Rapha Cycling Club store and cafe to open in London

LONDON, UK - Luxury cycling brand Rapha will open a store in London in April in a location that has yet to be confirmed, Sportive.com has learned.

The London Rapha store will be the second standalone store for the brand, which already has a shop called the Rapha Cycle Club in San Francisco which opened in May 2011. Rapha has previously run a pop up showroom and cafe during the Tour de France in London's Clerkenwell Road but it is the first time they have gone into full time retailing in the UK.

Currently most of Rapha's sales are online but UK customers can currently try on and buy Rapha kit in Condor Cycles in London's Grays Inn Road.

The new store, which is expected to also be called the Rapha Cycling Club - will "marry a café, clothing retail and a brand experience to articulate what Rapha means in a physical space", which we think means it will be extremely cool, sophisticated and probably quite expensive. The company promises to also "host memorable cycling related events at the Cycle Club, which bring the Rapha brand to life".

The address of Rapha's San Francisco store is 2198 Filbert (x. Fillmore), San Francisco, CA 94123.