For 2014, most of Raleigh’s road bike news is on the endurance road segment, with revised (and lighter!) frames, new carbon and alloy forks, and new disc brake models (like the Revenio Disc shown above) on both the mens and womens side. The new frames also get a revised, easier to use sizing system that migrates to many of the bikes throughout their entire lineup.
The race-oriented Militus gains a new alloy option, and there’s a new gravel road race bike to go with the very competitively priced ‘cross bikes.
Across the range, all of them will come with new wheels, with higher end models all getting Mavic wheels. They also get Prologo saddles, helping to add to the value proposition Raleigh’s quickly becoming known for.
Speed through the break for details of each group…
ENDURANCE ROAD
Endurance Road, which consists of the Revenio and Capri (essentially just a women’s version of the Revenio), gets redesigned with their new Raleigh Sizing System to improve the range of riders they’ll fit properly, all based on a large database of riders. It takes the desired stem length for a particular size, then works backwards to determine top tube length and overall stack/reach geometry. So, it’s a “component driven” sizing system, and there are separate databases for men and women. The result is a new sizing decal system on the bikes that show what will fit for most people within a height range. The stickers also show effective top tube length for those who know a little more about their bikes. There’s more to the sizing system, and we’ll get to that further down.
The Revenio Disc 3.0 ($1,300, shown) and 2.0 ($1,000) are ground up new bikes and forks. They get road disc specific carbon forks with 50mm offset. Geometry is the same as the standard Revenios, but spec changes a bit. The Disc 3.0 is Shimano 105 with FSA Gossamer cranks, and the 2.0 comes with Sora and FSA Vero cranks.
There’s no carbon disc road bike yet, but Raleigh’s marketing man Brian Fornes suggested a higher end version is likely in the works. After all, just look at their ‘cross bikes.
All Revenio/Capri models get lighter for 2014, and they also get cable ports that’ll work with mechanical or electronic on the same frame. To improve compliance, the frames get updated tube shaping for both carbon and alloy bikes. The top tube gets an smaller, ovalized profile at the seat tube junction. Same with the seat stays, and they’ve reduced the seat tube diameter to fit a 27.2 post. The combination allows for a bit of vertical frame flex and seat post flex that provides 50% more compliance than 2013 models. These tweaks to the frames, plus better spec, are what help drop grams across the range.
The Revenio/Capri 4 (shown here) uses the new Ultegra Di2 11-speed group. The Revenio/Capri carbons all shares the same frame.
The Revenio/Capri 2 also has the same carbon frame but comes in at just $2,200 with Shimano 105 and FSA cranks. The Revenio/Capri 1 comes in at the very entry level friendly price of $1,750 and still gets a carbon seatpost and Prologo saddle.
The Revenio 4 in size 56 came in at 16.73lb (7.59kg). We couldn’t weigh the disc model because it was using a plastic fork for show, not a production item.
From here, they drop to the alloy frames starting with the Revenio/Capri 3.0. The Capri range is shown here, and he alloy Revenio looks identical to the disc model shown further up. On the women’s frames, they have a new graphic designer that’s updated the paint schemes to be more aggressive with only hints of pink.
Retail tops out at $1,300. They come all the way down to the 1.0 level with an opening price point of just $750. The 1.0 level does lose the tapered headtube and gets an alloy fork, but it comes stock with 25mm tires.
The top level carbon Capri tips in at just 16.69lbs (7.57kg).
They’ve also spec’d wider rims and tires on the range, which opens up the tire to put more rubber on the road for better traction and more air volume for a cushier ride. Most get a 23mm wide rim, and the Revenio Disc ups it to 24mm.
Oh, and the house brand Momentum wheels used on some models are lighter than last year, too.
FIT & SIZING
On the women’s bikes, one of the challenges with the smaller sizes is avoiding toe overlap. The easy solution is steepening the seat tube angle, but Raleigh’s PM’s say that can adversely affect the center of gravity on the bike. It also shifts too much weight forward on the hands and makes you crane your neck upward, which makes it uncomfortable. So, they created a fork with 50mm offset and a seatpost with 20mm offset, which opens up the front center and puts the rider in the right spot. This requires a slightly slacker head angle, which improves the effective trail, so they ended up with a good performance handling characteristics. Win-win.
For dealers, the new sizing system coincides with a new fitting service and training. Mike Sylvester has been a pro road and cyclocross racer that started doing fits at the Bike Gallery in Portland in 1981. After an accident in the early ’90s that shattered the cap of his femur, he turned to physical therapy and yoga to get back into racing form. As he progressed in yoga, he better understood biomechanics and started developing a better fit program. Then, when Ben Serotta visited and showed off his Size Cycle, they discussed setting up a training program to show dealers how to properly use the size cycle and incorporate better fit into the system.
In 2005, he opened his own fit studio in Portland, then created and taught the Trek fitting school from 2007 to 2011. Now, with Raleigh, his job is to train dealers to provide better fit services and expertise for their customers. They’ll be running classes that teach about the body as much as the bike, and providing guidance on doing quick floor sizing for test rides, setting up a proper fit center and getting the right tools.
RACE ROAD
The carbon Militus race bike remains unchanged except for colors and spec. The new lineup is inspired by exotic cars and racing, a theme that carries through many of Raleigh’s 2014 bikes. The orange one resembles Lamborghini’s orange and it rather handsome.
Militus 4 is top of the line at $9,000 and comes with the new Dura-Ace Di2, the new asymmetric FSA carbon cranks (which look amazing in person!) and Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLR wheels.
The only change on the carbon bikes are the new mech/electronic cable ports. The size 56 comes in at 15.17lbs (6.88kg).
The Militus line gets an all-new a double butted alloy model to go with the carbon versions. It has a lightweight, race-ready double butted frame, pointing it directly at the Specialized Allez and Cannondale CAAD10 bikes. It comes in at just $2,000 with mid-compact 50/39 Rival and Mavic Aksium wheels.
Out of the box it’s just 18lbs (claimed, 18.14lb / 8.23kg actual for size 56), giving Raleigh a very compelling option in the affordable crit racer segment.
CYCLOCROSS & GRAVEL ROAD
The Tamland is an all-new gravel road bike that’s also commuter ready. It has disc brakes with a traditional road bike gearing. The Reynolds 631 double butted steel frame gets “gravel road bike geometry”, and Raleigh says that compared to a cyclocross bike it has a lower BB, longer chainstays, taller headtube and a curved steel fork with longer offset.
They worked with Reynolds to choose the right frame material, and ended up with 631 for it’s strength, but opened new butting tooling to get the compliance and weight Raleigh wanted.
Put it all together and you get a bike with 40mm tire (with clearance to spare) and a very stable, comfortable ride for 100+ mile dirt road races. With Ultegra 11-speed, the bike’ll come in at just $2,400.
Weight is 24.03lbs (10.9kg).
The Furly is a ‘cross ready but commuter friendly singlespeed disc brake bike that’s easily upgraded to take gears. Only thing new is a fresh blue colorway, which is much better looking in person than in these photos. The Roper is basically unchanged except for color, too.
The ‘cross bikes were launched at Sea Otter, but here’s a little update. They also get the new Raleigh Sizing System, decals and all, which will be on both the men’s and women’s bikes. The wheels use premium hubs and wider rims. They even get ‘cross specific bar tape.
They made a big deal about the seatposts, too, which get dual bolts so the saddle won’t slip or rotate when you’re hopping back on and landing hard. That can be a race ender, and Raleigh doesn’t want that happening to you. Another design feature they just called out is the alloy models’ ovalized downtube. Most bikes use a oval that switches from vertical to horizontal as it goes from the head tube to BB. Raleigh started with a bit smaller diameter tube, but kept it a horizontally skewing oval shape for better frame stiffness.
The bikes will see TRP’s new disc brake calipers getting some OEM spec, and the top end RXC Pro gets Ultegra Di2 and Clement tires all while dropping down to $5,000 MSRP. Oh, and the bike is about half a pound lighter, too! Oh, and they’re in stock.
Check our full coverage of Raleigh’s 2014 cyclocross bikes here.
