Speaking of Assos and Rapha, both brands get a mixed reaction in the online cycling community. It doesn't help that they're the go-to brands of the "more-money-than-sense" brigade. Rapha's marketing is stylish but sometimes tries too hard, and their occasional excesses (did anyone actually buy their £130 Riders Log?), add to the suspicion that someone is having a laugh at our expense.
And expense is the big issue with Assos -- received wisdom says good quality but way overpriced - and no longer "Handmade in Switzerland".
Credit where it's due, however -- and recent weeks have restored my faith in both brands.
Last year, I bought a Rapha Softshell Jacket in a sale at VeloRution -- reduced from laughably expensive to extremely expensive. I wore it a few times through the Spring but wasn't over-impressed. However, since the temperature dropped a while ago, it's become an essential element of my daily riding. It fits well: is warm, comfortable and showerproof and has some great features. It's also one of the few items of cycling kit -- actually the only one -- that attracts compliments from non-bikies off the bike. For winter commuting, worth its weight in gold -- which to be fair is probably not far off the recommended retail. And the Rapha winter hat is a godsend as well -- keeping my ears warm and the spray out of my eyes, while still lending me a faint air of Roger de Vlaeminck. You'd almost think it was worth 35 quid.
I also bought -- in another sale -- an Assos Climajet rainjacket. I first used it for commuting and wasn't immediately convinced. It felt restrictive, rode up annoyingly under my bag and made me sweat on mild, wet days. I've been using a much cheaper jacket from Endura, a birthday present from Mrs Flandrian.
But this morning, the heavens opened as I left Richmond Park and the Climajet suddenly made sense. A snug fit over my racing kit, the freezing rain just bounced off it -- and I arrived home half an hour later dry and comfortable apart from soaked, icy shoes.
Good design, good materials, fit for purpose -- I guess you can't get them on the cheap.
As I left the Roehampton Gate Cafe this morning, I noticed an old couple outside who I've seen quite a few times. He's in his sixties, trim and fit with a white beard and a lovely old Witcomb fixed. She's of similar age, riding a well-kept hybrid.
I took my rain-jacket from my pocket as the first drops of rain fell, and heard him say:
"Oh look, that feller's caping up -- we'd better not be too long".
Caping up. What a lovely phrase from a bye-gone era.
More of that lost charm can be found on a film from the golden days of British cycling, recommended by the excellent washingmachinepost blog.
