New French cyclewear brand launched

Brilliant it may be but doubt we'll be seing Rapha taking a leaf out of Vicious Velo's book on jersey design any time soon + it's got to be said that their jerseys are retro inspired too - it being 34 years since punk and 32 years since Sid Viscious died. Scarily in 1977 that would have been the equivalent of wearing jerseys inspired by Glen Miller. Nothing wrong with being inspired by either of course - just sayin' that's all.

As for the Cafe du Cycliste kit? If you like it and you have the money buy it, if not don't.

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When will people stop harping-on about manufacturers ripping-off Rapha !

Rapha have done nothing more than reproduce classic cycling jerseys.......I admit maybe with a slight twist but if other people want to take a similar approach (at slightly more reasonable prices) good luck to them

That's not the way Rapha see it though and quite rightly. If you've spent time and money getting your unique brand set up, the last thing you want is someone coming along and blatently ripping it off as Shutt VR did (even down to the exact same design of website). All companies are fiercly protective of their imagery, ideas and copyright. Imagine if you set up a chain of coffee shops with a circular green logo, you think Starbucks will lie back and take it or do you think they'll take you to court...?

I'm also getting a mite fed up with the lack of female-specific cycling kit.

It doesn't surprise me that these guys haven't got any stuff for women, though. It's retro. Retro means girls in huge skirts perched upon Pashley Princesses laughing gaily with flowers on their straw bonnets and worrying about flashing too much ankle, I expect .

The prices seem a bit steep anyway.

Can't see many French buying the kit, tbh. On Sunday randos, they all wear their club kit. Tues/Thurs training rides is non-club kit, but they don their garish stuff. Clearly, I ride in Rapha, wear a top hat with a copy of The Times tucked under one arm.

Companies often start with a basic range to test the demand for their product & so limit unnecessary expenditure. Particularly with the economy as it currently is. With all eyes on London, due to the Olympics next year, it's understandable that businesses perceive a link with London as a good idea.

As Leonie Jennings pointed out, there is a gap in the market for a technical ladies range. Perhaps we'll see Victoria Pendleton or Devina Mccall, who are already encouraging more woman to cycle, to cover that side of the market in the near future with a brand of their own...

Agree about the weird choice of backdrops. I would have assumed that part of the attraction of the brand would be the whole romantic thing of the Riviera, little French cafes etc. Seems odd to use images of London instead

I like the kit and have put one or two pieces on my wishlist, but I'm still trying to work out why as a brand based in the South of France they felt the need to do the photoshoots in London. Even if it was the urban look they were aiming for, there's no shortage of graffiti in Marseille...

ps That ties in with the branding aspect too - part of their USP is that they're French, and they reinforce the fact that they're based on Riviera on the website, do group rides down there etc. So why use same backdrop as so many UK brands? Doesn't reinforce what makes it different to a UK audience, certainly. Just my two centimes' worth.

I think they look quite nice, although the embroidered logo is a little on the cheesy side...

Yes, there's nothing new under the sun, but it gets pretty boring when everyone uses the same influences in the same way, jumping on the same bandwagon.

I was listening to Rapha's designer discussing jersey designs on The Bike Show the other day. When asked which jerseys he'd seen lately that he liked, he said he thought that Vicious Vélo's were brilliant. I couldn't agree more.

Maybe not sustainable across a whole range of clothing, but at least they're doing something different.

Oh pjay, how I laughed.

Have you never heard the phrase "there is nothing new under the sun"?

Hmmm, not too impressed by the designs. Those vertical pocket zips just look plain wrong on a retro style jersey. Urban and Performance series, just a plain Rapha rip-off.

When is someone going to have some original ideas?

Nice looking kit. I'm thinking that it's highly unlikely that there will be a women's range though sadly. When was the last time you saw a chic French woman wearing technical cycling gear? Shame.