Raleigh Furley, some initial thoughts

[cr45h]

The 2012 Raleigh Furley, I searched high and low for information about this bike ever since hearing about it last winter. The internet was full of the same basic stuff, but no meat about this bike. I decided that since I'm one of a few people who actually got their hands on one of these things this year, that I should post up some information about it.

The ideal bike that I was in the market for was a cross bike with discs, and it had to be singlespeed. I didn't want to buy a geared bike and pay for a bunch of extra parts that I'd end up taking off. Oh, and I wanted to keep it under 1k as well. My plan for this bike was to get something a little more fun to ride to work, and something to ride in the fall when I feel like changing things up and putting the MTB away. Enter the Furley. I really liked what it offered and it was low budget. Like I said, this bike is seeing commuter duties probably 75% of the time, so the price was a factor, this bike needent be blingalicious.

I was pretty much sold on buying one, there wasn't much else out there that I could get in the same price rang. After scouring the internet only to find the same couple of pictures, and no information I decided to head to my LBS to see what was up with this thing. I ended up putting money down on a pre-order the next day. My LBS said they could get me one... in MAY. Mind you this was late February so there was several feet of snow on the ground, so May seemed like forever, but I was willing to wait. May came and went, the LBS called to apologize and said that they would get one for me in late June. June came and went, same story. Finally on July 2nd I got the call that my bike was in and I could come get it. Sweet!

First impressions, it's heavy. I heard that it was heavy, and it is. It feels solid though, and I know that the frame and fork will take a beating from me for many years, so the weight isn't a big deal. I'm not planning on racing this bike (though I probably will just for the hell of it), so having a heavier bike isn't a problem. I have not weighed it yet, if enough people are concerned I'll happily throw it on my scale. For a commuter, it will be perfectly fine. My only other gripe are the brakes. There isn't a lot of information about them, they are made by Pro-Max. I actually have them dialed in pretty nice right now and they are working fine, but I have to figure out how to get more action out of the drop levers. The brakes are fully adjustable like a bb7, so getting them to bite is just a matter of screwing with them for a few minutes. The bike has clean lines, the paint is nice, no chipping or scratching yet and it's been locked to several things. I've had no problems with the EBB or dropping chains, I've climbed some massive hills on it, the chain is not coming off.

I did end up changing 2 things, well 3 actually. First I swapped out the Kenda "happy medium" 32c tires to my all time favorite tire, Kenda Small Block 8s (35c). This purchase was made prior to even having the bike, but after seeing the Happy Mediums in person, I would probably just leave those on until they wore out. Oh well, I have an extra set of tires now. The 35's easily fit the front and back, I'm not sure how wide I could go in the back, but I'm happy with 35's for now. The only other thing I changed was for bike fit, I put on a 90mm stem, I felt a little stretched out (bike is a 55), so the 90 made everything fit perfectly. Since I was putting a Thomson stem on, I threw on a Thomson post that I had laying around. It's good to match I guess.

I've owned this bike for 1 week as of today and I am very happy with it. It is exactly what I was looking for in a bike, nothing more, nothing less. It works great, it looks nice, everything functions well. It's a nice bike for people on a budget, or for people like me who wanted a bike they could just ride everywhere and not worry about it. I've had this thing all over the place, trails, road rides, dirt roads, and it's very comfortable. I think this fall when I ride it on more singletrack I'll probably gear it a little easier, 39x18 is a lot of gear to push around in the woods (I typically run a 32x18 around here).

If anyone has any questions about this thing just let me know. I hear there may be a couple more floating around the US right now, and that they are going to do another run for 2013 so get it while it's hot. Here are a few pictures, because the 5 same pictures I've seen online are boring.















Thoughts?

[mudrock]

Looks good. Competitive Cyclist and HucknRoll have the Civilian Le Roi Le Veut on sale. CC claims its 17 lbs. but that's baloney. More like 22.

2012 Civilian Le Roi Le Veut - Competitive Cyclist

Civilian Bicycle Co. Le Roi Le Veut | .com

[CS2]

Nice looking bike. Looks like it still has the stock cassette hub but with spacers. It should be easy to gear in the future if that's what you want. Actually, I like the Orange better.

[cr45h]

It's a good bike to modify for what you want, it's setup with a spacer kit so you can easily throw some gears on it if you please. Not that I'd do anything silly like that. It will probably end up with fenders at some point, but not for a while, I'm digging how clean it is. I am very pleased with the purchase, it's probably going to be my "go to" bike for a long time. I like being able to grab it and go, I can ride it to work and hit the trails on the way home. Cross bikes are great multipurpose bikes and I think a lot of commuters would be happier on a cross bike.

[Sheepo5669]

Cool! They remind me a lot of the salsa La Cruz i believe. Both good looking bikes.

No questions about the bike, but how wide did those 35mm sb8s measure out to be after a few days of use?

I want some but Im afread they are smaller than 35

[cr45h]

@sheepo Just measured them, on average I'm getting about 33mm out of them. They are definitely running skinny.

[PitchCrew]

Thanks for the write up and pics. Just ordered one today. New this style of bike (cross and ss) but looking forward to it

[cr45h]

Thanks for the write up and pics. Just ordered one today. New this style of bike (cross and ss) but looking forward to it

You will really enjoy it. I seriously love this bike. I ride it every single day, and no other bike I've ever owned has given me so much joy every single time I ride.

[PitchCrew]

Nice. I was wondering how you felt about after a bit of time. This will be my go to the store or friends houses, an occasional 20 mile ride, bike. Though now i may go looking for some dirt roads.
Again thanks for the OP

[erol/frost]

Nice bike, a 55 yes? How does Raleigh measure their frames? On their website it just says "from center". Is your bike a 55 c-c or c to top? Oh, and how tall are you?

[cr45h]

Nice bike, a 55 yes? How does Raleigh measure their frames? On their website it just says "from center". Is your bike a 55 c-c or c to top? Oh, and how tall are you?

i'm 5'8", i haven't measured the actual bike to see where they measure from. i can tell you that i think the 55 would fit people from 5'6"-5'10" quite comfortably. after that it's all a matter of seat posts/stems to get your fit dialed in, just the same as it would be on any bike. i personally dropped to a 90mm stem and am very comfortable on the bike on the hoods or the drops, i am very comfortable.

[erol/frost]

Thanks for the answer. How are the discs so far? Powerful, easy to modulate?

[cr45h]

I would say having discs is quite nice, though they aren't the nicest brakes out there...obviously..

They are powerful enough, and easy to setup to work well. I do wish they were more powerful, but I think they are adequate. If I ever feel unsafe with them I'll consider putting bb7's on...

And since I was out riding last night, I snapped a couple pics...

[PitchCrew]

Nice, Mine is in. Have group mtb ride tonight so will be building it up tomorrow night. Ill try and add some pics of the black to your thread. How often do you use the top side brake levers? im going to ditch them i think

[cr45h]

Nice, Mine is in. Have group mtb ride tonight so will be building it up tomorrow night. Ill try and add some pics of the black to your thread. How often do you use the top side brake levers? im going to ditch them i think

i use them more than i thought i would, but i've considered ditching them as well. i think they'll stay on through this season and maybe over the winter if i upgrade to bb7's i'll get rid of them. i do find them quite useful at times though.

[PitchCrew]

the 13 seems to have Tektro Lyra Disc as opposed the Promax, hmmm still not hydraulic.

[PitchCrew]

here are the pics of the black, crappy 3.5mp phone but it is what it is lol
Bike is a blast, already time to adjust the chain, already dumped it coming off the road onto the trail, its no mtb, or maybe it was the beer, not sure lol
Got the brakes dialed, more than enough power for the road or light trail

[TheRed06]

I test rode one of these a couple months ago, and turned away from it because I wasnt too sure about commiting to a single speed again, hills here are a pain to commute with. But it was a really awesome bike.

I ended up getting a Norco CCX3, for $50 more and gears. CX is pretty fun to ride!

[mudrock]

So it has a BB30, does it come w a Beer adapter? The OP's chain is always slack, just wondering.

[PitchCrew]

The BB is FSA PF30 Eccentric it looks similar to the Beer with the 2 bolts, Again im brand new to the bike and ss so im still learning

[cr45h]

Ohh I like the black! Very nice!!

I need to adjust the EBB on mine as well. Chain slackened up a little right after getting it but hasn't moved since. I've not dropped a chain, nor had any skipping/grinding while going up hills so I haven't taken the time to adjust it because it's working fine how it is.

[PitchCrew]

Im psyched with it..like you had said, ill prob keep the 2nd break levers the come in handy on the trail

[cr45h]

Glad you like it! I am still having a blast on it almost 2 months later. I HAVE to ride it every day. I also dumped it within the first couple of days. I went over the bars when the trail I was on caved in. Whoops! hehe...

[erol/frost]

What size is your bike PitchCrew?

[PitchCrew]

I got the large, 59cm seems just right, im 6'2"