Raleigh Royal v Edinburgh Country Traveller

[jamescycling1]

Looking for a sub £500 half decent tourer.

Seen the raleigh royal for £399 and the edinburgh co-op country traveller for £499.

Both seem good, but does anyone know more about the royal? Or any reason why I should choose one over the other (apart from the £100 difference!)


any advice welcome
thanks

James

[Spinners]

No experience of either but they both look good value and I have been looking at the Raleigh myself. Personally, I'd go for the steel Raleigh over anything aluminium in a similar price bracket.

In either event, let us know!

[stephenjubb]

I have a Raleigh Royal 2008 edition bought for £339

First of all you have to expect some things on the bike are not going to be good for a bike of this price (£399 in your case). However the good news is the poor things are the simple bits.

The pedals, saddle, bar tape are all of inferior quality but are not very expensive to replace. Remember a bike of this price has to make compromises.

Some people say low priced tourers which may have machine wheels built are not of very good quality. The wheels on the royal seem strong, have 36 spokes and seem decent. The tyres Kenda Keen whilst not being the best have produced in 700 miles no punctures, hardly any wear and provide a decent speed. I am looking to upgrade them purely because I always want more, more!!!!

One thing to be aware of is the frame, if you like a fairly upright riding position this bike is not for you (depending obviously on your physical dimensions). You may have to spend a fair amount to get the handlebars to the correct height. I would strongly recommend trying a test ride before you buy.

Watch out for the paint work. On mine it does scratch fairly easily.

The gear changes are crisp, though you may have to fine tune the front derailleur. The Soray STI levers are good, though don't change the front derailleur in quick sucession as the STI Lever gets jammed but seems to sort itself loose and work again.

The rear rack is aluminium, max load 25k, fine for normal touring but no good for expedition touring (need a steel one then).

The frame is Steel, which in my opinion is a big plus. There is a lot of heated debate about Alimunium versus Steel frames, the deciding factor is this, in Scotland last year I was riding a Bike Friday New World Tourist (Steel frame abd trailer 4130 same as Royal) and my frame and trailer broke. Getting a weld was no problem. If this had been aluminium it would have been harder to get a weld (not so hard in the UK, but what if you were somewhere more remote. would they have the specialist gear to weld aluminium). For me going for Steel and needing a weld is one less thing to worry about.

Forks ahve good clearance for wide tyres, the bike has all the usual touring features (long chain stay, braze on bolts, mudguards, triple crank, low gears etc). The bike does look beautiful.

Good thing going for it is the price compared to a Dawes Horizon.

The frame is strong for carrying heavy loads. The only thing with the frame is it is heavy.

In short for the price it is a good value touring bicycle but is not in the same league as the other bikes such as the Dawe Galaxy.

Personally I believe the Royal is as good as a Dawes Horizon, suitable for touring anywhere in the 1st world. For Africa, South America not really that suitable.

Overall a good buy but if your looking for perfection look elsewhere and spend a lot more money.

Hope this helps.

cheers

steve jubb

[rbrian]

I looked at the Royal the Horizon, and the Country Explorer (at the time I was buying, the 2008 Country Travellers had sold out, and the 2009s hadn't arrived yet). Eventually I choose the Raleigh purely on price - the specs seemed very similar, but £100 is a lot of money. One of the grub screw adjusters fell out of the rear brake, but all the bikes you're looking at have the same Tektro brakes, and I think it was due to poor setup more than anything else. The paintwork is poor, and easily damaged, but other than that the bike seems solid and very good value. The sizing is a little on the large side, so do try before you buy.

[jamescycling1]

cheers for the advice to all

[travelling]

I have to agree

both of these bikes are similar in spec and the raliegh has a lot of comments on the boards re poor paint application..something raliegh do seem to know about

Failing that go second hand and get a higer spec better bike for the same money

something like this ??? viewtopic.php?f=32&t=25369

[pioneer]

I bought my Royal' about a month ago. Now done over 300 miles.Apart from a Galaxy' which sadly got trashed in an accident years ago,it is the most comfortable bike I've ever had. Very adaptable too. The wheel and tyre combo' do very well on rough and muddy tracks.This is a bonus as I didn't expect it.Yes the paint chips easily,Raleigh have offered to replace my bike,don't know yet if I will though because I really love this bike so much!
I like to ride fairly upright and with the stem at the top of the spacer stack,the bars are higher than the saddle. Just perfect.I'm also a fan of Shimano Sora 8 speed. It's good basic kit and it works.
It's got all you need, a rack - a decent one IMO,mudguards,3 sets of bottle bosses,good reliable canti' brakes,best of all - a well made steel frame.
I changed the saddle straight away to my trusty old B17 and put on some MKS touring pedals with clips and straps,bottle cages,that's that. Ready to go. For the money,this is one very good bike.

[random37]

They're both alright. Nowadays, there aren't any lemons once you go past £60 BSOs.
But you must try them out! It's amazing how many people buy expensive bikes without having ridden one to see if they like them first. It's madness!

[rbrian]

They're both alright. Nowadays, there aren't any lemons once you go past £60 BSOs.
But you must try them out! It's amazing how many people buy expensive bikes without having ridden one to see if they like them first. It's madness!

I wanted to try mine before I bought it, but that would have meant a round trip of 400+ miles. There were only two touring bikes within 100 miles of me, both of them more than double my budget. It works out cheaper to order two from the cheapest place on the internet, then sell the one that doesn't fit. Now that's madness.

[pioneer]

I was lucky in that I got mine from an LBS.I could have got it cheaper over the net' for sure,though upon mentioning the CTC,I got 10% discount which effectively meant that the bits I bought (pedals,bottle cages) came for free and it wasn't then much more from the net' price either.
But when the paint chipping problem raised it's ugly head,this is where the benefit of using an LBS came in. Don't know if an internet bike seller/dealer would have been so helpful.

But back to the original question,the ECTraveller is a good bike. If ally' frames don't bother you (Some people would probably never be able to tell the difference). The Dawes Horizon is great too,but not at the full 09' price,£749.99. Even though Spa' sell them cheaper, it wasn't enough of an incentive over the Royal.

[colmobri]

I'm also close to buying the Royal but my LBS doesn't stock it so haven't been able to try it. I'm thinking of mail-ordering it and I'm wondering if I can take a gamble with the frame size? I'm 5' 9" with a 31" inside leg. My very old Raleigh Criterium (24+ years old) that I still cycle has a 55cm frame. Would a Royal 55cm frame be the right one for me? I'd greatly appreciate anyone's experience.

Many thanks,
Colm

[pioneer]

Mine is a 55cm size. I'm 5'6" with a 29" inside leg so technically,the bike "should" be too big for me. In fact it is big,but that's the way I prefer my bikes. I can't abide feeling cramped-up on a bike. And the top tube is shorter than my old road bike so that's better too.

I would suggest that with your inside leg at 31",the 55cm size would be fine if not perfect. With it's large volume tyres and upright stance, the bike looks like a bit of Bentley rather than a Ferrari, but it really is supremely comfortable.Now I don't like riding anything else.

[rbrian]

I am 5'10" with a 33" inside leg. My Royal is 55cm. The standover height is fine, but the top tube is too long for me - my legs are longer than average, but my body is shorter than average. I have a shorter stem on order (it's been on order for over a month now, awaiting stock...)

Why do they measure bikes by the seat tube, when the seat goes up and down, and most new bikes have sloping top tubes, giving oodles of adjustment? The should sell them by top tube length, which is much more difficult to adjust.

[colmobri]

Thanks for all your advice guys. Having decided to order the 55cm I then discovered, to my dismay, that the retailers were out of stock of Royals and Raleigh isn't expecting the next delivery into the country until mid-July (the retailer is out of stock 'til September for some Claud Butlers!). Seems Raleigh and other manufacturers were too pessimistic about how the recession would affect bike sales. That sales are holding up is surely a good sign for cycling.

[rbrian]

Sorry to hear you couldn't find the bike you were after, but I have a nearly new, upgraded 55cm Royal for sale much cheaper than new. See here.