There is no denying the fact that over the past few years, Raleigh has really gotten their shift together. Through the sales and reorganizations of the company, the new bikes are looking better and better bringing the storied brand back into the game. The latest bike to find its way to the Bikerumor stable is the Revenio 4.0 carbon – a performance road bike with a relaxed fit, something Raleigh would categorize as Endurance Race. Equipped with full Ultegra Di2, the Revenio is backed up with some higher end, in-house parts for a complete build that looks as good in person as it does on paper.
Get the rundown of the Revenio 4.0, next.
On our 52cm Sm/Md test rig, the fork is set at a relatively slack 71°, with the range of sizes for the Revenio carbon falling in between 71 and 73°. The slacker fork combined with a taller, 145mm head tube is what gives the Revenio its Re²P, or Relaxed Ergonomic Effective Position, geometry. A steeper, 75° seat tube helps to shorten the top tube as well for a more upright, relaxed position. Relaxed doesn’t have to mean slow however, and to make sure the Revenio performs similar to its racier big brother the Militis, a full carbon monocoque fork sits in a 1.5 – 1 1/8″ tapered headtube for steering precision.
As this is a Di2 equipped bike, the Revenio has all of the provisions for running Di2 internally and fairly discreetly. All of the rubber plugs in the frame for the wires are a very tight fit around the wire itself – meaning the wires won’t move unless you need to push some of the slack inside the frame, which makes managing extra cable simple. The batter is tucked up underneath the non-drive chainstay, just behind the bottom bracket where it’s out of the way, but still easy to access.
On an “endurance” bike, I’m a bit surprised to see a 31.6 seat post, as usually the smaller posts offer a higher degree of compliance, but maybe that’s why there is a race at the end of Endurance Race. On Raleigh’s website the bike is speced with an Avenir Carbon Series seatpost, though post shown here is definitely aluminum – as they say, “specs subject to change.” Sitting on top of the post is an Avenir RMC saddle with carbon rails. First impressions are that it is a performance race saddle – definitely not as padded as what is typically considered an endurance road saddle.
Avenir parts make up the rest of the cockpit with an Avenir Carbon stem (an upgrade from the Avenir 200 alloy stem speced), and an Avenir 200 Series alloy 31.8 bar with a short drop. Gel bar tape finishes it off, with a texture closest to Lizard Skin’s DSP.
It’s nice to see a full Shimano Ultegra Di2 build throughout the bike – right down to the brake cables and housings. You won’t find a down-speced chain, or cassette, just Ultegra 6770/6700 all the way through.
Gearing wise, the Revenio 4.0 carbon is equipped with a 50/34 compact double crank and an 11-28t cassette which should offer plenty of gearing for most riders. Once you’ve climbed to the top, the Revenio features longer stays and a lower bottom bracket to offer more predictable cornering on the way back down.
Raleigh did a great job building a set of slick wheels that match the part for the Revenio, with Weinman DP18 all black rims wrapped in Vittoria Rubino Pro 23mm rubber and house branded hubs with red anodized nipples and black spokes.
The wheels look great, though likely in an effort to keep the price down (you can find new Revenio 4.0 Carbons in shops for as low as $3,999), the wheels are probably the weakest link of the bike. The loose ball front Formula hub isn’t much better than you will find on $800-1,000 bikes, but Raleigh did include a much better rear hub where it matters, in the KT Alloy with 4 Sealed Bearings and 6 pawl engagement. It’s not like the front hub is going to blow up immediately, or slow you down – just make sure it is properly adjusted, something that the better shops will already have covered.
With a set of Ultegra pedals installed, the complete bike weighs in at 18.25 pounds – without the pedals it was around 17.5. Look for a full review on the Raleigh in the near future!
Just as a reminder, if you’re thinking of picking up a new carbon Raleigh for yourself, you still have a few days left to claim the $100 carbon rebate they’re offering!
