Video, Fake Cycling Kit

When something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

So a Rapha brand cycling shirt for £9 plus postage was always going to be slightly dodgy - but how bad could it be?

I bought one to find out.

My parents used to own fashion shops and, back in the day, the factories which made designer dresses would often make extra, tweak a few things, then sell them as their own.  It was called "cabbage" - no idea why.



I wondered whether this could be the case here because, looking at the photo of the shirts sold on the highly reputable website Wish.com, they looked close to the real thing. I added the price tag.

If you're thinking, "if you're daft enough to expect to get a £120 Rapha shirt for £9 then you deserve what's coming to you", then let me be clear - it's not just Rapha kit.  There is a wide range of cycling kit for sale on the highly reputable website Wish.com

I have no idea how much of it is fake.  But hey, how bad could it be?  Let me show you.  This is a genuine Rapha Brevet Jersey.

Real Rapha

Here is what arrived from the highly reputable website Wish.com - it was supposed to be the one in the photo above.  You get a better idea of it in the video.

It's thin and very nylon.  For a top to wear on the turbo, it's fine and perhaps £12.90 isn't too much to pay.  But it's most definitely not a Rapha shirt.  If you'd ordered brand name shorts or tights, then I suspect the pad would be low quality.

I immediately reported it as counterfeit to the highly reputable website Wish.com using their automated customer service tool and was promised a reply within two working days.  Three days later I tried again.  No result either time.

So I tried again and plastered it on Twitter and Instagram - copying in the genuine Rapha, who responded.  Within hours I received a refund.

As of writing, all the fake cycling kit is still being sold openly on Wish.com the highly reputable website.  I have deactivated my account.