I'm lost for words.... bar 'pretentious'..
designer leg shaving kits..... for
men?!
courtesy of postie my doormat this morning was
graced with a copy of the latest brochure from the increasingly well-known (some
would say notorious...) vendors of designer cycling kit, Rapha.... Why
'notorious' you ask... well, I'll be the first to admit they do make some darn'
fine kit and the photography in their quarterly magazine is fantastic... heck
even the brochure is almost worthy of a place on the shelf next to my collection
of work from renowned fine-art photographers. But...... sometimes it could be
argued they take the whole image thing just a little too far... I believe
'pretentious' is a word that could be applied in this case... take their cycling
gloves... most of us 'make do' with a £20-£30 offering fabricated from
lycra with a padded leather palm and soft 'nose-wipe' on the thumb but clearly
that's not good enough for the image conscious cyclist... from the brochure
"The Rapha Grand Tour glove has been
developed for riders who want the ultimate road racing glove..... Grand Tour
gloves use ‘African Hair Sheep’
leather...." Wow, I didn't know I needed that,
next I'll be needing socks crafted from the scrotum of the Peruvian Spotted
Pygmy Ground Squirrel (don't bother with google, it doesn't exist really....).
OK, I'll be the first to admit - I'd love a pair of those gloves... but at
£80 for a pair I'm not sure I'd want to wipe my streaming nose on the
thumb... if I could afford them in the first place that
is...
OK, intro over - I've set the
scene... now you'll never guess what the latest 'must have' is for the complete
cyclist.... how about the Rapha Leg Shaving Kit...
"Joint venture with Geo F. Trumper of
Mayfair. Finest badger brush and chrome travel razor in leather
case." Blimey! I'm lost for words... sure we all
know
'serious'
cyclists shave their legs (and no, it's nothing to do with aerodynamics - it
makes the wounds easier to clean after a crash and is better for post-race
massage... I'd rather have smooth legs than infected follicles clogged with
oil.... yeuch, pimples!) but is it really necessary to have a badger brush (poor
badger...)? After all even the pros seem happy with their packets of Bic
disposables... They haven't released a price for it yet but I imagine the same
amount of money would keep me in Bics for a few years...
Sadly it's no wonder that the Rapha name is
becoming associated with the "too-much-money-BMW-driving-can't-ride-a-bike" city
crowd because some of their gear really is very very good. I'm only slightly
ashamed to admit I have one of their jerseys and despite the eye-watering price
it is quite honestly superb (so call me a pimp, I don't care- I'm not in the
city and I haven't got a BMW... not now anyway
:o)
That bit about the badger
brought back a slightly odd (OK, very odd) memory... back in the '80s when the
Comic Strip Presents movies were on TV... you know the ones with Alexei Sayle,
Rik Mayall etc etc. There was one in particular called "Didn't You Kill My
Brother?", strangely involving bicycles but that is a pure coincidence. There is
a bit of dialogue in there that is just brilliant and I can still see the dead
badger sitting in the refrigerator every time I see or read about badgers...
here's the synopsis:
Alexei
Sayle plays identical twins, Carl and Sterling Moss. Together they ran a series
of protection rackets, gambling clubs and dress hire shops - until one was
busted. Now Carl is a reformed con and the most highly academically qualified
person in Britain. Sterling however, is still an unreformed, bicycle stealing
criminal. Beryl Reid plays their mum.In one particular scene Sterling comes home
with a nasty cut on his head, mum however is always prepared for such things and
while opening the fridge utters those immortal words.. "You should always put a
dead badger on a head wound."
OK, so
it's crap when I write it down but on screen... pure nonsense
:o)
Enough - I'm off... going to see what
I can stick on fleabay to raise some £££, those gloves are very
nice.....
Posted: Fri - March 30, 2007 at 04:20 PM