Another insightful interview from Manufacture. Once again concentrating on the business and production side, as with their last offering on Garbstore, it’s refreshing to hear about what goes on behind the scenes of some of our favourite brands rather than simply the latest collection or newest collaboration. Mottram comes from a marketing background, interesting to hear how this informed his approach to Rapha and how he managed to turn his passion from cycling into a thriving business.

“My drive was that this is such an amazing sport and that not enough people know about it. I would sit there years ago before the Internet at midnight watching crackly Eurosport coverage of a second division race in Europe that was amazing but I would sit on my own like a social leper thinking this is crazy that more people don’t love this sport. The brand is built all around that sport and that moment and that experience and how amazing it is that that sort of suffering gives you.”

Photography from Sam Green, Interview by Mark Smith and Glenn Kitson. Read more over at Manufacture.

This is a bit special. A video from the lens of Antony Crook, the music box of Mogwai, the pen of James Bowthorpe and the magical styling trunk of Glenn Kitson. A Rapha/RSA Films production set in Tokyo. Boxer meets bike in an impressive short. James explains; “We thought of this as a kind of sequel to 30 Century Man – a journey again, but not towards the perpetual horizon… Knock For Knock looks inwards, into memory, into fear and fighting it.”

Look out for this in full  at Rapha soon.

What could be harder on a pair of pants than biking to work and back again every day? Commuting by horse? Maybe. Sitting on a pile of hot coals? Just about.

People have been riding their bicycles around cities for decades, if not centuries, but it’s only been in the past five years or so that we have seen a handful of pants designed to look good while resisting the beatings of pedaling on bike seats. Put simply: these pants have the iron crotch. Not a communicable condition, but one of great import to your nethers. Have a look after the jump. Not all of them are pretty, but they are all built for biking.

View 10 Cycling Pants With the Iron Crotch on the following page…

Watching someone walk in cycling shoes is a little like watching someone walk with shit in their shorts. It is a challenge to look effortless with clips mounted under the balls of your feet. Locked into pedals, however, it is a totally different story, and these new touring shoes from Rapha are about as sleek as can be. Like, seriously, more regular shoes should look this good.

A collaboration between Rapha and Giro, the Grand Tour Shoe features an industry-first Yak-leather upper, a carbon sole, a cork footbed that molds to your foot, leather straps, titanium rings and an aluminum buckle. These are performance shoes, no doubt, but do show an invigorating amount of elegance and restraint. “The buckle has the craftsmanship and reassuring feel of a luxury car door handle.” There you have it.

More looks in our gallery…

We’ve had a few looks at Spring/Summer 2012 from Cycling dons Rapha, here they present a short video concentrating on bikewear for the fellas. It goes without saying, this is some of the most well designed gear for anyone who spends time pedaling, the brand combining looks and functionality perfectly – they make a pretty smart video too. Press Play.

Few things on the streets are as visually arresting as a well-dressed cyclist powering along. The flip side of that being that few things are as ridiculous looking as a cyclist in so much bright, logo-sodden spandex that he or she looks like a piece of NASCAR performance art. These new looks from Rapha’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection fall squarely in the former camp.

From the technical mesh base layer on through the new Country Jersey—a series of super functional shirts that pay homage to the great cycling nations of Europe—everything here is built for performance with a strong eye for stylish simplicity. Now, if you will excuse us, we need to go fix a flat. See more from Rapha.

More looks in our gallery…

The great Rapha delivers their teasers for Spring/Summer 2012. Ride with them this summer. See all of our Rapha coverage here.

We’ve seen more than our fair share Jawbone collaborations over the last few years (disclaimer: this writer uses Jawbones daily – non-collaborative version). Today, Rapha pushes out a look at their short run of Jawbones to benefit their Rapha-Focus cyclocross team. ” The custom-crafted Jawbones were painted to match the Rapha-FOCUS team kit. The colorful glasses come in a unique carry-bag and three sets of interchangeable lenses, with the Rapha logo etched into the primary set.” They’re set for auction October 10.
More looks after the click.

Here’s a look at the “Training & Racing Collection” for  Rapha Autumn Winter 2011. Updates have been made to their winter jersey. rain jacket, and classic softshell jacket.

Ben Ingham directs the latest video from the Rapha camp.