20 years of Rapha: Co-founder Simon Mottram on tiffs with Team Sky, MAMILs and cycling's skin-suited future

2024 marks 20 years since the founding of Rapha, and around 20 years since a plucky young Simon Mottram rocked up to the Cycling Plus newsroom, where road.cc co-founder Tony Farrelly was then the editor, to plug a cool new cycling clothing brand... to a rather mixed reception at the time, so he claims. 

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And despite the reservations of cynical journalists and Cycling Plus forum members at the time, Rapha of course went on to be worn by over a million cyclists, became the kit sponsors to the most successful British road cycling team in history and is one of the most recognisable cycling apparel brands on the planet. 

In our latest podcast episode, we sat down with Rapha's co-founder - and its CEO until 2022 - to discuss all things Rapha and cycling apparel on the week of its Past Forward exhibition in London, from the brand's beginnings to what the future holds for Rapha and our cycling kit. We've filleted out some of the key quotes below... 

"Our market has gone a bit crazy"

The Paul Smith 531 Rapha Grand Departe jersey, a snip at ten grand

After asking why there has been a Rapha x Paul Smith 2007 limited edition jersey listed on ebay priced at £10,000 since at least 2017 (Mottram doesn't know either unfortunately) the conversation turned to pricing in the cycling industry. 

"The level of prices now for bikes and for kit were unimaginable in 2004... we're just one of many many now who are expensive", says Mottram. 

"In some ways that's bad for the market because it's got slightly out of whack I think, but in general it shows that people are interested, which is good." 

"There would be these haters absolutely kicking the shit out of us"

Though it might seem that online vitriol has only been a thing since the proliferation of social media, Mottram says robust Rapha critics have always been there since those Cycling Plus forums were the most lively places for virtual discussions about cycling. 

"I only allowed myself to look at [the forum] once every couple of weeks. There would be these haters absolutely kicking the shit out of us. "£105 for a jersey! They're just marketing guys who drive Ferraris."

"And then you'd get somebody going: "Well I bought a jersey and it's actually quite good quality"... "my wife said to me the other day for the first time you look quite good going out on a ride". 

"My point being you can get lost in all that stuff... but you’ve got to be relevant. If the only people that bought our products were my age then that would be a challenge, but that's obviously not the case. The average age of our customer has gone down. Those kind of slurs are water off a duck’s back." 

"We wanted to tell stories. They wanted to win"

On Rapha's partnership with Team Sky, Mottram recalls a particularly uncomfortable meeting with Dave Brailsford that highlighted the "different directions" that the brand and the team of marginal gains were going in the time. 

"There was a constant tension", says Mottram. 

"[Brailsford] told me: "You're focusing on all the wrong things... we've got to get the jerseys and shorts absolutely banging and you're giving us lifestyle product. You've got to focus on the steak not the peas!"

"It all got to a really good place where they had the best kit in the peloton... but we were always pulling in different directions. 

"Those days were quite interesting. There were a lot of ups, but some real challenges as well."

Somewhat ironically, things have come full circle with Fran Millar, one of the founding members of Team Sky, becoming the new CEO of Rapha very recently (the current lack of success for the Ineos Grenadiers could be "because Fran's not there", theorises Mottram).

Since those Team Sky days, of course Rapha has since found a much more flexible and fitting pro outfit to sponsor in EF Pro Cycling, the team of Lachlan Morton's huge multi-discipline endurance challenges, a highly successful women's squad and crazy switch-out kits like the famous 2020 Rapha Palace range. 

So, what does the future hold for Rapha and cycling clothing in general? Mottram wouldn’t reveal much, but tells us to expect to see a lot more one-piece road suits/skinsuits hitting the market in the not-too-distant future; and, on the flipside, “performance product for everyday life on the bike” that “you feel good about going into the pub wearing.”

"If you think back to 2004, cycling was nowhere", says Mottram. 

"I do believe cycling has got so much further to go, because we're still niche aren't we. I founded a niche brand in a niche sport." 

The Rapha Past Forward Exhibition is on until Sunday 22nd September at the Truman Brewery, just off Brick Lane in London. You can get more info and book free day passes here.

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