Rapha Guide To Being Seen

Whether it’s an early start or late finish, a grey winter day or a foggy spring morning, road cyclists are especially vulnerable when the light dips.

17 November 2017

Bright colours combined with carefully-positioned reflective detailing are crucial for being seen on the road. Subtle features on Rapha's most distinctive clothing attract attention when you need it most and hide highly visible elements in daylight. Through more than a decade of innovation, and in tens of thousands of miles on the road, we’ve developed visibly different roadwear designed to perform day and night.

Key Considerations

360º Vision

To keep you visible from every angle, Rapha strategically places reflective elements all over the body, from sleeves to sides, feet, calves, neck, and more.

Reflective Fabrics

Rapha uses a reflective yarn in several of its socks and oversocks, adding effective high visibility elements to comfortable garments that weren’t previously considered as such.

Drawing Attention

Our Brevet collection uses eye-catching colours and bold reflective stripes meaning riders can be seen a long way off, even when it’s murky and the road is long.

What to wear

The three considerations above sit across a wide range of Rapha products. Year round, you can stay seen – and safer – with reflective and hi-vis clothing from top to toe.

“When you are wearing the same kit for almost 10 days straight, riding 20 hours per day, it needs to fit well, but also have the small reflective accents/details that ease the mind during the long pre-dawn/post-dusk hours that you have to race.”

– Neil Phillips, Rapha rider and 2nd place in the 2016 Transcontinental race

SEE THROUGH THE SEASONS

Bright colours and bold reflective stripes ensure you’re seen through the gloomier months.

Both reflective and hi-vis materials are used in Rapha clothing to improve visibility on the road, but both work in different ways. Hi-vis or fluorescent fabrics interact with the sun’s ultraviolet rays making them appear luminous in gloomy conditions, when other colours would be muted. Reflective fabrics are employed in the dark, and only work when illuminated by a light, reflecting to stand out against the surrounding dark.

Rapha uses retroreflective elements in many of its garments. This material reflects light directly back into the source, rather than dissipating it into the environment, working in the same way a mirror would. As a result, the material shines much brighter than those without these qualities. Rapha uses only the highest grade retroreflective material, not only for its effectiveness but also for its durability.