Rapha creates the finest cycling clothing and accessories in the world. Designed without compromise for the most discerning rider, Rapha products blend style with optimum performance. A passion for road racing means Rapha is more than just a product company. It is an online emporium of performance roadwear, accessories, publications and events, all celebrating the glory and suffering of road riding.
Inspiration
Rapha was created to celebrate road riding and develop the best performing and most stylish cycling clothes and accessories in the world.
The first Rapha collection was launched in July 2004, at a month-long Rapha exhibition of cycling memorabilia and events called 'Kings of Pain'. Since then, the Rapha product range has grown dramatically and the brand has become synonymous with the highest levels of quality, style and performance. Road racing is the toughest and most beautiful sport in the world and everything Rapha does is designed to celebrate the glory and suffering unique to road riders.
Road racing requires stamina, strength, focus and fortitude, yet the rewards can be huge – the more effort you put in the greater those rewards become. More and more men are discovering that riding a road bike can be the perfect counterpoint to the cosseted and quick-fix nature of modern life. In a society only too comfortable with instant gratification and sanitised pleasure, it has been forgotten that the greatest highs come from the deepest lows. Applying yourself totally can produce a sense of satisfaction that is impossible to replicate. From pain comes pleasure.
Dutch author and amateur cyclist Tim Krabbé expressed this idea of ‘glory through suffering’ very eloquently in his 1978 novel, The Rider:
“The greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is nature’s payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. ‘Good for you’. Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few friends these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms, she rewards passionately.”
The Rider remains not only the greatest book about road racing ever written, but an ongoing inspiration for Rapha. The Rider is available to buy from our site.
For Rapha staff and customers alike, great road rides are the high points of every year. But cycling is also an integral part of everyday lives. A life with road riding at its core is rich and rewarding, a fantastic lifestyle we want more people to enjoy.
Celebrating the sport
Everything Rapha does is informed by its passion for
the glory and suffering that lie at the heart of the sport. From rides to events, from exhibitions to products, Rapha brings riders together to share this passion. We know that every ride can be an adventure, its own epic story. The compelling features and striking photography on the Rapha website help reaffirm the relationship our customers have with the sport they love. For example, a team of Rapha riders is currently riding and documenting the most inspiring rides in North America. See their exclusive online journal at:
www.rapha.cc/continental »
The codes and customs of road racing are unique. To showcase all aspects of the rider’s art, every quarter Rapha publishes Rouleur, quite simply the most beautiful cycling magazine in the world. Rapha publishes its own range of books and brochures and also has a growing series of films designed to inspire riders.
For many amateurs, the professional racing scene looks exciting but can prove alien and impenetrable. In 2006, Rapha and London-based Condor Cycles created Rapha Condor. Today, the UCI-registered team is the number one pro team in the UK and races in all key Rapha markets. Rapha Condor aims to win races in style and engage with fans and riders everywhere. To that end, Rapha has also launched the Rapha Condor Club. The most exclusive cycling club in the world, every member is a part owner of the team, enjoys unrivalled access at elite races, and gets regular opportunities to train with the pros.
Rapha brings road racing fans closer to the sport at the elite level. In 2007, Rapha Condor established the Smithfield Nocturne, an evening criterium and festival of cycling held every year around the historic Smithfield Market in central London. The Nocturne attracts more than 10,000 cyclists and fans of racing and has now been developed into a nationwide series of city centre events.
Nocturne Series »
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