What price a Rapha scent? Limited edition of course. Or Hip flask. With engraved Rapha logo and a finely-tooled goatskin grip. Tweed Garmin encasement anyone?
Nearly six months later, we find that old adage - many a true word spoken in jest, is almost fulfilling its prophecy. Introducing the Rapha & Timothy Everest Suit. A new peak in fashion faux pas.
A year in development, and designed for the 'sartorially-minded city rider', this traditional Prince of Wales check jacket, waistcoat, plus fours combo is apparently 'at home both on the bike and in the boardroom'. Something that can't be said of a full Astana race kit. We like the understated finesse. So too the luxurious attention to detail (the full ensemble starts at a Himalayan £3,000). But whilst we champion all efforts to escape the garish confines of luminescent lycra, and all its variant guises, tripping out as a bikely Beau Brummel requires a certain degree of brazen exhibitionism, almost bordering on the downright narcissistic. Converting oneself into a quite literal clotheshorse might seem like a worthy practice, but to carry off tweed, one runs the risk of looking a complete Coxcomb.
As one expects from Rapha, there's lashings of nanotechnology. And a Nehru-esque ‘storm collar’ which fastens at the jacket’s neck to keep out the elements. Nice. But in reality, this is pure haute couture. Whereas the practicalities of urban riding more realistically demand prêt-à-porter. Yet it is a wonderfully idealist vision - the gentleman rider. The Mavic Metrosexual. And we're not without copious examples of heroic heritage in this fair city. So why not? Perhaps this is what the currently-decaying moral standards of our greed-infested society needs - a return to values of decency, virtue and open sociability. Borrowing President Obama's rally call of a time for change, might we now have the Need for Tweed?Returning to our original notion, we wonder if this collaboration is just an initial sketch, for a much bigger picture. We once mentioned, in an off-the-cuff (excuse the pun) training run remark, that some years down the road there could easily exist Rapha Cycling and Rapha Couture, the latter having left behind its rouleur roots and firmly set foot in the tailor's domain. Think oak-floored emporia, all sandalwood, waxed leather and dormant croquet mallets.
So there's velo chic. And then there's velo squeak. Here at NÖ we're going out on a limb (you heard it here first), what price a Rapha scent? Bidon-shaped bottle? Eau de Chamois anyone? Can Bradley Wiggins do what Henry Cooper did for Brut?
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