RAPHA SAMPLE SALE: MANCHESTER

Matt Christensen

10th May 2012 09:06pm

Great photo.

David Fish

10th May 2012 11:32pm

Its maybe not so grim 'Up North' - Looking forward to this :)

Ian Humphreys

11th May 2012 01:23pm

Looking forward to a huge queue at 10am and then a fire sale on eBay (he said cynically)

Karl Owen

11th May 2012 01:28pm

Front of the queue

neil barnett

11th May 2012 06:29pm

Mad for it.
Really, big queue? this far up north?

Richard Magnier

12th May 2012 05:00pm

What's the story behind the photo…?!!

Mark Rushton

12th May 2012 09:16pm

It's Bernard Hinault and that race was stopped by strikers (farmers, workers, I'm not sure). But dissent broke out and Hinault decided the race would carry on even if he had to settle the matter personally

gary myler

14th May 2012 04:12pm

biggest queue the post office will have seen the stamps
went up in price….

justin riley

14th May 2012 09:46pm

whose doing the rapha ride to chesterfield on the sunday?
see you at the post office - 10am start..

Victoria Howarth

15th May 2012 06:47pm

At last!

Craig Cooper

23rd May 2012 05:49pm

I remember the last sample sale being followed very shortly after by the website sale, so ebay merchants best beware.

paul donaghy

28th May 2012 08:25am

I went on Saturday and it was a BUNFIGHT!! :)

Luckily I was pretty much front of the queue at around 8am (doors opened at 10am) …

I came a way with a few bits and pieces

LS Winter Jersey
SS Rapha Club Jersey (very nice but its a promo piece effectively given as part of a club membership I believe in Polyester)
Black Cap
Black Kneewarmers (very happy with those)
White armwarmers (more on that later)
Essentials wallet (fantastic item)
3/4 Fixie shorts (beautiful, my second pair)
1 pair of Pro Socks (white)

The armwarmers I grabbed at as they had become detatched but only found out they are slightly differing sizes when I returned home, one may be a little too restrictive I fear .. (Ebay ???) ..Smile

Overall, the jerseys were fine so long as you were a SMALL or EXTRA SMALL Spaniard (Country Jersey) or if you wanted the Pink/Grey/White jersey …. I'm not and I didnt.

The Bibshorts all seemed to be XXL

There were no Gilets
(really wanted a new one as ruined my white one)

There were no rainjackets (no real surprise there)

There was tons of stock but I feel they really should have railed it all up and the BUNFIGHT could have been a lot more civilised and the stock easier to view.

The staff were great though, a nice bunch of lads who were happy to chat and keen to get everyone out riding on the Sunday … I had returned home by then though..

All in all, it was Ok ….. I'd just reiterate that perhaps railing all the "hangable" stock would make a lot more sense … IT WAS JUST BEDLAM and with the heat within the shop I had to get out after a while.

So, there you have it …

paul donaghy

28th May 2012 12:42pm

Hi Jack

No worries - not a criticism as such , moreso just an idea.

I felt that if it were to be railed (more work for you guys I appreciate)… it would be far easier for customers to search through and also far less likely to end up strewn all over the place, possibly becoming damaged.

Are there any of the Essentials wallets left over? The guys I ride with were all impressed with mine as we were using Sandwich bags before. I could happily take 4 or 5 is there are.

One other thought - There were peeps in the queue who had travelled from Glasgow!! Would it be wiser to do one further north, say Leeds or further north and move the Manny one to Birmingham? Birmingham is on my doorstep .. so slightly biased.

Cheers.