Raleigh in trouble.

[rogerzilla]

I just remember them being immensely heavy, rust-prone, non-standard, and mainly aimed at kids, although they knew how to make a bike look appealing. The adult market moved away from them when MTBs appeared and drove quality up/weight down.

 

[mickle]

I know of no other brand (bicycle or otherwise) whose reputation for quality so exceeded the reality. A lot of people bought them because that was the only brand name they knew. But that was based on information (if it was ever true) that was decades out of date.

I remember attending big bike industry trade shows in the 80's and 90"s and the Raleigh reps swaggering around in their black shirts like they owned the joint, sneering at all the other brands. Supreme arrogance. They really did believe they were head and shoulders superior to everyone else. It was almost cult like.

I remember a Raleigh rep commenting on the very first mountain bike on display in the window of FW Evans in Waterloo. He scoffed at it. "farking ugly heavy piece of shoot, they'll never catch on. Only a moron would buy one! "

I remember going into a Raleigh dealer a couple of years later, long after it was obvious that Raleigh had missed the MTB boat, to nose around, asking if they had any mountain bikes for sale and being shown a Raleigh Bomber. The salesman insisting that yes indeed, this is a mountain bike. With it's steel sidepull brakes, 3 speed hub and Post Office bike derived frame...

I remember Raleigh selling the employees of Strurmey Archer down the river.

I remember Raleigh selling the employees of Brooks down the river. Thankfully they landed on their feet, but no thanks to Raleigh management.

I worked for a company in York for over a decade. We supplied whole fleets of commuter bikes to companies and local authorities for schemes to get people out of their cars. But we were a bit disruptive to the bike trade ecology because we'd sweep in and buy 100 or 200 bikes at a time. So we had to have multiple suppliers; Trek, Dawes, Kona, Ridgeback. Sometimes, and against my protestations, we'd buy bikes from Raleigh. They were universally terrible. Took twice as long to build and had really awful quality issues. When other companies were having their bikes built in Taiwan Raleigh went to Cambodia or Pakistan. Don't get me wrong. Im a fan of inexpensive bikes. But I'm not a fan of companies who peddle sh!te.

The big question for me is how they managed to survive for so long.

Like i always say, the only good Raleigh is one at the bottom of a body of water. Preferably a canal.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

we'd buy bikes from Raleigh. They were universally terrible. Took twice as long to build and had really awful quality issues.

The last Raleigh frame I bought was a lugless that was produced round the mid nineties, just after they ditched the Dynatech range. The face of the mounting boss for the rear brake hadn't been machined properly and I had to fit half a washer on one side of the caliper to get the blocks hitting the wheel squarely.











.

 

[Jameshow]

I think very few consumers will remember Raleigh bikes with nostalgia. Sadly that generation has passed.
The bikes of my generation were early trek, Cannondale, spez colnargo ... The brands that are doing well today along with canyon and Ribble...

 

[Andy in Germany]

I know of no other brand (bicycle or otherwise) whose reputation for quality so exceeded the reality. A lot of people bought them because that was the only brand name they knew. But that was based on information (if it was ever true) that was decades out of date.

I remember attending big bike industry trade shows in the 80's and 90"s and the Raleigh reps swaggering around in their black shirts like they owned the joint, sneering at all the other brands. Supreme arrogance. They really did believe they were head and shoulders superior to everyone else. It was almost cult like.

I remember a Raleigh rep commenting on the very first mountain bike on display in the window of FW Evans in Waterloo. He scoffed at it. "farking ugly heavy piece of shoot, they'll never catch on. Only a moron would buy one! "

I remember going into a Raleigh dealer a couple of years later, long after it was obvious that Raleigh had missed the MTB boat, to nose around, asking if they had any mountain bikes for sale and being shown a Raleigh Bomber. The salesman insisting that yes indeed, this is a mountain bike. With it's steel sidepull brakes, 3 speed hub and Post Office bike derived frame...

I remember Raleigh selling the employees of Strurmey Archer down the river.

I remember Raleigh selling the employees of Brooks down the river. Thankfully they landed on their feet, but no thanks to Raleigh management.

I worked for a company in York for over a decade. We supplied whole fleets of commuter bikes to companies and local authorities for schemes to get people out of their cars. But we were a bit disruptive to the bike trade ecology because we'd sweep in and buy 100 or 200 bikes at a time. So we had to have multiple suppliers; Trek, Dawes, Kona, Ridgeback. Sometimes, and against my protestations, we'd buy bikes from Raleigh. They were universally terrible. Took twice as long to build and had really awful quality issues. When other companies were having their bikes built in Taiwan Raleigh went to Cambodia or Pakistan. Don't get me wrong. Im a fan of inexpensive bikes. But I'm not a fan of companies who peddle sh!te.

The big question for me is how they managed to survive for so long.

Like i always say, the only good Raleigh is one at the bottom of a body of water. Preferably a canal.

I must have struck lucky: 29 years of heavy use and still going strong. Doing better than the owner, in many ways.

 

[tyred]

They brought it on themselves. They should never have stopped making the Twenty.

 

[Drago]

View attachment 817799


I must have struck lucky: 29 years of heavy use and still going strong. Doing better than the owner, in many ways.

By then frames were manufactured in the far east, sometimes for the better on the higher end bikes, but the bread and butter cheap stuff didn't improve any. Only assembly was taking place in Nottingham by that time. The company had already irrevocably changed by then.

You didn't strike it lucky. You simply bought one of the few better quality machines they sold, assembled entirely from parts that other companies had manufacturers. As Mickle rightly points out, the bulk of it was dross.

 

[Andy in Germany]

By then frames were manufactured in the far east, sometimes for the better on the higher end bikes, but the bread and butter cheap stuff didn't improve any. Only assembly was taking place in Nottingham by that time. The company had already irrevocably changed by then.

You didn't strike it lucky. You simply bought one of the few better quality machines they sold, assembled entirely from parts that other companies had manufacturers. As Mickle rightly points out, the bulk of it was dross.

I'm told the M-Trax range was the last decent quality range of bikes they made: it was somehow separate to the rest of the company and at least in 1996 was still -just- made in the UK. I think it may be one of the last examples before M-Trax was closed down.

I remember I got it cheaply because it was the previous years model, with cantilever brakes when the rest of the world was already moving on to V's.

 

[Brandane]

I had one of these in the late 70's, early 80's. A Raleigh Scorpio. At the time I loved it, but I was 17 when I bought it. The only Raleigh I have ever owned. I will be sorry to see the name disappear, but as other posters have pointed out, the true Raleigh bikes disappeared long ago, replaced by BSO's with a Raleigh badge nailed on. 😢

(Photo internet sourced, not my bike).

It cost about £70 back then, but this joker thinks this example (NOT the one above) is worth £668 . Doesn't even have the original drop bars but is apparently a "nut and bolt rebuild".
https://ebay.io/m/45GV4K

 

[Drago]

I'm told the M-Trax range was the last decent quality range of bikes they made: it was somehow separate to the rest of the company and at least in 1996 was still -just- made in the UK. I think it may be one of the last examples before M-Trax was closed down.

I remember I got it cheaply because it was the previous years model, with cantilever brakes when the rest of the world was already moving on to V's.

The 4130 Max Cromo (not to be confused with the mere Max range) frames were superb and lingered until the late 90s, but were foreign designed and made.

I had one of these in the late 70's, early 80's. A Raleigh Scorpio. At the time I loved it, but I was 17 when I bought it. The only Raleigh I have ever owned. I will be sorry to see the name disappear, but as other posters have pointed out, the true Raleigh bikes disappeared long ago, replaced by BSO's with a Raleigh badge nailed on. 😢

View attachment 817803
(Photo internet sourced, not my bike).

It cost about £70 back then, but this joker thinks this example (NOT the one above) is worth £668 . Doesn't even have the original drop bars but is apparently a "nut and bolt rebuild".
https://ebay.io/m/45GV4K

That's a case in point. Aside from paint, stickers and minor kit differences, Raleigh were essentially selling the same bike in the mid 80s as they had in the mid 60s.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

The Motus ebikes that were hire bikes at Longleat Center Parcs around 2019 looked decent, but it seemed a bit odd to have no sign of them in 2022, replaced by Ridgeback and Specialized ebikes.

 

[slowereveryyear]

Sadly I'm old enough to remember when Raleigh meant quality at an affordable price.
In the 50's I owned a Raleigh Lenton Sports. It was bought by my dad second hand as a reward for passing an exam.
Lovely bike and still miss it. It was stolen from outside my house.
It was my only transport and saved me £££££'s on fares.
Furthest I ever went in a day was London Brighton London.
They lost the plot in later years and never kept up. For me Raleigh died when they closed Nottingham. Just the name left, much the same as MG cars.

 

[Drago]

But the Lenton represented the top 1% of the range, better materials and components, often with bespoke options, and more artisanal approach to their production. They were not representative of the typical Raleigh product.

The rest was badly mass built rubbish unfit to be used as boat anchors or garden gates.

 

[slowereveryyear]

Yes it was a good bike but 3/4 speed roadsters served for many years without giving problems.
After the war factory workers went to work by bike and if you looked at the bikes parked in the factory grounds Raleigh represented around 80%.
Well made but heavy.
The numbers still around today are proof of their build quality.

 

[Drago]

The numbers around today are proof of the vast numbers in which they were manufactured.

Other brands made by Raleigh, often identical in all but head tube badge and paint, are made to an equally poor standard but are rare today simply because there weren't so many to begin with.