Rapha launches Transfer off-the-bike clothing

Rapha has released a new collection of relaxed Transfer clothing that's designed for off-the-bike use.

Rapha has had Transfer clothing in its range before but everything in the collection is new. Although Rapha is naturally keen to give the Pro Team Transfer Hoodie (main pic and below) and the Women's Transfer Hoodie (both £120) a cycling edge, they are essentially loungewear made from a waffled cotton/polyamide fabric.

"Super soft next to the skin, the fabric’s variation of textures means it sits away from the body and improves airflow," says Rapha. 

"The main fabric boasts excellent mechanical stretch which, together with shaped seams under the arms and a slightly different texture on the side panels, allows for complete freedom of movement. 

You get two pockets and logos that are knitted into the fabric.

Check out Rapha's new Mechanics off-the-bike clothing 

The Pro Team Transfer Sweatpants and Women's Transfer Sweatpants (both £120) are made from the same fabric. They come with a broad elastic waistband and a drawcord. As well as two hand pockets, there's a zipped pocket around the back.

The Pro Team Transfer Shorts (£100) use the same fabric again.

The range also includes limited edition clothing that's much more expensive.

"Designed in collaboration with Amsterdam textile innovation studio Byborre, our Limited Edition Transfer collection takes rest and recovery to the next level," says Rapha. 

"We’ve used the most advanced fabric technology to create comfortable, breathable and insulating panels with all the hallmarks of a signature Byborre engineered knit and added our own fitting expertise to create a collection ideally suited to the needs of cyclists."

The Limited Edition Transfer Sweatpants (£300) use a lightweight, insulating polyester filling yarn knitted together with two cotton face fabrics. 

"The lining has added merino wool for softness and natural antibacterial properties while the outer adds nylon for durability and features a knitted in contour line design celebrating Marco Pantani’s favourite climb, Monte Carpegna," says Rapha.

Read our story on the Cippo di Carpegna climb 

The matching Limited Edition Transfer Hoodie is a whopping £400. It is reversible and features hood padding that's designed to make for more comfortable sleeping on the move.

The Limited Edition Transfer Long Sleeve T-Shirt (£190) is reversible too. 

Even if you can handle the prices of the Limited Edition clothing, the fact that it's dry clean only might make you think twice.

Rapha says that the collection has been tried and tested throughout the 2019 season by the EF Education First and Canyon//SRAM pro teams. 

We've been using the (non-limited edition) Pro Team Transfer Hoodie and Sweatpants and the Women's Transfer Hoodie and Sweatpants here at road.cc for the past few weeks. We don't review off-the bike clothing but we can tell you that, as you'd expect, the sweatpants are a loose fit and they're very comfortable with no restriction of movement.

There's loads of stretch so they're easy to pull on/off over shoes while the ankles are pretty close fitting – not tight, but road.cc staffer Tass was reassured that no midges would get to her legs while she was relaxing between legs of the Deloitte Ride Across Britain recently. 

While you'll probably want to keep the sweatpants exclusively for chilling out in, you might get more general use from the hoodie. It's certainly something that you can wear around the house or while travelling, but it doesn't look out of place when worn with jeans.

As mentioned, the fabric and the textured knit are similar to those of the sweatpants. It's a fairly loose knit which is great for breathability although that does mean that it doesn't keep cold air out as well as a jersey hoodie.

We'd say that the clothing performs as it's supposed to and the build quality is high throughout.

For more info head over to rapha.cc.