Raleigh will celebrate 125 years in the bicycle business in 2012, making them one of oldest and best known bicycle manufacturers on the planet. The 1940′s version of the post-war Raleigh Clubman was a bicycle used for all manner of riding – from multi-day tours to road racing and time trials. Today, the modern Clubman has changed remarkably little. With its current geometry, Reynolds 520 steel frame, and distinct fork shape intact, Raleigh has worked hard over the years to maintain many of the bicycle’s original characteristics, while at the same time combining it with the modern components one would expect in a quality commuter, sport touring, or long-distance bicycle.

As its name suggests, the Clubman is an excellent bike for commuting and club rides, but can also be used to handle the demands of short and long-distance bicycle touring. While the retro characteristics of the Clubman may not appeal to everyone, those who appreciate the bike’s classic styling will feel that the Raleigh Clubman not only gets them where they need to go, but does so with some old school speed and fashion.

Frame & Components

The Clubman is built on a steel frame, which means comfort and flexibility on long-rides, as well as the rigidity and strength that is needed when you load up the bike with a decent amount of gear. The bicycle’s frame also has several steel braze-ons. It’s got a pump peg, chain holder, and the mounts needed for attaching a rear rack. There’s also front and rear fender mounts, two pairs of bottle cage bosses, and a drilled chainstay bridge.

Up-to-date components like Shimano’s latest 2×10-speed Tiagra transmission with a 50/34 crank set and 12-30 rear cassette will surely be appreciated for their deft shiftability.

While the Clubman can be used for various types of cycling, the most recent models of the bike tend to be more oriented toward speed and racing. However, the Clubman is really an all-rounder, Audax, randonneur, fast tourer, or whatever you want to call it kind of bicycle. It has a 39½”/1,000-and-odd millimeters wheelbase, 72° head angle allied to an almost 2″/50mm fork rake, clearance for 28mm tires and mudguards, with caliper brakes and all the eyelets you could wish for. The bicycle even comes with a Brooks leather saddle!

Attaching a rear rack to the Clubman is a breeze, but equipping the bicycle with a front rack is much more difficult, as there are no braze-ons in the front fork for your typical front rack mounting.

The Raleigh Clubman does, however, comes with pedals and toe clips, which will fit most people just fine, but will need to be replaced by people with larger shoe sizes. In fact, the pedals and clips, while very much appreciated, are usually replaced in a short amount of time by most serious Clubman owners.

Two other items that may soon need replacing are the bicycle’s handlebar tape (which seems to rip and fade rather quickly) and the bicycle’s two tires, which are more suited for local commuting than they are for long-distance touring.

Finally, the wheels that come with the bike can handle a fair amount of riding, but they aren’t the highest quality wheels in the world and may need replacing after only a few thousand miles.

Purchasing & Costs

The suggested retail price of the Raleigh Clubman is about $1,100 USD. You’ll need to contact a Raleigh dealer in your area to test drive, purchase, or special order your new bike. If, however, you can find this bicycle for sale at the end of the touring season, you can usually grab it for a hundred or more dollars less. The price of the bicycle, therefore, makes it one of the more affordable lightweight touring bikes on the market.

At around 24 pounds the Clubman rides fast and handles like a racing bike, but can put up with the weight you might add to any other touring bicycle. For those who like to ride fast and light, the Clubman is the ideal bicycle. While the gearing isn’t there for strenuous uphill sections, stronger cyclists can usually remain in the seated position until a 16% grade, with anything steeper than that requiring a standing struggle or an embarrassing uphill walk.

The Clubman’s steel frame gives the bike some bend, which can be a little nerve-racking at first. However, it is this flex in the frame that soaks up the smaller bumps in the road and provides you with the comfort you need on longer rides. Going down large hills, the bike handles like a dream and is incredibly stable. The Clubman likes to go fast and that is exactly what you can expect to do with it!

The best and worst thing about the Raleigh Clubman is the compact Shimano Tiagra 50/34 crank set. You’re likely to develop a love/hate relationship with this choice in gearing. While the high gears are very much appreciated on flat and downhill sections, climbing can be a struggle. But once you reach the top of the pass, you’ll forget all about the pain your just endured and will be glad you’re still riding your Clubman.

Clubman Conclusion

The Raleigh Clubman is a superbly useful, uber-cool, daily rider which comfortably gets you to your destination with both speed and style. For the price, the Raleigh Clubman might just be the perfect fast commuter. While the bicycle’s components could be a bit stronger, at the end of the day, the Clubman has a superb riding frame with decent parts and enough style to get you a regular admiring glances.

The Clubman is a great bike for people who like to travel fast and light and prefer to ride without three main chain-rings. Getting rid of that small ring, however, means that you’ll need to be in good shape to get the most out of the Clubman. And if you aren’t in shape now, you’ll get in good shape after a few weeks on this bicycle.

Overall, the Raleigh Clubman is a 7 out of 10 as a touring bicycle and a 9 out of 10 and a daily commuter.

About The Author: Jason Cazier works in California and likes to take long vacations to wild places around the world. Jason’s first long-distance bicycle tour was a 2,500 mile ride across New Zealand on a Raleigh Clubman. He is now planning his next bicycle touring adventure.

Got a question or comment about this bicycle? Leave a message below and let’s talk some more!

Winter cyclists not only need special types of clothing for their cold weather bike rides, but they need to understand how their various layers of clothing are meant to overlap and inter-work with each other. This video demonstrates one technique for dressing for the bike in cold-weather winter conditions. The clothing system detailed in this video will allow you to cycle in temperatures that range from 32 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to -40 degrees Celsius).

Got any other hints, tips, or suggestions for riding your bicycle during the cold winter months? Leave a comment below!

After traveling for more than three years across North America, South America and Southeast Asia, Tim and Cindie Travis have self-published three separate books about their bicycle touring adventures.

Their first book, The Road That Has No End, is about the couple’s decision to leave home and their first few months on the road. This book is the Travis’ most interesting in my opinion.

Their second book, Down The Road In South America, is a good account of their travels in this particular region of the world, but lacks some of the life-changing magic that their first book contained.

Finally, Down The Road In Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is the third, latest, and (possibly) final book in the series, and I found it to be short, simple, and targeted largely at arm-chair travelers.

Down The Road In Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam is by far the shortest of the couple’s three books. While the paperback copy of the text is actually 228 pages long (also available on the Kindle), many of these pages are padded with large black and white photographs, over-sized text and additional information that many readers won’t want or need (such as a list of the equipment used on their travels, photos of the couple’s bikes and gear, etc).

I’m not the fastest reader in the world, but the brevity of this book allowed me to breeze through it all in three short sittings. After reading the book, I know that Tim and Cindie spend several months in this corner of the world, but the length of the text made it seem as though they may have only been there for a couple weeks.

Like all of the books in the “Down The Road” series, this third book about the couple’s travels in Southeast Asia is equally easy to read. In my review of their first book, The Road That Has No End, I stated that “the book is so simple and so down to earth, however, I often times thought it may have been written for a small child or possibly an elderly grandparent.” The same can be said for the second and third books as well. The writing is so elementary that, while I know some people will appreciate the ease with which the book can be devoured, I found the tone of the writing to be somewhat offensive – as though I were stupid and knew nothing about the world.

I’m sure, of course, that Tim and Cindie didn’t mean for the book to come across this way, but instead wanted to make the text appeal to those who know very little about the world and have possibly never traveled for themselves. I, however, read for the challenge, inspiration and to learn something new… and this book was lacking in those three departments.

While Down The Road In Thailand, Cambodia And Vietnam is certainly short and easy to read, there were a few stories sprinkled throughout the text that I did enjoy. The couple’s encounters with hotel thieves, street people, and crazy Asian traffic was exciting to read about. The rest of it, however, felt a bit dry and devoid of flavor.

In the end, the Travis’ third book about their cycle touring adventures is a good short, but not super memorable.

My Overall Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Learn more about this book at: Amazon.com

For my upcoming bicycle tour across Europe and Africa, I needed to find a bike that was not only comfortable, strong, and capable of handling the demands of long-distance touring, but I also needed a bike that could be ridden in both on and off-road conditions.

Because I will be spending about six months of my upcoming bike tour cycling on paved streets and bicycle paths in mainland Europe, and another six months or more pedaling down dirt and gravel roads in both Iceland and Africa, it was imperative that I find a bicycle that could handle the demands of both on and off-road travel.

That’s when I began looking at the Co-Motion Pangea, a high-end touring bicycle made by Co-Motion Cycles, a small bicycle manufacturer located in Eugene, Oregon (USA).

I’ve seen the Co-Motion Pangea (and the rest of the bicycles made by Co-Motion) in the past at a few of the major bicycle trade-shows in the United States, and the high-quality craftsmanship of these vehicles has always blown me away. Every bike in the Co-Motion line-up is of the highest quality and stunningly beautiful. But it is the Pangea touring bicycle, with its 26 inch mountain bike wheels and optional S&S couplers, that has had me saying for the past several years, “That’s my ideal touring bicycle!”

When I started planning my upcoming bike ride across Europe and Africa, I began to realize that none of the touring bikes in my current stable of bicycles would be capable of handling the off-road riding that I was planning for my upcoming trip. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the Co-Motion Pangea, my tradeshow dream bike, had all the qualities I was looking for in my next touring bicycle.

Here are some of the qualities that make the Co-Motion Pangea a touring bicycle standout:

Custom Fit

Co-Motion goes out of their way to provide you with the best fitting bicycle they possibly can. Before you order a bike from the company, your measurements are taken and based on these measurements, it is determined whether one of the standard size Co-Motion frames will work for you, or if you need something a little different. Based on my measurements (I’m very tall and very skinny), it was determined that I would need a large 62 cm frame.

Steel Frame

Like most good touring bicycles, the Co-Motion Pangea is built on a strong, yet comfortable steel frame. Like I mention inside The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles, steel is the ideal metal for use in a touring bicycle because it provides you with the strength and stability you need to carry heavy loads, while at the same time giving you the flexibility needed for sitting in the saddle for long periods of time.

Drop Handlebars

If it weren’t for the dropped handlebars on the Pangea, you might just think that this bicycle were made entirely for the mountains. But the drop handlebars on the Pangea are there to provide you with the multiple hand positions you need when touring for days, weeks, and months on end. When it comes to long-distance bicycle touring, having a multitude of hand positions is vitally important to your comfort on the bike and your ability to continue cycling for extended lengths of time.

Bar-End (or optional STI) Shifters

When it comes to shifters, Co-Motion gives you the choice of equipping your bicycle with either bar-end shifters (which are easy to adjust and repair on the road and are preferred by many in the bicycle touring world) or to upgrade to STI integrated brake and gear shifters (which are more common in the world of bicycle racing). While many of my touring bicycles in the past have used STI integrated shifters, I opted for bar-end shifters on my new Co-Motion Pangea.

Disc Brakes

One of the things that makes the Co-Motion Pangea so unique its use of disc brakes, rather than the old-fashioned rim brakes that are so prevalent in much of the touring world. By equipping your bicycle with modern disc brakes, you can stop your heavy, loaded bicycle in a much shorter amount of time, control your bicycle with greater ease, and increase your safety while out on the road.

26″ Wheels and Tires

It is the wheels on the Pangea that make this bicycle really stand out against many of the other touring bicycles on the market. The Pangea, as its name suggests, is a bike that is made to go just about anywhere, and the wider 26 inch size wheels/tires on the bike allow you to use the bicycle for both on and off-road riding. Plus, 26 inch wheels and tires are a standard size just about everywhere in the world, which means that finding replacements parts will be a breeze during international travels.

Optional S&S Couplers

If you plan to travel with your bike a lot (like I do), you can even opt to have your Co-Motion bicycle equipped with S&S couplers, which are small metal fasteners that are welded to your bicycle’s frame that allows you to take the bicycle apart, fold it up, and fit it inside a case that is small enough to fly on many airplanes for free! Essentially, the S&S couplers allow you to enjoy the benefits of traveling with a folding bicycle, but with the joy and comfort of a full-size bike. I personally opted for the S&S couplers on my Pangea and I look forward to seeing how they perform.

Custom Paint

Finally, when you order a Co-Motion bicycle, you get your choice of thousands of custom paint jobs. When you buy a Co-Motion bike, you aren’t getting a mass-produced bicycle made by a company in China and re-branded by a western corporation. Instead, you are getting a totally customized, one-of-a-kind, touring bicycle made just for you, and you alone! Just look at all the paint color options that Co-Motion currently provides.

It is for all these reasons (and because the bicycle is so beautiful and well made) that I decided to use the Co-Motion Pangea on my upcoming bicycle tour across Europe and Africa.

Unfortunately, I don’t have my Pangea just yet. I’ve placed my order and I’m schedule to receive my new bike any day now. As soon as I finish cycling across Iceland, however, I should have a pretty good idea of what the Co-Motion Pangea is like as a touring bicycle and I’ll share more about the bike with you at that time.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about the Co-Motion Pangea, why I chose this bicycle for my upcoming tour, or whether you think the Pangea might be the ideal touring bicycle for your own bicycle touring adventures, leave a question or comment below and I’ll get back to you just as soon as I can.

The Scratch Map Travel Edition is small roll-out poster that you can hang up in your home or carry with you as you travel around the world. As you travel, simply use a coin to scratch off the gold top foil covering the countries that you’ve visited to reveal a new and colorful world underneath. On the back of the map is an area where you can mark your flight paths as you criss-cross the globe, affix before and after passport photos of yourself, document the top five places you’ve visited on your travels, and a whole lot more.

The Scratch Map Travel Edition is available for purchase at Amazon.com and FredFlare.com.