[adrien]

Rapha walks a fine line. Nice stuff with a good fit, and a good representation of a lifestyle that many folks would like. And yes, it's a bit on the expensive side. And their presence has upped the game of the competition, which is a good thing if you ride and like more stylish gear. No way folks like Cafe du Cycliste and even Castelli would be putting out such nice stuff if it weren't for Rapha.

DC has a great cycling community, and the roads are fine. Some are better than others, but there are very few places in the northeast where you can ride this much of the year, and there's great gravel, too.

I've been on a couple of Saturday rides, and they were great. Good pace (but not insane), and a real attempt to integrate all, including friendly hellos to other groups riding. Indeed, there was a lot less elitist BS that there are in some other group rides.

I'm glad they're here and I can check out some things in-person before buying them. Happy to do my best to support them, and I might even join the club. But no, I'm not holding out for the hope that they'll be inviting me to buy one of the new invitation-only Canyons, which from a marketing point of view seems to be a bit of a faux pas.