Where did it all go wrong and why? When I was a kid some 20-25 years ago I had a Raleigh grifter (built out of and similar weight to scaffold) with a classic 3 speed sturmey, then onto a mag burner, my sister had a mini burner, then onto the obligatory mongoose and then the unfortunate mistake of a Falcon, my first mtb!!
I remember the emergence of specialized and trek etc but how did Raleigh get left so far behind??
The British leyland of the bike world??

The m-trax is coming back though … ish

There's a new Raleigh road squad been formed this year. They are in Majorca at present on a training camp. Not a major league team, just the 2nd/3rd level races. I get the impression that funding isn't too great and most of the team will be run on a shoestring.

My misses bought me a raleigh cycle computer for christmas.

Its the size of a house brick, half as attractive to look at and is pretty pants.

Eeee, that takes me back! I had a Stowaway in the '70's then a 5 speed 'ladies' road bike both from Raleigh. So reliable! I take it they are no longer in Nottingham? Was it like everything in this country, sell to highest global bidder, move business and make workforce redundant?

clicky click

I seen a Raleigh BSO for sale last weekend in Halfords.I still have my Grifter in the garage i put it back to its former glory last year.To be honest it is a bit of a death trap on the stopping front of things

Raleigh was asset stripped and the site sold to the university.

recent Raleigh bikes have shown that they are trying very hard to get shot of their poor reputation.
Carbon road bikes with the heron logo – looks good.
Their recent mountain bikes especially under the M-trax brand are trying hard.
good luck to them.

I loved my grifter, mainly because the sheer weight and momentum of it helped me beat a load of rich local kids with flash bmx's in a jump competition. Admittedly I did land on the front wheel but the comp was measured where the back well landed. Oh the memories 🙂

Too late and skeptical about mountainbikes post the first BMX wave. Apparently they (and to be fare quite a few dealers too) felt that they got their fingers burned when it collapsed. Apparently this lead to Raleigh being reluctant to jump on the new band wagon. If you remember a lot of their lower priced MTBs were simply general purpose road frames fitted with MTB gear. They had the major team in the 80s/90s but never seemed to cash in on it. A few of the things they tried were probably too late or misplaced. While US brands forged ahead with welded frames Raliegh invested in the M-Trax glued lugged frames. Too heavy really.

Eventually they decided to drop production in Nottingham and concentrate on low cost overseas sourced frames because MTB was the main part of the cycle market, road bike sales weren't at the level they now are (as MTB riders branch out into the sport as a whole)and Raleigh name didn't cut the mustard any longer.

IMHO of course. Plus I think they did the classic British industry thing of thinking because the name was so big it would sell bikes irrespective. Triumph motorbikes did the same thing. They had dominated for so long that they thought Honda and the other Jap bikes were just a flash in the pan. No need to worry about making different reliable machines. People had always bought British and always would.

Bit of a tragedy really.

Good to see they are having another attempt at higher end bikes and sponsoring teams again. Not sure on the MTB side if they understand the UK centric steel mid/long travel HT market. Which they should if they look at a company like Madison's Genesis.

Raleigh are based just off the A610 near Ikea now – several people round here work there, they have fingers in a few teams as I understand it. Seem to have several good brands under their wing, though I remember having an interesting conversation with someone from Lake (shoes) at the Cycle Show a couple of years ago, bemoaning how Raleigh had stuffed them completely – allegedly. He was a bit bitter.

Their big in Copenhagen ..

They sell all sorts of bits like an importer etc but branded differently.

It has the same name but not the same roots etc.

Bit like Dawes-best if British till it was bought out by some Dutch(?) firm….

Raleigh as you (did) know it- is dead.

Welcome new Raligh, Diamondback and Gt and other firms owned by bigger companies trading of the names rights.

It happens and we must move on and not stay in the past.

Shame as I alway though British built stuf was great apart from Austin Rover lol.

1961 – it's bizarre cos raleigh usa do make some nice bikes in the genesis mold (29ers, steel frames etc).

Ah, I remember getting my dream bike: Raleigh Mustang SIS with my passing the 11+ money.

Without a doubt the start of a slippery slope. We all had Raleighs apart from one odd guy with a fluoro green/yellow MBK.

(My Rover still runs fine thanks)

Did anyone have an Activator? My mate got one and the front forks snapped mauling his face.

I'm not going to make myself too popular by saying this but Raleigh started going downhill when they made the Chopper.
The huge sales from this bike seem to have burned the idea into their heads that having a crap-riding, poorly made product didn't matter, as long as it looked the part and was marketed well.
The Grifter came along as BMX was appearing, and despite its weight, gears and aggressive styling, it was weak compared to the BMXs. Even Raleighs Burners, after they finally twigged what kids wanted, always seemed low rent next to their American equivalents.
From the 70s onward, Raleigh always seemed to make the wrong product at the wrong time,and I genuinely think thats a pity.

i had one of these:

mine had the proper yellow mag wheels

best bike i ever owned <sniff>

The new road bikes are very good.

The Avanti Carbon Comp would've won the recent £1800 test in Cycling Active if the stickers weren't poorly applied and over the top!! it was more comfortable and as good handling as the other two bikes in the test – a Cannondale CAAD9 and a Pinarello summit or other.

This is mine, it's a Airlite U6 Race, fantastic to ride and I rather like the graphics too. (for those about to point out too many spacers etc etc – this is taken on the day I picked it up, prior to riding & tweaking)

I bought a Raleigh 'Max' complete with reflective paint that still works in 1995(from Halfords -300 Quid). Steel, one of the last made in the UK before shifting manufacturing to Asia I'm told. latest guise is as my un-nickable commuter (because it's so bloody heavy) I now have two British made bikes as I also now have an orange.

Can't see what you mean about the misaligned stickers.

Current company are pants (IMHO). Got no Uvex helmets in this country, got no customer service to reply to me when I went to them direct. I've spoken to several shops who won't touch them as service is so poor.

Big John -> Not mine the one in the Mag, I think it may have been a bit of "If this was a pinarello it'd be fine but we can't have a Raleigh beating a Cannondale CAAD9 or an Italian" kinda thing.

Either that or roadies are even worse than people think when it comes to looks.

The one in the review looks like this but with better wheels

A certain guy I occasionally train with is riding for the UK Raleigh Team, which will be a continental team, with most of the races being here (aiming for TOB), and a few in Europe.

Oh, and another chap I happen to ride with from time to time, is the current national CX champ (in his Cat)..riding for the Raleigh factory team.

They also sponsor a South African continental team under the 'Avanti' name.

Not old Geoff Giddings is it?

Dunno about Raleigh. Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole after the mid '60s. Got too caught up with producing inferior small wheel bikes to compete with the Moulton.

They are starting to look good now though.

Glad someone mentioned the Mustang. couldn't for the life of me remember the name. I had a mate at the time who spunked a fortune on bits for it. Even buying a specialized ground control tyre for the rear that gave all of 2mm clearance to the chain stay ha ha. As a thought, does that tyre stil exist? Cost him an arm and a leg back then!!!

They were crap . Banged together from old bits of scaffold .
They rested on their laurels and relied on the fact that it was the brand most parents would likely ask for in the shop .
The nice shopkeeper would then proceed to sell little Johnny , who was 9 , a 24" frame racer , with gear shifters so far away he couldnt even see them , let alone change gear .
I'm utterly convinced that IVF is so popular now , as a direct result of scrotum / toptube interface + testulcular non droppery = low spermal count.
Raleigh cottoned onto this potential sales wrecker early on and brought out the 'Chopper ' , or the ' Sterilizer ' as it was known in some markets . Bury , and Ashton in Makerfield to name but two .
Originally it was designed by Barnes Wallis with a handlebar mounted Sturmey Archer 'trigger ' shifter , but whilst working on a prominent ad campain for the Budgie , Diana Dors , the Nazi sympathiser ,sneaked into the design laboratory whilst Frank Whittle and the boys were in the Feathers , and rubbed out the design , drawing in her own toptube mounted ' gearshift ' design in cherrybomb red lipstick. Suffice to say , Wilf Lunn was caned , and didnt notice.
She wasnt acting in ' the worm has turned ' .
I think Prof ' Heinz Woolf was in on it , but it's never been proved.

I am so utterly filled with hatred for the brand that I spent excessive amounts of time and money tracking down and restoring a 1970s 12 speed , Record Sprint . The black and gold one . You know . John Player Special .
I was incensed at how good it looked , and , OK , I kinda went to town on the wheels ( Gold Suzue hubs , DT swiss DB spokes laced to Campag rims ),that I was compelled to Email Raleigh and fully explain to them that to guarantee making a buck in this overblown market the one card they've got up their sleeves , is the nostalgia 5 card trick .
I said . Do this .
Get a frame and forks from taiwan . Like everyone else does .
Paint it black .
Put gold bits on it .
Call it a 'Record Sprint ' .
Make it not silly money .
Sell loads .

So , what do they do ?

A bloody Raleigh Burner . What good's that to me ?

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/muddyfox1/VariousBikeStuff#5220717127122855202

Raleigh Lizard was my first MTB – sorry, ATB. Happy days until I tried upgrading it assuming all parts were interchangable back then. It ended up in the bottom of a lake 🙁

steve_b77 – that bike's still too small for you..! 😉

@ mudpup. Nah, Ian Wright won the CX.

I can state as a matter of fact that Raleigh was severely damaged in the 70's by my mums Tupperware annual dealers bonus and a tool of a Halfords worker.

My mum somehow made a small fortune (to us) out of selling plastic containers to housewives and with part of her fortune decided that I deserved a BRAND NEW bike for my birthday..

well after spending hours, days, weeks and months with my mates drooling over pictures of a crazy looking mountain taming cow horn shod gap clearing scalpel called the 'Spider' I was beside myself with glee..
The PRATT in halfords convinced her that a Raleigh Equipe 12 speed racer was what a young man on the street needed.. and that any thoughts about the thrashability of a Raleigh Spider should be banished from my poor deluded little mind..

Naturally I faked huge amounts of gratitude to my poor hoodwinked old dear.. But I can never forgive that TOS*?!!R from Halfords who stole my dream.. consequently I wasn't the first in the street to own a spider… In fact… no-one did.. a few die hard fans (me included) fitted cow horn bars to our racers and jumped and trashed them in the parks and woods and street.. but on the whole the 26inch playbike idea fizzled out for us for a few years more at least..

Am I right in thinking Raleigh were also responsible for the banana team! A bright yellow race replica monsrtosity! I remember riding one of a friends Raleigh "racers" and couldn't believe how unstable it felt at anything over 5 mph. Also it had a top tube so high that If considering a dismount you had to lean at 30 degrees before dropping off the seAt, or as previous poster said a dose of ivf with the future wife!!

Did anyone have an Activator? My mate got one and the front forks snapped mauling his face.

I know someone that happened to as well. He was a youngster at the time (Teens?) and turned into a good rider, but IIRC they sued Raleigh for it.
Where did your mate live?

ivantate – Member
Ah, I remember getting my dream bike: Raleigh Mustang SIS with my passing the 11+ money.

Without a doubt the start of a slippery slope. We all had Raleighs apart from one odd guy with a fluoro green/yellow MBK.

(My Rover still runs fine thanks)

Are you me? (well except I saved up my paper round money to get one). Mine's still in the shed, which dad plays on occasionally (the bike, not the shed). I can never remember the full name of the paint job something something and silver sparkle. And I bought a farmer john massive tyre jobbie and stuck it on the back…

These were the dogs bolios as were the riders that rided them?

Zoetemelk won the Tour on one. So yeah what did happen?

My mate wasn't happy with the new Raleigh promotion, the painted nakey ladies. Sure to alienate half the customer base.

Bloke who runs the LBS used to work at Carlton (built Carltons, oddly enough, along with all the top end Raleigh stuff).

A while ago my sister got her hands on an original Burner and he was agog that they were collectable. Apparently he wouldn't sell them back in the day as they were so much poorer than Haros etc. Similarly the 20 odd year old Raleigh Banana I have is about as bad a team replica as you could hope to find – get one, put your hand on the saddle and press one of the pedals to witness incredible frame flex, and they were fitted out with nasty nasty components when new.

I'd say that their decline was due to selling rubbish gear that looked the part and was pricey.

I thought Team Sky would have got them involved, would have made a Great Britsh combo. Why not, they've only gone for Pinarello after all…