UK bike sales plummet

[Court_S]

rich861 said:

I was in Les Gets back in around 2006, when we saw Brendan Fairclough sat at the top of a section. We all stopped, as did a lot of other riders. No one seemed to want to go in front of him (he stood out a fair bit with Fairclough writtten on his back). He eventually went as everyone watched. The section was nothing special but he pulled a manual off a wooden northshore type thing into an effortless two wheel drift round a flat corner. That was the first pro rider I had seen and it was unbelievable really how good he managed to look on such a tame piece of track.

We were on the Plenny and there was one section that was a jump, to a flat landing, a straight bit into a right hand berm. For Blenkinsopp it was a hip jump

Peaty came to ride at Cannock a few years ago when he was doing his speaking tour. It was ace to see someone like that ride ‘our’ trails properly. Him and a few other other quick guys moved one of the corners orca trail about three for just by hitting it hard over and over. It was never the same after.

[magpie215]

Just heard at work Raleigh winding down its uk parts and warehousing......not good

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Raleigh is a town in Essex?

[GravelBen]

I didn't even know Raleigh bikes still existed tbh, don't think I've seen a new one in NZ since the 90s.

[James6112]

magpie215 said:

Just heard at work Raleigh winding down its uk parts and warehousing......not good

Same as any other Brand winding down in the Uk

[Fusion777]

James6112 said:

Same as any other Brand winding down in the Uk

Amazing how some people don't realise/appreciate Raleigh's significance in cycling history.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Yup. History.

My last Raleigh was a mtb in 94. I had 10? Raleighs including lovely race bikes, etc.

They stood still. Everyone else left them behind.

[loskie]

I had a Raleigh Spider


Wanted a Grifter


But wasn't allowed one as too chavvy.

Even though I'm not sure chavvy was a thing in 1978

[bobbo89]

loskie said:

I had a Raleigh Spider


Wanted a Grifter


But wasn't allowed one as too chavvy.

Even though I'm not sure chavvy was a thing in 1978

What my nanna would have referred to as being 'a bit common' rather than chavvy

[loskie]

yep


or only the "rough/thick" boys have those.

Along with rugby. woodwork and Army.

I get the fkn orchestra!

How wrong parents can be.

Edited by loskie on Saturday 18th November 21:08

[julianm]

If you've got an hour to spare this is a super Raleigh round up -

[dave123456]

loskie said:

yep


or only the "rough/thick" boys have those.

Along with rugby. woodwork and Army.

I get the fkn orchestra!

How wrong parents can be.

Edited by loskie on Saturday 18th November 21:08

I wasn’t allowed a furry hooded parka for the same reasons…

[Terry Winks]

I was never allowed to mop up my gravy from a roast with bread and butter because in my mothers eyes it was "common" fks sake Hyacinth we lived in a terraced house in Newport.

Shame about Raleigh, I just bought the other half a Raleigh Trace to commute back and fore to work on, and it's a great bike to be fair and she's absolutely fallen in love with it. And as we all reminiscent over old stuff here.... a Raleigh DHO was a downhill bike I wanted badly, it was steel weighed a ton, but unlike my Lobo didn't end up in multiple pieces every 3 months.

[ChocolateFrog]

Fusion777 said:

James6112 said:

Same as any other Brand winding down in the Uk

Amazing how some people don't realise/appreciate Raleigh's significance in cycling history.

As a child of the 80's and 90's they were almost revered.

I do wonder now if that was already a hangover from the 70's and early 80's or if their 90's bikes were still top of the pile.

My Raleigh Mtb was stolen and the insurance company replaced it with a Giant. I was probably only around 10 at the time but it felt generation's ahead.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Monday 20th November 10:30

[Terry Winks]

You're not wrong, I had a Raleigh Hotfoot in 1992 I think for my 10th birthday, I loved it but I think even then it was largely terrible, a friend of mine had a Peugeot and that seemed to be a different league, with some other friends rocked up on their Muddy Foxes that was just another world again, those Shimano SIS gears were the things of envy. The Raleigh activator was just pap from the start, and I managed to avoid M-Trax which I think was just overpriced rubbish until 1997 I had enough I got my Kona Lavadome, and those old Kona catalogues, admittedly between 1992 and 1997 things had moved on massively but that was another world too. Ahhh the 90's they were great weren't they?

[Lotobear]

I've got a Raleigh R400 road bike that I bought around 2000 from a shop in Barnsley - they were flogging them off cheap and it was something of a bargain. Trick parts included carbon forks and FSA carbon cranks and the frame which is aluminium was, I think, made in the UK. I changed the wheels to Mavic Cosmos and the brakes to 105 in place of the cheap Tekros.

I still ride it but changed it to a flat bar and put an 'easier' cassette on the back

I can't seem to find any record of them though - does anyone else have one or know anything about them?

[ChocolateFrog]

Raleigh Activator, that was the one. Everyone wanted one in my school but looking back it was rubbish.

They must have had a good marketing department.

That documentary above is a good watch.

[7 5 7]

(As per the thread title) Good I think, we may see some more sensible prices, new bikes are far too expensive still, in my eyes.

[Stick Legs]

I think the story of Raleigh & Rover is sadly so similar.

Both innovative class leaders.

Both mismanaged into oblivion.

Unfortunately for Raleigh there is no equivalent of JLR to salvage something from the runis.

(Yes I know Rover started in bikes as well. )

[GCH]