Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

TECH NEWS

Just in: £750 Raleigh Criterium Sport with new Shimano Tiagra 4700 groupset

One of the first new 2016 road bikes arrives for testing, and this Raleigh looks a cracker

This is the brand new 2016 Raleigh Criterium Sport, a £750 aluminium road bike equipped with the latest Shimano Tiagra 4700 groupset. It’s just arrived in the office for testing so before we hit the road and get it all dirty, here’s a quick overview of the key features.

While it’s easy to get distracted by the glittery bikes at the top-end, with price tags that’ll have your jaw hitting the floor, there has been a lot of progress in the sub-£1,000 road bike market in recent years. A lot of the technology once only seen on range-topping bikes is filtering down the price ranges, meaning your pound goes a lot further than before.

- 10 of the best £500 to £750 road bikes

On paper, this Raleigh Criterium Sport looks very good value for money. You get a really smart looking aluminium frame with full internal cable routing, and a carbon fibre fork with a tapered steerer tube. Those are the sort of details you just wouldn’t expect to see on bikes in this class a few years ago.

Raleigh has given the frame ‘Endurance Race’ geometry, which basically means it’s taller in the front so you don’t have to possess the flexibility of a yoga instructor to get comfortable on it, but not so tall if you do want to adopt a racy position. Raleigh describes the bike as “fast enough to race, comfortable enough to ride all day,” which provides a good indication of the sort of cyclist this bike is aimed at.

Onto this frame Raleigh has bolted the all-new Shimano Tiagra 4700 groupset. It’s a full groupset too, no mix-and-match here. This is actually the first time we’ve seen the Japanese company’s new Tiagra, after seeing it launched earlier this year. We’re pretty excited to see how it performs, and if it’s anywhere near as good as the new 105 (which we loved) Shimano is onto a winner.

- 15 of The Best Road Bikes Under £1,000

Like 105, the new Tiagra borrows a lot of technology and styling from the more expensive groupsets in the Shimano range. In case you’re wondering, Tiagra is Shimano’s fourth-tier groupset, and will feature on a lot of bikes in this price range in 2016.

While it’s still a 10-speed groupset, it does have the same four-arm chainset as first seen on Dura-Ace a few years ago (Shimano doesn’t wait long to trickle down tech from the top-end). This bike has a compact chainset, but it’s available in 52/36 and 53/39 - the 50/34 is right for this bike. That’s paired with an 11-32t cassette, so plenty of ratios for getting up the hills.

The other big visual, and ergonomic, change, is the new shifters. The cables are now hidden,  routed as they are underneath the tape. The shape of the hoods and levers very closely resembles 105 and Dura-Ace, and in the hands they feel pretty much identical.

- First look: New Shimano Tiagra 4700 groupset

The bike is then finished with an aluminium handlebar, stem, seatpost and saddle from Raleigh’s in-house RSP brand. And it’s fine kit, not flash, but it looks the part. The RSP AC2.0 wheels are fitted with 25mm Schwalbe Lugano tyres with a K-Guard puncture belt.

The Raleigh Criterium Sport is available in six sizes from 49 to 61cm. The test bike is a 56cm and weighs 9.95kg (21.94lb).

And you like the like of this bike but your budget won’t quite stretch to £750, then the entry-level Criterium at £475 is worth a look. It has the same frame but swaps out the Tiagra parts for Shimano Claris. 

It’s a good looking bike don’t you think? We’re (well I am) going to hit the road immediately to put it through its paces, so watch out for the review soon. 

www.raleigh.co.uk

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

Add new comment

8 comments

Avatar
Alf0nse | 8 years ago
0 likes

I really want to like the Raleigh stuff, but the paint jobs and colour schemes are always so dry.

Avatar
JumboJuice | 8 years ago
0 likes

@turboprannet

EXACTLY! If only Shimano could produce a 12-32, I didn't need to make up my own 12-32 from two sets of cogs...

Avatar
Vejnemojnen | 8 years ago
0 likes

"The Raleigh Criterium Sport is available in six sizes from 49 to 61cm. The test bike is a 56cm and weighs 9.95kg (21.94lb).
"

 7  39

solid tubes, hidden lead in the components, or it's just a heavy frameset with anchor wheels-steel beaded tyres and a heavy gruppo?  1

Sub.1000GBP you can get a crabon cube or a focus cayo with 105. Would rather go with them due to the comfort of the frame..

makes no sense to me to buy for this price. For 500quids, probably, but for 750? That's lot of money for a very basic offer.

BTW, Tour magazine had a test for 1500 euro carbon bikes not so long ago, and they clearly stressed, that it starts to make more sense to get a carbon bike for 1300-1500 euro with lesser components, rather than getting alloy in that price range, due to the frame's superiority (entry level carbon has come a long way in recent years)

The bike looks very nice and stunning btw, just it's heavy-expensive.

Avatar
barbarus | 8 years ago
0 likes

A nice looking Raleigh? That's a pleasant surprise! I've got a nostalgic soft spot for them, my first drop bar bike was a Raleigh Ace.

Avatar
mikeray718 | 8 years ago
0 likes

While I like the bike, the higher price tag will make me think twice before getting one. Well presented article, those pictures look really amazing.

Avatar
Liaman | 8 years ago
0 likes

New Tiagra looks amazing for the money, my girlfriend's Boardman Team Carbon needs some TLC and I've pointed her in its direction.

I don't understand why Shimano make an 11-32 cassette but not a 12-32 though.

Avatar
bikebot | 8 years ago
0 likes

Very nice for that price, and the new Tiagra chainset no longer makes me want to throw up.

Avatar
turboprannet replied to bikebot | 8 years ago
0 likes
bikebot wrote:

Very nice for that price, and the new Tiagra chainset no longer makes me want to throw up.

I thought it was just me, the old Tiagra chainset gave me trypophobia.

Latest Comments