2010 Raleigh Record Ace review.

The moment I saw the first print ad for the Record Ace, I knew I had to have one. And thanks to Brian from the lovely (when it's not raining) city of Seattle; I was fortunate enough to get one. Out of the box, the list of features on this bike is impressive, if not a slightly paradoxical. Modern components on a retro lugged steel frame topped off with an appropriately classic Brooks Swallow saddle? That's a win, win, win proposition. Never one to leave well enough alone, I set out to try and take this bike to the next level.

While the big ticket components and accessories like crank, shifters, derailleurs, and saddle are all very choice, there are other parts that are disappointingly and understandably economical to keep the bike affordable and within the targeted price point. $1900 to be exact.

The first parts to go were the stock Tektro brakeset. Black bits doesn't look right on this classic lugged frame. Fortunately there were a set of better RED calipers left over from my Z5 build in my garage, so on the bike they went. Yeah, I am mixing Shimano with SRAM, bite me.

From the very beginning, and no matter how much I adjusted the rear derailleur, I experienced rear indexing issues. Nothing major, but I would always have to push the shifter a little past one-click in order for me to shift down a single gear. Otherwise, a normal throw of the lever would make the chains linger in between cogs. A fresh set of Reaction cables by Yokozuna solved that issue once and for all. Shifts are now buttery and precise, firmer brakes too. These are two improvements you will be able to feel hundreds of times in a single ride! Definitely a good bang for your buck upgrade. One word of advice, however, is to cut your brake cable housing correctly to length. Otherwise, the stiffness of the housing will steer your bike off center when you let go of the handlebar.

Next on the upgrade list are new wheels and tires. In keeping with the neo-retro look, a lightweight set of silver rims with silver spokes laced 3 cross front and back were planned. But I already had a set of white American Classic wheels so I mounted them with a pair of gum wall tires for extra vintage-ness. Finding a good set of gum walls was not easy. After much Googling I stumbled upon the Criterium by Challenge Tires. After a few hundred miles I can say they are fantastic, supple, and more resistant to cuts compared to the Evo Corsa CX IIs.

The OE cockpit consisted of black Avenir (Raleigh's sister brand) 90mm stem, seat post, and a 40cm FSA omega compact handlebar. Those black bits are budget (stem bolt threads stripped the first time I removed and re-tightened the bolts) and again, a way to keep the cost down on this bike, though I wonder why they didn't use silver instead? It's all good, I swapped them all out with a 100mm Thomson X2 stem, Ritchey WCS seat post, a 42mm 3T Ergonova LTD handlebar, and some silver stem spacers for kicks and giggles.

I also had a matching Thomson Masterpiece seat post but was quickly disappointed to find out that it would not work with the Brooks saddle. So the Ritchey will have to do for now. Despite what the photos show, the wet white (creamy) finish of the Ritchey seat post is not the same as the metallic white paint of the frame.  When their Classic collection releases in the Fall, I will replace the post (and possibly stem), the handlebars however are now the perfect width and ergonomic to boot.

And about that saddle...at first I hated it (called it "pretentious"), then I loved it. At the moment I'm not liking it so much. It's a love/hate relationship really. How long does it usually take to break in the leather, does anyone know? Someone told me months? Me and my butt seriously hope he's lying.

Stock, out of the box, the Record Ace is a fun ride. It's nice to see a historic company embrace its roots by re-introducing steel to a 21st century carbon fiber dominated landscape. Have you seen their 2011 product lineup? Ridic! Two new steel models: The Grand Prix, a Reynolds 520 frame speced with Tiagra, and a Dura-Ace equipped Reynolds 853 International as their flagship model (which looks absolutely mental by the way!)

The ride of this steel steed can only be described as fun. Objectively, It's not the lightest, fastest, nor most comfortable bike I've ridden, but subjectively it is definitely the funnest.

My grandmother's first bike was a Raleigh which was handed down to my mom. I too will be keeping this one for the next generation. Great job Raleigh.

-Mario