Comments on: Raleigh ‘09 Rumors

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:57:29 +0000

martini: Well, I think you’ll approve of the ‘09 colors and graphics. (I’ve seen ‘em!) Still changing up the graphics from year to year, which I find sort of curious, but the BMX inspired look for ‘09 is pretty cool.

By: martini

martini — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:49:51 +0000

I loved the bold blue and yellow that Raliegh did. That and the really smart, low low key graphics. Almost brought them into the store instead of the main line I did. Cheers on them for raising the fork a bit. My rigid SS is stocked with a 490 fork. Nice and smooth, yet still nimble.

By: txronharris

txronharris — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:45:27 +0000

I’m always up for one of the old guard trying something new. For a brand like Raleigh to go with a bling version of the 29er , it shows how legit 29ers have become to the more mainstream brands. I think them producing a “new” version of a bike that most everyone liked is a smart move. I’d like to suggest a retro paint job like the road racing bikes from the 80’s–that red, black and yellow team bike was cool as hell.

By: captain bob

captain bob — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:32:08 +0000

I owned a XXIX for a short time. I loved it and really miss it. The front end was a little low for me as I should have been on a large instead of a medium frame. I put a set of riser bars that brought me up higher than the oem bars and the handling was even better. Super quick but not at all twitchy.

If I stil owned it I would have put a carbon fork on it by now, something with the 440mm though. Nothing longer.

Hopefully the new tubes will ride as nice as the original. That frame is hard to beat when it comes to handling and comfort, at least for that kind of money.

I do hope they scrap the Walt Dysney colors though. They need to look more aggressive like their first year.

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:05:50 +0000

Cloxxki: The XXIX+G and XXIX are the same frame geometry. Only the forks differ. I measured my stock XXIX+G with its Reba at an unsagged head angle of 70 degrees. Compare that to the XXIX and then I think you can see why my comment starts to make sense.

I didn’t leave the Reba on long. I installed a Willits WOW fork with 44mm offset and haven’t looked back.

By: Cloxxki

Cloxxki — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:59:03 +0000

“One of the joys we experienced with the XXIX in ‘07 was the snappy handling that the shorter axle to crown measurement, and resulting steeper head angle, imparted.”

A causal relationship between fork length and head angle, on a stock bike?
Were the XXIX vs XXIX+G frame geometries not corrected for the actual fork lengths used on them, then?
In my understanding, angles are angles, no matter how they were obtained. Your words seem to imply geometry sheets might have been misleading?

I seem to find XXIX is spec’d with a 72 degree HTA and 40mm offset, not much out o the ordinary. Might the snappy handling experienced have come from a low handlebar position, in part through that short fork? Or would the lack of any fork flex have brought that?

I once contemplated the XXIX with a long axle-crown, long offset fork, for the “Jones” or “G2″ experience, with subsequent reduced top tube/reach. If I were to ever do that, I better have my facts straight?

By: Desert9r

Desert9r — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:33:26 +0000

(shakes head) I have just lost all hope for Raleigh, First the Banana Yellow and Smurf Blue eye sores, and now no more 440 fork and a bike so high-end that no one will buy it. I wish I could beat some sense into the guy(s) in charge.