The Raleigh Royal is a 15 kg, steel framed, traditional touring bicycle. It has 24 gears and 700 x 35 tyres. I’ve had mine for over two months and have traveled over 700 miles on it. I tried to buy in Ireland but had problems finding one and ended up buying from mailorderbikes.com in the UK, at a cost of 622 euros.
I added a pair of Deuter Rack Pack Uni Panniers and an Oxford handlebar bag to the bike. To test the Royal I loaded it with 13 kg of books. With this load it handled perfectly at low speeds of 3 mph climbing steep hills and at high speeds of 35 mph descending hills.
Last week I went on a quick tour to Mayo, doing 145 miles on the first day and 135 miles on the second day. Fully loaded with all camping and cooking gear and with food, cooking fuel and water the bike was carrying over 16 kg of cargo. Over the course of two tough days cycling the Royal handled very well, was very comfortable to ride and all the components worked flawlessly.
It has a good range of gears with 48-38-28 chain wheels on front and a 11-32 cassette on the rear, so it will climb steep hills with a heavy load. The 2012 model comes with top of the line puncture resistant Schwalbe Marathon tyres.
The Royal comes in three frame sizes, 50, 55, 60 cm. I’m 5 foot 11 inches tall but I bought the 60 cm frame which in theory should be a little bit too big for me, but this gives me higher handlebars and a more relaxed upright riding position, which is important for comfort on long journeys. I've also had the bicycle on very rough gravel trails and on soft boggy trails and in both cases the 35 tyres handled the rough terrain well.
While this is the most expensive bike I ever bought, it’s rock bottom price for a touring bike. Time will tell how well it lasts but right now I love this machine.
Specs
Frame; 4130 Chromoly Steel 50, 55, 60 cm
Fork; 4130 chromoly fork with carrier mounts
Gears; 24 speed Shimano with Sora STI shifters
Brakes; Tektro alloy cantilever
Wheels; 700 x 35 doublewall alloy rims
Weigh: 15kg
The Raleigh Royal Reviewed Part Two
The Raleigh Royal Reviewed Part Three
Deuter Rack Pack Uni Panniers
Oxford Bar Bag
Mail Order Bikes
It's a great bike. I bought one in 2008 and did a little bit of touring on it but unfortunately it got stolen last year here in Dublin. Miss it a lot.
ReplyDeleteThere was a Green Raleigh Royal sold at the last Gardai auction. If you have a bicycle stolen you should check with the Gardai or keep an eye here:http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=6363
DeleteLovely bike to ride. It's the most expensive bike I ever bought and it feels like it, everything is so smooth and positive.
ReplyDeleteNice wee review. I've been considering getting one of these, trying to decide between that or spending a similar amount on an older 2nd hand tourer like a Dawes Galaxy instead.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of getting on at the moment. They have them in Evans for £400, which seems like a good price (although they are now £375 online). We are planning a journey from Birmingham to Gibraltar (we are only going one way) and I was wondering whether it would hold up.
I do a lot of road riding, racing and crits but I'm new to touring hence the need for a new bike. Anything I should be aware of?
Regards
Lucas
ReplyDeleteThe only issue I had with my Royal was the spokes on both wheels came loose, that's in part two of my review. Apart from that no complaints, I carried 20 kg of cargo and myself at about 73 kg, about 900 miles. In my opinion the bike would be well fit for your journey to Gibraltar. Great bike for the money.
Part two of my review is at
http://irishbackwoods.blogspot.ie/2012/09/the-raleigh-royal-reviewed-part-2.html
andrei
ReplyDeletehello, i've just bought a 60 cm frame raleigh royal and i would like to ask you how can i make the handle bar higher because i saw in your picture that you added a height ring. In my case the forkbar seems to be too short and if i would add a ring the handlebar would not fit completely on it.
Hello andrei
ReplyDeleteI didn't add the spacers to the handlebars they were there when I bought the bike. So far as I know once you bought a threadless head set and it's cut to that size not a lot you can do about it, except buy new forks. The other option is to buy an adjustable stem like this one from Halfords (see below), that will give you about 50 degrees to play with
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_568847_langId_-1_categoryId_212651
Hiya, I'm thinking of buying one of these, obviously a 2013 model, but can you tell me if you reckon there's clearance for a 700x38c tyre. Also,why did your front racks not fit? I read on one forum the mounting holes were too low and on another that the forks were too wide, so most curious to know. How have you found the headset to be? thanks, Gary
ReplyDeleteGary
DeleteMine is fitted with 700x35 tyres, still lots of room left, so I think it would take 38 tyres no problem. The racks I bought were "LifeLine Alloy Low Rider Front Rack", the mounting holes on the forks were too low, for these racks, but they came with U shaped brackets which worked fine.
Gary
DeleteNo complaints about the headset.
Hiya,
ReplyDeleteThanks VERY much for the info! I'm torn between one of the and building up a Surly Crosscheck, as I have lots of parts. However, as I'm 5 ft 8 inches with a 30 inch inseam...with longish body, it's problematic on standover height per Surlys...the Crosscheck is like my old Trek 520 from the surly 90s, waaaay to high bottom bracket height...and a Surly LHT in my size is 26 inch wheels! ugh..you see my quandary. Keen to read further adventures on your steed though!
Didn't get a lot of adventures done this year just one long trip to the west of Ireland. I got almost 2000 miles done last year, including my 600 mile trip to England and back. A well always next year.
DeleteNot familiar with the Surly but they are a good brand name. Building a bike is always lots of fun.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm 5foot 11inches but i can not found a 60cm frame...
Do you think the 55cm could be usefull for me?
Sorry for my english...
Stefano
I'm also 5 foot 11 and while the 60 cm frame is in theory slightly too big for me I find it very comfortable. I would think that the 55 cm frame should be fine for you.
Delete