Raleigh Marathon Team 2007 Preview 

MTBOnline was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of the new Raleigh 2007 range. We have had to keep quiet about it ‘til now but here is the inside story.

At a first glance the new Marathon Team looks exactly like the old RDS range. But a closer look is needed to fully understand how different this bike is to the old one.

Components: This is the easiest part. Go and read the spec on www.raleigh.co.za but suffice to say here that the bike is full 2007 XTR. They have opted to go with the new XTR trigger shifter. This would not be my first choice, but then I am one of the few fans of dual control. All the components are out of the top drawer, with highlights being the Thompson seat post and the Ritchey WCS Carbon riser bar. Out the box, I don’t think that you will want to change a thing. The wheels have no weight limit like the CrossMax SL’s on the previous RDS 9. And the DT Swiss XR1540’s are pimping to say the least! If I had set up a wish list of what I wanted for my new bike it would have resembled 95% of the new Marathon Team. The only exception being that I would want Dual Control. The Rock Shock Reba WC is my dream fork and personally I am glad to see the move away from Fox in the front. The rear is a different story. The new FOX RP23 promises to be the best thing since disc brakes. In a nut shell you will be able to select between 3 pro-pedal settings by twisting the new overhead cam. The lever below the cam will switch the selected pro-pedal on or off. Reports are that with the cam on the max pro-pedal setting the shock is just about locked out. All Fox shocks are now custom tuned for Raleigh, so I am expecting a super plush ride. The bike will be offered with my new favourite tyres; Maxxis CrossMark UST.

Frame:

Now class! Pay attention, this is where you need to concentrate. The frame looks the same as previous models until you look a little closer, luckily I was there for you to take that closer look! Firstly the front triangle’s tubes are all butted , this adds strength and reduces weight. The top tube is hydroformed. You will notice that the down tube is straight now and that the junction at the head tube is totally different to last year with all the tubes meeting and making a very strong looking junction. What you will not be able to see on the pictures is that the down tube tapers toward the BB. This has given the main pivot some room to breathe. The pivot and the swing arm are where the most changes have been made. Some of the main pivot has been cut out at the bearings to reduce weight. The main vertical tube on the swing arm has also been changed. This no longer has a weld at the main stress point. It is one piece of tubing. This should sort out any issues with swing arm strength. The chain stays and the seat stays are now straight tubes, with the dropout welded at the end of them adding the curve necessary to hang the derailleur off.

Tubing is Kinesis 7005, and promises strength and light weight. Sizing has changed too. There is a 16”, 18” and a 20” the seat tube has gone from a 30.9 to a 31.6 this should keep things solid, if you are a Sasquatch like me, and need to pull the seat tube out far on the reduced size. The good news is that while the seat tube is shorter for most models, the geometry is the same. The Large has the same top tube length and angles as the previous model. I really enjoyed the geometry on my RDS 9 so this is good news if you are looking to upgrade to the new model.

Conclusion:

With all this talk of weight, what does it weigh? Well we don’t know! The medium frame bike on display was rumoured to be below 11kg. We will only know for sure when I get one to test and hang it on my scale. What does it cost? Well, that we also don’t know yet. The first production models should be out in October. As soon as we know, we will let all of you know!

Read the full Raleigh Marathon Team Review