A Useless Toy
Written: Jul 19 '01 (Updated Sep 01 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Appearance
Cons: Gears and pedals
The Bottom Line: A good looking toy but not for heavy use.
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| hubgearfan's Full Review: Raleigh C40 |
This bike is a disappointment. Although this bike was at the lower end price wise, I paid the equivalent of $500 plus accessories (I live in Finland where the cost of living is higher and Raleigh being an import item) and expected better for my money.
For the last 12 years I’ve been riding a Monark bicycle with hub gears, originally 3 speed which I later changed to Shimano 7 speed. After about 20 000 km of use the gear hub wore out and required a replacement hub which alone would have cost $200 - $250 so I decided to buy a new Raleigh C40.
I had a Raleigh when I was a kid and considered Raleigh to be a quality brand. The C40 looked great, 3 x 8 Shimano gears, lightweight aluminum frame and saddle pole with suspension. I imagined that after riding a heavy hub gear bike I should almost be able to fly with something like the C40. I have never been so wrong, this bike turned out to be a useless toy. First of all the gears slipped and grated, the pedals creaked and made loud banging noises making everyone turn and stare. After many attempts to adjust the gears it was slightly better but the noise from the pedals was still there. I bought this bike to use, not as a toy to go shopping with once a week, I cycle 70 km a day to and from work and for a work out cycle a 30 km route as fast as I can and record the times. The main problem with this bike is the gears, Shimano C201, they just can’t take the strain of real use. Every time I tried to build up speed and really pedalled with the 8th gear, the chain slipped, it also slipped if I rose off the saddle to go up hill using the 4th or 5th gear. After riding 500 km/one week of use the chain was worn out and the rear sprockets were stripped of their teeth making the bike unusable. In my opinion the problem was due to the rear changer/tensioner, its spring isn’t strong enough to keep the chain wound around the rear sprockets, especially the smaller ones. Anyway, I took the bike in for its free first service and they replaced the chain and rear sprockets. I tried the bike out in the car park and everything seemed OK so I set off on my journey home. Once I’d gotten out of town I thought I’d get my pulse up and build up some speed, so I changed to the 8th gear and peddled, "bang!" the chain slipped again almost causing me to fall off. I turned around and took the bike back to the shop and explained once again that the rear changer/tensioner was the cause of the problem. They then replaced the changer. The bike is now a lot better but I’m still not able to use the 8th gear without the chain slipping.
I’d class the Raleigh C40 as a "Toy" bike rather than a "Hybrid" – it’s fine if you want something that looks good and you just want to ride around casually without building up a sweat. If you want to use the bike to get a work out, you’ll need something more substantial than the C40.
BTW I wasn’t able to beat my time on the 30km route using the C40, with my old heavy weight ordinary bike I was able to do it in under one hour with a maximum speed of 69 km/h. I haven’t been able to do it in under an hour with the C40 and because the 8th gear is useless, the fastest I can go on the C40 is 65 km/h.
UPDATE August 17, 2001: Last Tuesday I was cycling along a cycle track with a good surface, no bumps or other obstacles and the back wheel just collapsed. All the allen bolts on the bike have rusted even though I have kept the bike dry and looked after it well and even polished it with car wax as soon as I bought it. I have now asked if I am able to return the bike - the shop owner is thinking about it... This bike is a piece of worthless junk.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
hubgearfan
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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