Dave Yates.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=40995264&server=vimeo.com&fullscreen=1&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=01AAEA" target="_blank">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=40995264&server=vimeo.com&fullscreen=1&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=01AAEA</a>]]> I look at that, and I can see Dave's 2001 LEL number on the workshop wall, he builds them a 'Fast Audax Bike'.
The US Continental project was parodied, and that parody caught on.
http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/rapha-responds-to-spoof-website/011775However, the UK Rapha Continental riders have also been regular visitors to the Mersey Roads 24 Hour Time Trial over the last few years. That's as hardcore as it gets, the hardest pure Audax riders on here might get to 450 miles in 24 hours, with some of the better TT riders getting above that. Ultan Coyle, the graphic designer at Rapha won last year with 488.99 miles. The pre race favourite was a DNS, and his main rival pulled out, but it was a win, and a win is a win. Other Rapha riders have pushed 450 miles, and they could win the team prize at some point. So when I look at the film I can see that it's meant to be arty, and is full of artifice, but the riders are worthy of respect.
I set out in my last couple of films to parody that artiness and artifice, using found poetry, and putting shots out of sequence. But as I did it I found I liked the results too much to persist with it as a pastiche, and it became an authentic expression in the style of another culture. I think that the same thing has happened to Rapha. Rather than merely taking the style of the Audax and 24 culture. They have unwittingly been sucked in by the substance of it.
