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Raleigh Furley, some initial thoughts

118K views 194 replies 45 participants last post by  jpsuperstar 
#1 · (Edited)
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?
 
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#17 ·
In Black

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
 

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#21 ·
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.
 
#4 ·
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.
 
#5 ·
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
 
#11 ·
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.
 
#13 ·
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...





 
#15 ·
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.
 
#18 ·
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!
 
#26 ·
Seriously looking into this bike. I really want a commuter with discs and fender/rack mounts.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I will be stopping by one of the Raleigh shops this week.

General question: It's an interesting detail, but the spare spokes on the chainstay....why? Seems like unnecessary weight (not much, admittedly) and an extra braze-on on what could otherwise have been a clean stay. I appreciate two spare spokes with color-matched nipples, but for my commute here in NYC, I'll be leaving those at home...leaving awkward and empty braze-ons behind.
 
#28 ·
General question: It's an interesting detail, but the spare spokes on the chainstay....why? Seems like unnecessary weight (not much, admittedly) and an extra braze-on on what could otherwise have been a clean stay. I appreciate two spare spokes with color-matched nipples, but for my commute here in NYC, I'll be leaving those at home...leaving awkward and empty braze-ons behind.
I agree, kind of a weird thing to have there. A neat little feature, but pointless. It is nice that they included the extra spokes though.

As pitch said, they would work as chainstay protectors if you were crazy enough to put gears on it. ;)

Check it out though, it's a fun bike to own. It's gotten the most miles out of any bikes in my quiver this summer.
 
#29 ·
My Furley

Like the OP, I wanted a Furley but couldn't find much out about it. I sold a road bike off and planned on buying another "roadish" style bike but wanted versatility, low cost, and durability. I was fortunate enough to be good friends with the Raleigh dealer here in my town, so I convinced him to order in a bike without having to put money down, although I think he would have ordered one anyway. When it came in he called me up and I went in and built it up at his shop. I noticed that it was heavy, especially the wheels but since I planned on using it to commute and ride gravel, I wasn't totally put off by this. I took it out on my first test ride and felt right away that it was a comfy ride and not too slow for my speed conscious mind to handle.

After thinking about it over night, I decided to pull the trigger and brought the bike home, along with a 16t cog to bring the gearing up a bit for my mostly pavement and flat commute. I also have the stock 18t and a 20t that I will mess around with. With the money from my road bike sale, I could afford to buy the bike, some new 29er tires, a bright light system for night riding, and a sweet little push bike from Raleigh for my 4 year old. Mission accomplished.

The only real issue I have with the bike so far has been the front brake/fork. When I have the brakes set up for the kind of modulation I want, I cannot dial out the rotor rub from the fork flexing when I stand up to pedal. I hoping that upgrading the brakes can fix this issue over the winter. I also eventually switched the saddle out for a more performance oriented model, although the original wasn't all that bad. The 39x16t gearing gives me a nice cruising speed for the flats and makes the hills off my commute a bit more of a challenge. The stock tires roll well but get a lot of flats from thorns here in Idaho. I mounted up some armadillo road tires on it and it has resolved that problem but cost me some volume . I will have to look around to find the right tire for my preferred riding, but that will be fun since there are so many options out there for a cyclocross style bike. Anyway, here are a couple pictures from the day of my first ride after bringing home Mr. Furley.
 

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