As I write, CT-B is no doubt parading his new Rapha Andy Hampsten Jersey around his batchelor quarters, and pining for a matching Pegoretti4Hampsten or a limited edition replica of Hampsten's 1988 Giro winning bike by Landshark.

The fatwa is rescinded

If you have been honing your machete to a razor edge or turning you dad's old deer hunting ammo into dumdums, save them for the revolution, because my Rapha order arrived today.

I'm still frowning upon them slightly, due to their non-functional order tracking webpage and their inability to answer emails; but the parcel was mailed one day after I placed the order, so the fact that it got here too late for Christmas is solely down to the postal service.

Rapha are one of the most interesting brands to come on the scene in the last few years, and I hope that they can get their systems sorted in future.

Bad Rapha

After the worst e-commerce experience that I have ever had, I'm calling a fatwa on Rapha Racing Ltd, the English purveyors of upmarket cycle kit.

Rapha guarantees that they will ship standard delivery orders with 48 hours and a maximum ten day shipping time. They also claim 'Rapha makes buying online a risk free and painless process, wherever you are' which must be intentionally ironic.

I placed an order with them on 6/12, for a Fixed. track top and a couple of pairs of Grand Tour gloves, for which they speedily debited my credit card. As of today, according to the 'order history' on their website the order is still 'awaiting shipping'.

In the last fortnight I have sent seven emails to Rapha inquiring whether the order has, in fact, shipped, and if not when it will do so.
I received a reply to the third, wherein one Laura Etherington wrote "Apologies for not replying earlier. I’m looking into this and will be in touch shortly."
Since then, not a word.

I would like to think that this is down to some glitch in Rapha's email system, however they have not responded to three voicemail messages either.

UPDATE: go here for the more or less happy ending.

Real Mail

I'm pleased to say that I have got my ebay addiction under control, but regardless, the letterbox continues to bring happiness.
In the last week, two issues of Bicycle Quarterly, the latest Rapha catalog, and Rivendell Reader #39 have kept me happily distracted and, hopefully, better informed.

BQ & RR are keepers, to be stored in the front room and pored over for years to come, but the Rapha catalog is a more ephemeral thrill. Once I get past the visual hooks, their stuff is just too nice to treat as mere cycling kit.
I could go for a pair of their Grand Tour mitts though, if only because the accompanying photo evokes the famous image of the young Louison Bobet in the broom wagon of the 1949 Tour de France.