Thursday, October 07, 2010

White Socks: Only to be Worn with a Sense of Irony

If you pay even less than strict attention to the world of Rapha, you will have likely noticed that Rapha UK and Rapha US will periodically debate the merits (or lack thereof) of white socks.

Without argument, white socks have their place. When you are five years old, constantly lose socks and need to buy them in packs of six, white socks are functional and cost effective. If you're Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, playing for the Houston Oilers in the late seventies and eighties, it is certainly a reasonable way to dress. For the well-rounded cyclist, who is equally comfortable in the dirt, on gravel, the cross course and the road, white has little place in your War Axe wardrobe.

Certainly, great cyclists in the past have donned white socks, but do we really want to walk back through the fashion mistakes of cyclists past to show how such an argument really fails to stand up? (Okay, the one orange sock is a nice touch.)

We're finalizing an order of black War Eagle socks with a 7" cuff via Sock Guy today. Think of them as the Quasi Team MWC sock. Same colors. Same Lincoln pride. You'll never see White from War Axe.

After all, White equals surrender. Save the white socks for a Halloween costume, not your next ride.

2 comments:

How do i get to my old stuff said...

hmm. I like a little white in the socks when wearing the white road shoes. Otherwise, yeah. Try not to show the dirt. Tho, I guess I wore white cx'ing last night. Guess I wouldn't know cool if it kicked me in the shins.

Marc Walter said...

What is this? White is only for pro's or to wipe your hands on after a wheel change. One ride in the rain and that's how my white stockings get used. That's why I spend my time at undergroundweather.com. So I can predict when to ride my white socks. As you can tell I'm not a pro with a sock sponsor.