Raleigh bikes???

[rigidhack]

I know, its a Raleigh (= bling factor of pretty much -11), but has anybody ridden one of these?

http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=13&itemid=220&va=0

I saw the catalog for the 05 models and the build is pretty amazing for the price. The 2500 especailly looks pretty sick for $2350 (MSRP).

http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=13&itemid=219&va=0

The 3500 which comes A-Lab Trailpimps, Holzfellers, X0 RD, SPV Slider up front and El Caminos for stopping is $2900 I think.

The numbers look OK, even if the seat tube angle looks a bit steep. Just wondering if anybody has any experience with it at all?

[rpk1988]

I know one dude who rides one, i believe it the first link you posted and he beats the living s**t out of it. Haha. I guess they arent too bad. I never viewed Raleigh for mountain bikes and their road bikes suck. What is their frame warrenty like? For that much, if there frame warrenty is good, I'd say go for it.:thumb:

[Arsbars]

Raleigh has no cool factor, but their warranty is life time. Also they tend to give better breaks on their bikes because the distribute a ton of parts as well.

Oh - their carbon road bikes aren't that bad either this year. For '06 they are even having a steel fixie

[rigidhack]

Just looked up the warrantee:
lifetime for steel frames; 5 years for alu. suspension frames. Typical "no abuse, no jumping" language. All in all, looks pretty average for a warrantee.

The 2500 w/ a Slider or Breakout would be a nice combo (or the 3500 with the 4 Way).

I can't imagine that they are selling lots of these, due to the abzsence of "cool factor". Maybe I can get one real cheap towards the end of the summer?

Might be worth it just to cannibalize for parts.

[ride dont slide]

never thought id say this about raleigh but that looks ok could be improved but the first link looks pretty sweet. though the second doesnt look like it would take alot.

[ride dont slide]

http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=12&itemid=215&va=0

[teddypower]

i bought a raleigh at the beginning of summer and have been beating it pretty good and it has held up nice. all the welds are top notch. i knew going in that it had no "cool factor" but i didn't give a crap. i was told that raleigh u.s.a. knows that and intentionally made all their stickers extremely easy to pull off. i would recommend raleigh to anyone looking for a great ride at a good price. if you compare specs to others in the same range it doesn't compare. definitely test ride.
my bike.
http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=12&itemid=216&va=0

lata,ted

[rigidhack]

I dont really give a crap about the cool factor either, I 'm much more interested in the quality of the bike. NO doubts about the parts spec, just the frame. The 1.5 head tube on the Ram XT is a nice touch.

The removable stickers thing is HILARIOUS!

[mountainbiker]

I have plenty of experience with Raleigh. I have sold there products for several years. As a manufacturer, they are the top notch company to deal with. There reps are great and there warranties are impecable. Even the entry level bikes are a great value. From my dealings with them; they are a stand up company with plenty are great bikes to chose from. I say go for it!!!!! You will enjoy it.

Oh definately go test ride though. It is always good to test ride several bikes before you decide.

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[NeedAHardTail]

dollar for dollar how do they lower end M50 hardtails for example compare to similarly priced competition?

[mountainbiker]

You definatly get more bang for the buck with a Raleigh, than with other brands. I say go for the M50 DX, it is pretty sweet and you will save about 10%, in comparison with the "NAME BRANDS".

Also, check out GT Avalanches (2.0 and 3.0 model)
The 3.0 is going to be around $400 and the 2.0 about $500.
They have decent components, discs, rapid fires and they also specialize in the double triangle frame for durability. www.gtbikes.com

And check out the Schwinn Mesa
Yeah, I know "SCHWINN", but they really do have some nice bikes with great components for a good price.