Sportive.com recently got the chance to check out the new (opened in April) Amsterdam Cycling Club.
The club is located on Wolvenstraat, just off the Herengracht and in one of the smartest parts of the city. The location isn't the coolest part of Amsterdam - if they had wanted gritty urban reality and to be surrounded by bearded hipsters they would have set up shop in De Pijp - but it is also isn't surrounded by Cartier or some of the many international chains that occupy so many of central Amsterdam's streets.
Being Rapha however, there was an obligatory bearded hipster working the shop floor as well as some other slightly 'too cool for school' employees.
Rapha Amsterdam is a good sized premises on two floors. By comparison with the London version, it has far less cafe space and far more display space. There's plenty of bare brick work, which although we are used to it in London is apparently relatively unusual in Holland. Spread over two floors, the extensive stock is well laid out and easy to examine. It is a shame that the women's clothing - which is a much smaller line of items - was stuck at the back of the basement floor but the logic behind that may have been that it would be next to the changing room.
The shop of course has bike parking (probably not ideal for the average bike that the locals ride as they all seem to be built like tanks) and if you are a member of the Rapha Cycling Club you can also borrow a free top end Specialized bike for the day or longer. There are some good displays, including a bike from specialist Amsterdam frame builder RIH and also a vintage mud splattered Eddie Merckx bike and jersey, paying homage to the races of Belgium and the Netherlands that take place not far away from Rapha Amsterdam.
One of the nice touches is that at the back of the cafe there is still a line of the original Dutch tiles from the original building, which they wisely have left in when many people would strip them out.
We decided to have lunch in the cafe. There was a fairly limited choice of food - just three toasted sandwich and a small selection of pastries. We went for the daily special of a chicken toastie and also the Giro toasted sandwich, which was a cheese and pesto combination. Drink choices - excluding coffee - is also pretty limited and 2.75 euros for a tiny bottle of San Pellegrino (200ml) wasn't exactly a bargain.
Amsterdam is not famed for the speed of its service and Rapha Amsterdam is no different; six sandwiches took a decent amount of time, albeit the person preparing them was having to do it on his own (does no one else in the shop know how to make sandwiches) and the toasting machine could only take two at a time. Nevertheless, if you are in a hurry and want more than a coffee or a cake then you might want to go elsewhere!
While we ate - on a Thursday lunchtime - there was a constant stream of customers coming into the shop, although not many of them seemed to buy anything. The manager of the shop told us that it was performing above Rapha's expectations so far, which is a good sign for its future.
Rapha Amsterdam address and contact details
Wolvenstraat 10, 1016 EP Amsterdam, Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +31 (0)20 341 50 82
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday - 9am to 7pm
Sunday, Monday & Public Holidays - 10am to 6pm
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