Rapha Nomad clothing review | Women’s cycling equipment
Takeaway meals: The small collection, inspired by the women who walked the TransAmerica Trail across America in the 1970s, has some hits and some hiccups.
- Collection includes bibs, long and short sleeve jerseys, compressible windbreaker, cap, socks and handlebar bag
- The shorts have a large load capacity and have a more relaxed fit than Rapha’s more race-inspired bibs.
- Polyester jerseys are lightweight and dry quickly, but cost even more than Rapha’s similar tech t-shirts.
- Some brands in the collection are very similar to the designs used by Bicycle Nomad, a small black-owned business in Phoenix, Arizona. Rapha claims to have resolved what he calls an “error” with Bicycle Nomad owner Eric Cedeño before the launch.
Rapha has developed a new collection of clothing and equipment, called the Nomad Collection, which she says was inspired and pays homage to the style and spirit of the 1976 Bicycle centenary. This cycle touring event that took place along Adventure Cycling’s TransAmerica cycle path, which had been developed to commemorate the bicentenary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.
A recent and growing appreciation for Bikecentennial-era denims, throws, natural textiles – coupled with a pandemic-choppy appreciation for bike adventures and gravel riding – seemed like the perfect time for a capsule collection. adventure oriented like this. Who better than Rapha, with his classic designs, to add some fun and functional pieces to our kit lockers? As a longtime bikepacker, I was delighted to test out the new parts and browse them quickly. After a lot of rides, it is clear that the collection has a few hits, but also a few failures.
High capacity cargo bibs
Rapha
The Cargo Bib Shorts ($ 270) feature four mesh pockets: two on the legs and two on the lower back, allowing you to carry all your essentials without the need for a traditional cycling jersey. I’m a fan of this type of bib, and overall Rapha does it well. The pockets have a large capacity and hold items securely, so you don’t have to worry about dropping your phone while you jump over every root and rock (even if you’re a jerk like me who still not using a phone case or screen protector).
As a 5-foot-4, 125-pound racer, I wear small-sized bibs from Rapha’s racing-focused collections. This size usually fits me well and I love most Rapha bibs I’ve owned. But these bibs are cut differently. They’re based on the company’s Explore line, designed for long days on the bike with stops for picnics, pools or cafes. It comes with a thicker chamois, and on me I felt more loose and bagged. The chamois is so much thicker than I’m used to that I lowered my saddle a few millimeters to compensate. If you are looking for a tighter fit, consider reducing the size.
Nomad cap and bar bag
Rapha
The Nomad Cap ($ 40) showcases the forest greens and rust reds of the rest of the collection. There is also a perfectly sized triangular cutout above the elastic in the back that fits very well with a ponytail or electric braids.
The Nomad Bar Bag ($ 75) is a compact snack bag that’s a great option for a light day trip when you need a bit of capacity beyond what you can fit in those pockets. oversized bib. Room for a few rice balls, hand sanitizer, your windbreaker and your spoon; you will have easy access whether you decide to place it on the bars, the top tube or even carry it off the bike with the hidden shoulder strap.
Simple but expensive technical t-shirts
Rapha
The Nomad short-sleeved ($ 90) and long-sleeved ($ 100) tech t-shirts are 100 percent polyester, a lightweight, quick-drying material that Rapha uses on many of his tech t-shirts, and which Ride a bikeThe test pilots appreciated.
The fit of the technical t-shirts was perfect. The fit is fitted, loose, with room to breathe and allows for plenty of air circulation. The hem comes to the middle of the hips and the short sleeves are halfway between a women’s short sleeve and an aero jersey, sitting roughly mid-bicep. Some technical bike-focused t-shirts fit poorly, or worse yet, fit well on the bike but not on the bike. None of these shirts suffered from these issues.
In my experience in cycle touring, polyester can irritate the skin on long trips and is not particularly compact. Also, due to bacterial growth, products made from it tend to stink after a hot and sweaty run. Rapha used superfine merino wool and poly / cotton blends in other pieces and either could have been a good option here. But like the bibs, the shirts are based on existing models in the line. And despite the material’s flaws, its low weight and quick-drying properties should appeal to many riders.
Rapha
A contentious design
While I’m not personally a fan of some of the graphics in the collection, there is a more complicated issue. When Ride a bike received the products for review, we noticed a similarity with the branding of Nomad bike, a small black-owned business in Phoenix, Arizona. Specifically, one of the Rapha long sleeve shirts has the phrase “Bicycle Nomad” on the sleeve. We reached out to Erick Cedeño, the founder of Bicycle Nomad, who told us that the products were not a collaboration between his brand and Rapha. We confirmed that, in a direct message exchange in June 2020, Cedeño suggested a collaboration to Rapha. He was asked to send an email to the company’s global public relations manager.
Trevor Raab
After reaching out to Rapha for comment, Brandon Camarda, Marketing Manager for North America, responded, “This turned out to be an unfortunate but honest mistake in the design of this collection. Nomad is a clothing capsule designed specifically for women, based on the cycling boom of the 1970s, when a group of women took to the TransAmerica Trail, created by the Adventure Cycling Association. The journey of these women caught the attention and deeply inspired two of our main designers in London, who created the collection centered on the idea of these women who were empowered by the bicycle, living in motion without a fixed base. This led them to the phrase “nomad by bike”, which was incorporated only on the sleeve of a product in the collection. “
Camarda said that Cedeño’s communication never reached the team creating the line, and that since we alerted them to the problem, “through transparent and direct communication we were able to reach a resolution where we can publish this collection with the blessing of Erick. If we hadn’t reached that point, we wouldn’t have released this product in the capsule to make sure we didn’t negatively impact the brand Erick worked so hard to create.
When contacted for comment, Cedeño’s attorney said: “We are in the final stages of resolving the issue as we speak.” This is good news for both parties, and for women who want good adventure gear, but not quite perfect.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported to this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and other similar content on piano.io