Raleigh Bicycles

THUMBS UP!

Whew! It has been a pretty busy couple of weeks. First the Raleigh crew was part of the Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium the weekend of April 7th and 8th, and then we were right off to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, on the 11th for five days of wind, cold, rain, and bicycle racing!

The Sea Otter Classic has become more than just a bicycle race; it is a real gathering of bicycle racers and enthusiasts along with the bicycle industry and press. Bicycling magazine, in addition to being a major sponsor of the Sea Otter Classic, uses the event to host its Editor’s Choice Awards and VIP Barbeque. Raleigh has been honored to have bicycles nominated in several categories each of the last three years, but we have always gone home with out a “blue square” – that’s industry slang for the Editor’s Choice Award (see the photo to understand why). This year the 2007 Raleigh Competition was nominated in the Recreational Road Bike category, and WE WON! It is a great honor and thrill to have the technical staff from Bicycling recognize the Competition as a category leader, and from everyone here at Raleigh to all the hard-working members of the Bicycling team – thanks!

The 2007 Raleigh Competition features the totally redesigned Raleigh A.C.E. (Advanced Carbon Engineering) Evolution frame with our proprietary Direct Connect Carbon Technology, combined with our race-proven geometry. Direct Connect Carbon Technology is an assembly process that eliminates the need for lugs, overlapping joints, or expensive fixed molds. By using precisely mitered multi-shaped tubes, joined directly to each other, our design and engineering team is able to add material only where it is most needed, minimizing voids and creating a very light (57cm frame weighs less than 1 kilo), exceptionally strong frame. The Raleigh A.C.E. Evolution frame is also available on the 2007 Raleigh Supercourse and Prestige model bicycles, and as a Team frame and fork.

While every member of the Raleigh team deserves credit for this award, special congratulations should go to Kyle Casteel for a great frame design and product spec, Dorik Downing for the beautiful color and graphics, and finally Toby Webster and Carey Schleicher-Haselhorst for their great work with Bicycling.

For a little more on this year’s Sea Otter event and our adventures down in “sunny” California – take a look at our sister blog www.diamondbackbicycles.blogspot.com.