Rapha's co-managing director chats falling in love with the sport, the cycling community, and the rise of cycling in the U.S. and beyond.
A single glimpse at Rapha’s cycling gear brings to mind words like “gritty, aspirational, and adventurous.” Since the company’s founding in 2004, the cycling world has exploded. The number of riders grew from about 43 million in 2015 to 52 million in 2022 in the U.S. alone, and projections show that the global bicycle market size could grow from $83 billion in 2022 to $128 billion in 2029.
According to Francois Convercey—co-managing director of Rapha—he heart of the brand remains the same. Convercey joined the team as Rapha’s Chief Brand and Marketing Officer in 2015 after logging countless miles through his home country of France and beyond. He sat down with Equinox to talk about falling in love with cycling, the rise of the sport in the U.S. and beyond, and why the brand fits right in at The Equinox Shop.
How did your cycling journey begin?
I've always been a cyclist. In all the pictures of myself as a little kid, I'm always on a bike. I grew up in Paris, but my family would spend vacations in the south of France, and that's when my love of cycling started. The two wheels gave me the opportunity to cover the world around me and go farther than my feet could take me. I ended up signing up for a small local race one day, and I won that race. The local club came to me and said, “You should be more serious about this.” So that's when I started being more competitive on the road, mountain bike, and cross country.
Rapha crafts such a clear, inspiring vision of the sport. What goes into creating that vibe?
The purpose of Rapha has always been to make cycling the world's most popular sport. It has always been to inspire as many people as we physically can to live life on the bike and to experience the unique values and unique benefits of riding your bike. We believe that the experience on the bike makes us better individuals. Starting with that purpose and using it as a lighthouse for every part of the brand has been really instrumental.
I think the second key dimension is that what we build is rooted in creativity. The way we design our products, the way we obsess about the details, the way we look at creative ways to get the brand out there and don’t follow a traditional playbook of traditional brand-building that has played a huge role.
The third thing is passion. Passion for the sport, passion for everything we do and make. We are obsessed with the details and really give a shit about what we do. We give every project to someone who really cares about that thing, and then they hand it over to the next person who cares equally about it—and so on.
How has the cycling industry changed since the conception of Rapha?
Cycling is very traditional in European markets—for instance, in Spain, Italy, France, and Belgium. But you've seen that surge of cycling in markets like Southeast Asia, where it's been a much more rapid adoption curve. In the U.S., it's an old sport, but it's never really been something mainstream until recently.
Globally, cycling has gone from something that was a niche, obscure activity for the working class to something that many people are attracted to for different reasons. Obviously, people looking at adventure in escapism, and the bike is an amazing tool to get out there and just experience the world. It also allows human beings to tap into their more competitive nature and put themselves out there.
One of the things that we've done as a brand over the last 20 years is speak to a much more diverse audience. We started from a very niche place. Our advertising was male-dominated; it showed a lot of suffering and intensity. This made the brand iconic among a small audience. But we knew we'd never realize our purpose of inspiring more people to get on the bike with such a distant, extreme look. We've opened up as a brand, so now we speak to the mountain biker, the gravel rider, and the urban commuter as much as we speak to the road cyclist.
Why partner with the Equinox Shop?
Rapha’s relationship with Equinox today is just the natural consequence of wanting people to experience cycling in as many ways as they can. I hope that when people cycle, the values that come from that experience will inspire them to spend more time on the bike and will make them want to explore the world out there on two wheels, one way or another.
This interview has been condensed for clarity.