Favorite Trail: Straight road and easy climbing slope
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$64.00
Purchased At: Singapore store - used Raleigh m200 orginal condition, aluminium frame and wheel
Similar Products Used: China make Nexxi MTB , heavy and slow
Bike Setup: Not require
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Reece Stratford
a Cross Country Rider
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: March 6, 2006
Strengths: Great to ride easy going for up hill or down hill especially strong frame and can take alot.
Weaknesses: head set in the bike needs replacing, Ive been through 3 break cables and now on to a new front derrailier cable, Ive had the rear derrailier replaced due to the fact that it got caught in my spoke.The bearings in my crank are now starting to go and may need relacing plus my pedals broke on the second day and what i was most surprised with was that none of this except the pedals came under warranty.
Bottom Line:
The Bottom Line of the whole thing is that im not realy satisfied with the product i heard was one of the best and the fact that none of this came under warranty!!!!
Submitted by
Brendon Denny
a Weekend Warrior
from Anchorage, AK, USA
Date Reviewed: February 27, 2003
Strengths: This bike can take a beating, and it's built strong and light. I havn't customized it much, but it still is a worthy bike. It lasts a long time without a tune-up and the deraileurs are very durable.
Weaknesses: The only thing wrong is that I dont have shocks and my handlebars are bent.
Bottom Line:
This bike was a good buy. It has lasted me this long and never lets me down. The strength and durability are great, and it is definately worth the miles.
Similar Products Used: Raleigh M-20 through M-80's
Bike Setup: No customization, just the same as i got it.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chris
a Weekend Warrior
from Rochester, MN, USA
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2002
Strengths: The frame can really take a beating, and it's light-weight and rides well for a hard tail. Both derailuers and crank take a pretty good beating too with out any trouble.
Weaknesses: Original head stem was worthless. I keep bending the rear rim too. It'll have to do though til I eventually buy a new one. Not a personal fan of the grip-shift shifters.
Bottom Line:
Overall the bike is pretty good. But with a few mods it's a real dirt slinger.
Similar Products Used: Raleigh M80, Schwinn Predator Pro
Bike Setup: Manitou SX-R fork, STX derailuers and crank, Avid linear pull brakes, Controltech head stem, Ritchey pro comp pedals
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jim
a Weekend Warrior
from Redondo Beach
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2001
Strengths: I have to say I've been pleased with this bike. Good bike for the weekend warrior like myself. Relatively light, good feel, shifts well and gets me up some steep uphill and downhill. I abuse the hell out of it. Mudwamps, beach sand and saltwater, and the normal
Weaknesses: Bent a rim once. And bike originally came with no suspension.
Bottom Line:
This bike obviously gets 5 chilis in the pluck for your buck catagory, perfect for the weekend warrior like myself. I will continue to hold onto this bike and upgrade it. I can't see dishing out a grand in one lump sum, when I can do another couple of $200.00 upgrades and still have a decent bike.
Similar Products Used: Owned a Univega "cross" bike before this and although I did ride it offroad, not really fair to compare.
Bike Setup: Rock Shox Jett C front suspension, compression seat post, raised handlebar stem, Michelin offroad tires, gel seat and recently had to replace the (forget what it's called - it's the bearing inside the pedal casing -maybe the crank?) Also replaced the chain and brake pads.
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Submitted by
Oliver
a Weekend Warrior
from Austria
Date Reviewed: November 4, 2000
Strengths: Cheap, no mayor problem along 8000 km.
Weaknesses: Well, if you're not fast enough uphill, you have to argue about the exact way you want to go with your bike.
Bottom Line:
It's got steel and aluminium glued together. I wonder when it will break and kill me. But, I must believe in engineers, since I'm one myself...
Submitted by
roofgoat
a Weekend Warrior
from chicago
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2000
Strengths: light frame, good components. bike has taken some decent abuse.
Weaknesses: i've read that the rims are cheap but i've had no problems. i've hit logs and jumps pretty hard and been ok. may replace in near future for something lighter. stock brakes were avg so i changed out to avids.
Bottom Line:
had bike for 5 years, only complaint was brakes, otherwise a great bike, light frame. Plus i hate riding something every other jamoche has. friends have high end cannons and treks, ridden and see no difference other than perceived quality.
Bike Setup: marz z2 bomber, avid sd 25 brakes. trying out power grips before i decide to go clipless.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Trey
a Cross-Country Rider
from Valrico, FL
Date Reviewed: May 19, 1999
Strengths: Good Frame, Good components, Great price value
Weaknesses: Stock wheels bite but this is the first thing to spend your money on anyhow
Bottom Line:
Sounds like we could start a club with this bike. Mine came with STX-RC components and 7.0 Gripshifters. If all values were this good in mountain biking it would be a much cheaper sport. Switch out the wheelset and you've got a really good bike. It's a lot of fun to run down S-Works with my $700 including upgrades (fork, clipless pedals, wheelset etc.).
Submitted by
Jim Cim
a cross-country rider
from Rochester, N.Y.
Date Reviewed: March 3, 1999
Bottom Line:
This is an update of my previous review from March '98. In the past year I have crashed hard twice, once on pavement, hard enough to damn near total this bike. I bent the rear dropout, which I repaired myself using a T-square and 2 crescent wrenches, and it has shifted perfectly since. Prior to owning this bike I mangled 3 Specialized bikes, and this one has held up great. I couldn't care less what the MTB elitist geeks say about Raleigh. I believe in this product.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
J. Falkenburg
a cross-country rider
from Newark, De
Date Reviewed: September 16, 1998
Bottom Line:
Awesome entry level bike. I bought mine for $450 and felt it was one of the best on the market under $550 and the lightest for under $900. I later sold it to a friend who has loved it ever since. I now ride a '98 fisher paragon, which is the absolute best bike for under a $1000. I give the 200 five chili's for being the best bang for the buck under $550.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Scott
a weekend warrior
from Atlanta, GA
Date Reviewed: June 23, 1998
Bottom Line:
For anyone wanting to start out in the sport of mountain biking or anyone just wanting to buy a quality aluminum framed bike, the M200 is definately something to consider. I bought mine in '96 and haven't had the first regret. When I first bought the bike I rode it pretty hard and pretty often. Yet even after taking the abuse of my 200lbs, the bike kept performing. Since then, I have added clipless pedals, which should be everyones' first upgrade, a King headset, a Marzocchi Bomber Z2, which is sweet, and a riser bar. I still have a lot of plans for this bike as soon as I get some cash. I love my M200 and i would never get rid of it. Sure there are other well built bikes out there that I'd be just as happy with. But for the money you pay, you get one hell of a bike with in many cases better components than many competitors' bikes come with. Like everyone else has said, these bikes would be well served if they came with replacable dropouts and better rims. But other than that these are tough, well-built bikes that are worth every penny and in the case of this review, every chili!
I just got into mountain biking last year and did alot of research before buying this bike. I talked to alot of people and reviewed sites like this one before buying. The m200 is alot of bike for the money, as are all the raleigh bikes I looked at. It seems to be a pretty good frame and good welds. I originally got mine with a rockshock quad5, but I soon upgraded to a manitou fsti stroker. The quad5 was ok at first but as I got better at riding I began pushing its limits, and even more importantly with experience, recognizing it's limits. I also upgraded to clipless pedals. If you don't have clipless yet, get them. I also upgraded to xt rear drlr and cassette with bontrager mustang rims and conti tires. Lx V-brakes to top it off. The final product still cost me under $900 for a nice alum frame bike. Raleigh is also very helpful with tech support via phone and will easily answer any of your questions. My next step is a full suspension bike but I dont think I will get rid of this one. I have done reviews on all the upgrades I did also, so go check them out.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jim Cim
a cross-country rider
from Rochester, N.Y.
Date Reviewed: March 5, 1998
Bottom Line:
Raleigh mountain bikes have been pegged as cheap, cheesy, and substandard by the supposed expert riders in this sport due to their reasonable price, but over the past 1 1/2 years I've found the M200 to be reliable and fun to ride. It has a very neutral feel, not too steep or slack, and rides great in technical singletrack. I do, however, wish for a replaceable rear dropout (every aluminum frame should have one!!). These are great bikes. Why pay for marketing hype?
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jay
a cross-country rider
from Balt. MD
Date Reviewed: February 16, 1998
Bottom Line:
I got my M200 back in 96, and have been riding it since then. THe frame has held up wonderfully, and it has been relatively inexpensive to upgrade. I have xt front & rear deraillures, quadra 21r shocks with Englund total air cartidge upgrades (a major plus) lx v-brakes....and much more. But, when I ride I ride pretty hard, and never had a problem with the bike. My friends who ride Cannondales, and Diamondbacks think they got screwed when they ride my bike and hear how much it costs. One thing on thje bike to replace would be the rims, in the past 2 years I managed to bend the rims to the point where the spokes broke.
