The Raleigh Flyer is a budget single speed town bike. From a distance it looks quite impressive and with a £230 price tag, it definitely gains your attention.
Raleigh flyer – not bad looking.
Raleigh are producing a lot of different bikes at a very low cost. These cheap bikes are quite popular in Oxford because of the student population wanting to buy a relatively cheap bike. (e.g. see: Review of Raleigh Oxford)
Ride Performance
- For a single speed, it is not light at 12 KG. The weight is partly due to the cheaper steel Cro Mo frame. Compared to other single speeds it is slower to accelerate. It took a bit of effort to get the 46*16 moving. However, once moving, the 28″ tyres and steel frame make the bike quite adept at absorbing the inevitable bumps on an urban ride. The flat handlebars and frame geometry made it quite an easy position. I was happy moving in and out of traffic and going over all the speed humps in Jericho.
- The caliper brakes are adequate, but are definitely in the basic category. You don’t get a bike under £250 without using the cheapest components. The tyres are nondescript. Like any commuting bike, I would be looking at upgrading these at earliest opportunity.
Value for Money
- The big selling point for the Raleigh Flyer is its price. At £230 you don’t have to worry too much about locking it in town and getting the odd scrape. Another advantage is that it looks pretty good (looks more expensive than it actually is – It looks like it could be a £600 single speed.. Although people with £600 single speed bikes often cover them with black tape to make them less attractive to thieves!
- The white painted rims are a disappointment, because the inevitable braking wears away the white paint making it look scratcy. I’ve never seen the attraction of painted rims. Rims look much better when just metal.
Technical Specs
- Frame: Cro-Mo Fixie
- FrameFork:Steel Straight Blade Fork
- Number of Gears:1Gear 46*16
- Brakes:LEE Chi Calliper Brakes
- Handlebars:Oversized Alloy Flat Bar
- Weight: Approx 12 Kg.
Who would suit this Bike?
- This bike would be good for someone on a strict budget of sub £300. It is an excellent choice for a student, who might only have a bike for 1 or 2 years during term time. The components are cheap, but the advantage of single speed is that at least you won’t be fighting a cheap gear mechanism which keeps braking. It’s nice to see a single speed for under £300. (There are not many competitors at this price)
- If you want a single speed to really treasure and last a long time, I would save up to get a lighter, stronger frame and better components. But, if you have to get a bike for under £250, this is not a bad option.
Raleigh Flyer
The distinctive Raleigh logo celebrating 125 years. At the least, you can’t condemn Raleigh for being elitist and insisting on charging excessive prices!
Raleigh Flyer Cycle Centre Oxford
Related
- Raleigh Flyer at Amazon.co.uk
- Single Speed bicycles
- Single Speed Bikes at Wiggle
- Single Speed Bikes at Evans Cycles
What would really make this bike is a kick back brake (single speed coaster brake) so no levers or calipers are anything to clutter the bike, I reckon it would look awesome. Pitty Raleigh didn’t have the guts to fit one of those.
I have purchased the Flyer recently and would like to leave my comments based on my own experience/opinion:
Plus points-
Price.
Riding position.
Overall frame build is ok but a little heavy.
Gearing, this was actually spot on for me.
Minus points-
Brakes, I replaced the supplied blocks as the originals tended to sit a little uneven.
Tyres, poor quality.
I would recommend the Flyer especially due to price. The colours/decals remind me of older Italian type styling. Certainly a head turner and has mentioned in the review the bike looks more expensive than it actually is.
Thanks for review Greens. I agree with your points. Good value, and a few modifications make it even better.
Have you managed to buy a Flyer yourself? If so what modifications have you made?
I haven’t bought yet. Though I would change the tyres
I have upgraded the tyres to a pair of Schwalbe’s which are far better. I was going to change the calipers as they are a weak point on the bike but I am unsure of the size needed.
The Dawes Mono has been out of stock for a while on Amazon plus the one on Amazon with a 48cm frame was not a large enough frame for most.
Yes, a shame because the dawes mono is a good bike
Might be worth pointing out that the Dawes Mono is now £345 at Amazon.