Initially, positioning Rapha at the top of its market was a difficult concept for the company’s owners to communicate.
‘There is still a preconception that cycling is a working class sport,’ says Mottram. ‘While cyclists are prepared to spend thousands of pounds on their bicycles, the sector is not associated with high-end, high value accessories. When we had conversations with the bank, we had a hard job persuading them that our market really existed.’
But in many ways the timing of Rapha’s evolution could not have been more fortuitous. In the UK, cycling on the road is more popular than it has been for generations, thanks to the introduction of congestion charging in the capital, the growth of the Lottery-funded national cycle network and a growing awareness of the social and environmental benefits of the bicycle as a form of transport. And in the US, where Rapha has 40% of its sales, the spectacular successes of Lance Armstrong have driven an explosion of interest in cycle sport.
For all its growing mainstream popularity, cycling remains an intensely tribal sport. Enthusiasts for racing, touring or cycle commuting rarely mix, and even among those who use their bicycles basically as a means of transport, there are passionate sub groups.
Rapha is aimed squarely at the most committed of the cycling niches: its products are bought by customers for whom cycling is a principal enthusiasm. Rapha customers might race their bicycles or take part in the many semi-competitive events undertaken by thousands of enthusiastic cyclists each year. Or they might be what Mottram calls ‘Espoirs’. This word comes from the French for ‘hope’, but is perhaps better translated in cycling terms as ‘wannabe’ – or more kindly ‘apprentice’ – and refers to those whose love of the sport perhaps outweighs their active participation.
It was these customers, the theory went, who would be willing to spend more on their equipment to ensure that they were getting the very best.
And they would be getting the best. Premium pricing, says Scheybeler, gave him the freedom to select higher performance – and thus more costly – materials, design features and construction methods.
