Riding the wave of post-Wiggins cycling fever, Rapha Cycle Club is the place to be if you like your transport two-wheeled and sweat-powered.
Like modern bicycles, Rapha is about form as well as function. Brinkworth design consultancy were wheeled in and brought a “workshop” feel with them. There’s a mechanical look to the place, from the moveable gunmetal grey metal tables to the space-saving racks displaying the club’s objects of love. Salvaged elements (see the painted lampshades) are used to nice effect too, and a delightful retro vibe is typified with the old race van parked up in the corner.
The form comes in the guise of the merchandise, for this is a shop as well as a meeting place. If you’re going to cycle around Regent’s Park, as the club members do every Thursday night, you’ll want to get in gear with some equally upmarket threads, seen here displayed on fittings fixed firmly to the walls like a well-tightened wheel nut. I can smell the WD40 from here…
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