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Rapha unveils reflective cycling shoes to help you stand out in the dark

Rapha goes fully reflective with new shoes

Reflective and brightly coloured clothing is one of the more interesting trends in cycling at the moment, and Rapha, a brand often criticised for the lack of reflective details on some of its clothing (even though it produces the Brevet range expressly designed for riding in the dark) has just launched a reflective version of its Climber’s shoes. 

rapha reflective shoes3.jpeg

With two colours to choose from, the Rapha Reflective Climber’s shoes has an upper made from a special material that reflects light. There’s also a silver reflective stripe across the front of the shoe. Other than that, the shoes are the same as the regular Climber’s shoes, and as the name suggests, they’re designed to be light. A size 9 weighs a claim 215g, which certainly puts them up there with the lightest. 

It’s perhaps no surprise that Rapha has released these shoes, as last year Giro produced the Giro’s Empire ACC Reflective and Republic LX Reflective shoes which add a reflective coating to the microfibre upper. The cool thing about this reflective treatment, and it’s best expressed by Rapha’s new shoes, is that they can be any colour you want and look like a regular pair of shoes during the daytime. 

- Giro launches reflective cycling shoes 

Come sunset, however, and the shoes will bounce back any car headlights and provide near 360-degree reflectivity. Sadly Rapha hasn't revealed a photo of how the shoes look when a light is shone on them, but we'll try and get some in to find out for ourselves.

- The best performance road cycling shoes

According to Rapha, some of Team Sky members are apparently wearing these new shoes in the Tour de France, so keep those eyes peeled when watching the TV coverage. 

The Rapha Reflective Climber’s shoes are available now and cost £280 and come in sizes 39 to 48. More at http://pages.rapha.cc/stories/shoes-to-be-seen-in

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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7 comments

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SoliD | 7 years ago
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Few other members of the peloton have been wearing too which surprised me. Guess they are just Giro Empire at the end of the day.

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bendertherobot replied to SoliD | 7 years ago
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SoliD wrote:

Few other members of the peloton have been wearing too which surprised me. Guess they are just Giro Empire at the end of the day.

 

Giro Prolight SLX (ii)

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bendertherobot | 7 years ago
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Me too. Rowe is wearing the white ones today.

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bendertherobot | 7 years ago
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Worn by Team Sky is interesting. I mean, generally they wear what they're told but, it seems, most of them wear something else, Froome with Sidi, G with Fizik, ditto Rowe. Not that it matters, as they are great shoes, but I guess the shoe aspect is just one of those separate sponsor things per rider, ditto glasses?

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tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
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The animation at the top of the page shows them illuminated, maybe takes a bit to load..

 

http://pages.rapha.cc/stories/shoes-to-be-seen-in

 

Would prefer a video of people riding in them in the dark though. Definitely a good looking shoe for sure.

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Rapha Nadal replied to tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
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unconstituted wrote:

The animation at the top of the page shows them illuminated, maybe takes a bit to load..

 

http://pages.rapha.cc/stories/shoes-to-be-seen-in

 

Would prefer a video of people riding in them in the dark though. Definitely a good looking shoe for sure.

I stand corrected!  Slow clap for me on this occasion!

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 7 years ago
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Why on earth would you advertise a product as reflective and something to be seen in and then neglect to show it in action?!  Slow clap for Rapha there.

Lovely looking shoes though.

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