Comments on: Raleigh One Way: Singlespeed love child

By: Calvert

Calvert — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 06:20:25 +0000

Here’s my take.

Never rode the Raleigh. Enough said.

I own a 925 and here’s my story:

I bought one the year it came out, and it’s great, but it comes with limitations. The plastic chainguard is still on and as dorky as it looks, its purpose is well served, It hasn’t broken and I don’t think about getting my pant leg caught ever. Keep it if you’ve got it.

Last year I spread the rear triangle for a new wheel with a Nexus 8 speed hub and the bike is still my number one all weather commuter. I own six bikes and I ride the 925 the most. It is a comfortable, versatile bike that I’ve even taken on a tour.

That said. The 925 has crappy track ends that have no place on a road bike. Track ends are pure fashion and anyone who knows knows that even a fixed gear bike on the road will benefit from good old fashioned horizontal dropouts, especially when you get a flat, especially if you’ve got fenders. Look at all the dumb conversions out there and you’ll see. Redline failed in that respect, especially since the bike has fenders. Also, there is no clearance for wider tires. In that respect the Raleigh is superior in that you can run up to 38 mm tires, or so I’ve heard.

I’m replacing the 925 with a Cross Check frame.

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:08:10 +0000

The Fury. I too believe this bike has held up quite well with all I’ve thrown at it as I wrap up another winter season of riding it. I did have to replace my wheels early on as there was a manufacturer defect with the spokes and they were popping like crazy on the rear wheel.

I built up a set of Mavic Open Sports with double butted DT Swiss spokes and haven’t even needed to true them despite often having front and rear trunk bags full of crap loaded down on them.

When my knees give out this would make a great candidate for a similar San Jose8 like Sheldon Brown made.

By: The Fury

The Fury — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:38:10 +0000

I’ve come to discover that this bike is a tank. With appropriate tires you could probably cyclocross this thing.
I dumped the vitorrias and threw some schwalbe marathons. Much more appropriate for mixed use. I just keep beating on this bike and it keeps begging for more. Snow, light off road, cobbled streets, and I’ve even otb’d and nothing but a small rip in the saddle. This bike is a work horse that I look forward to punishing for many more years.
Some of my fellow cyclists have given me some less than kind words about the hybrid nature of this bike. I’ve enjoyed passing them.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:52:29 +0000

The rear-facing dropouts aren’t really a problem if you just deflate the tire before trying to remove the wheel. Replace and reflate.

By: The Fury

The Fury — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:56:24 +0000

Also forgot to mention I pulled the fenders off and replaced them with mtb style fenders (X3 on the back).
Full fenders with rear facing dropouts is BAD engineering.

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:00:25 +0000

Curious what year One-Way you got? Was it the black one above? And what is your concern with the flat-top handles. Not sure I know what you mean there.

I continue to ride this bike nearly everyday and to me the biggest drawback continues to be the rear facing drops with full fenders.

By: The Fury

The Fury — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:12:01 +0000

I’ve just rebuilt a Raleigh one way that was shown very little love. The pedals were first to go. A set of dimension platforms with power grip straps are making a great replacement. I’ve also replaced the standard brake blocks with soft compund eagle blocks. They’re ugly but very efffective, especially for winter riding.
I’ve played with the pressure on the stock tires. The standard pressure (70 psi) is way too little for dry weather riding. They easily handle 90 psi. When riding in snow I found 50-60 psi is nice and comfy with the big wide tires.
The original free wheel was replaced (15t) with a Shimano 16t. 42/15 is just a little too gnarly for a commuting bike in a city with a lot of hills. The original free wheel was of questionable quality. Tough to say if it was the previous owner or the manufacturer.
All in all the one way is a great winter commuter, great on descents, and comfy to ride daily. I like the high stance and the rugged feel. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on this bike too.
My only cons are: 1. junky crank arms and pedals. They’re obvious things that shouldn’t havebeen skimped on. 2. Flat top handles. Kind of draws away from the track look and feel of the bike. All in all small set backs.

By: Fritz

Fritz — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:49:47 +0000

Suzanne, unless the race is specifically for singlespeed bikes or the race course is flat, I wouldn’t recommend racing on this bike. Then again, it might be fun.

I participated in a crazy mixed terrain alleycat in Santa Cruz with the One Way. It was a ton of fun but I had to DNF.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:21:44 +0000

I’m thinking about racing on my one-way for XC season next month. Its just been sitting in my apartment collecting dust all summer. Thoughts? Would you do it if you were a novice racer??

By: suspeckted

suspeckted — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:33:19 +0000

Well then you really can’t call it a “one-way” anymore though.