I visited the Rapha NYC Clubhouse and it sure was different in atmosphere compared to Taipei clubhouse.
The place was probably the size of Rapha Taipei if the Taipei clubhouse was not split into two levels. I went in just wanting to see the store was like and grab a coffee…I left with a 3 NY clubhouse exclusives with a t-shirt, essentials case and a water bottle/bidon.
Despite the Yelp and Google reviews, the employees in the store were very helpful and coffee wasn’t as bad as many said it was. This is where getting RCC membership is worth it because a latte was 5 bucks whereas in Taipei, (I think) it’s no more than 100NT.
I ended up going two days in a row and was helped by the same employee. After I spent money that I shouldn’t have, we chatted about cycling for a good 10-15 minutes. I tried to sell Taiwan to him and he was biting. I recall him saying he wanted to do an Asia cycling adventure, Taipei was floating around in his ideas of destinations, but probably not for another year or so.
Aside from the tourists coming in to check out the exclusive NYC clubhouse gear, a fair amount of people coming in to do work and have coffee!
Yeah, I got lucky and someone took my evoc backpack within half an hour of posting it and asked if it could be sent before midnight.
Which left me…without a back pack for work the next day.
Day 2 of usage and I like it. A bit more room than the evoc, but lack of water bottle compartments is less convenient since I usually use those for keys and security card for the office.
I did do a unboxing video, but not enough lighting to show inside of bag. Need to make some ghetto lighting fixtures and re-film.
The Taipei Clubhouse has started a program to promote cycling in general. Pop in before/during/after your ride with your GPS (no minimum mileage requirement) and helmet, you can redeem a drink (not sure what drink). Don’t know when this campaign will finish, may have misunderstood .
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