Looking at Raleigh Cadence 2

[78Raleigh]

It's been a while since I posted here. A little background: Age = 60, I do casual riding for exercise & fitness, aiming to get out several times per week & have ridden about 550 miles this year. My current bike is a 1977 Raleigh Record and I'm the original owner.

I've been keeping this bike going and it's in pretty good shape, but I'm getting to the point where I need something where my riding position won't be so bent over (neck getting OLD), so I'm looking at a hybrid Raleigh Cadence 2. It seems to be right about at my price point at $530, and I've been quite satisfied with my Record over the years. I figure any bike that is 38 years newer is bound to be an improvement!

I've also been wishing that I had a little lower gearing on the low end, and higher on the high end, and it looks like the Cadence would fulfill this need. I like the idea of the disk brakes, as I frequently wheel the bike from a shed through wet grass and the rims get wet.

Does anyone have any experience with the Cadence that they can share? Reviews that I've read have been fairly uniformly favorable.

Thanks.

[Painkiller]

I have never heard of a Raleigh Cadence 2.

[DaveM]

I assume you mean a "Cadent"?

Looks like a decent bike overall. I'm not a huge fan of disk brakes in general (prone to squeakyness and tricky adjustments) But they will be much stronger than what you have now. Especially if the Record has steel rims, it is hard to get any decent braking.

It would not be difficult to put upright bars onto the record. Probably would need stem, bars, brake levers, cables and grips. Fairly quick and cheap change.

A new bike will probably be snappier with faster shifting and braking. More prone to needing adjustment though. The old ones ride with a lot of class.

[78Raleigh]

(12-14-2015, 07:36 PM)DaveM Wrote:  I assume you mean a "Cadent"?

Looks like a decent bike overall. I'm not a huge fan of disk brakes in general (prone to squeakyness and tricky adjustments) But they will be much stronger than what you have now. Especially if the Record has steel rims, it is hard to get any decent braking.

It would not be difficult to put upright bars onto the record. Probably would need stem, bars, brake levers, cables and grips. Fairly quick and cheap change.

A new bike will probably be snappier with faster shifting and braking. More prone to needing adjustment though. The old ones ride with a lot of class.

Yes, I meant "Cadent". Sorry about that. The Record needs additional work too and I'm not sure I want to invest much in it now, but would keep it as a secondary bike. Sorry I don't know all the terminology, but the shaft that the crank attaches to is corroded/ partly stripped on one side. It's also kind of a sloppy shifter, I wouldn't mind having something more precise. And also the expanded gear ratios would be nice, something I've been wishing for a couple years now.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[nfmisso]

Just one comment; your Record was made by or for a very old bicycle company based in England.  

A new Raleigh is made in China for an import company that purchased the Raleigh name when the old company went bankrupt.

[78Raleigh]

(12-16-2015, 06:14 PM)nfmisso Wrote:  Just one comment; your Record was made by or for a very old bicycle company based in England.  

A new Raleigh is made in China for an import company that purchased the Raleigh name when the old company went bankrupt.

Yup. That's the way things have gone I guess.

A few years ago, we bought a Raleigh for my son that was made in China (Venture 4.0). It has decent workmanship and is holding up well. I'd sure give any bike a thorough once-over and test ride before purchasing. I'm not in a big hurry at this point. I have a fairly complete 1978 Record that belonged to my wife that I can rob for parts in the meantime. My absolute biggest issue is the increasing sore neck/shoulder problem. I'm looking into seeing if I can help that with adjustments. Bike adjustments, that is .

At any rate, this is causing me to do a lot of research & l"m learning a lot.

[Painkiller]

The Bike that you are looking at I would call more of a sport Hybrid not a comfort Hybrid. You will not gain anything more upright without changes to the bike you are pondering. Not hard to do but realize the added expense of doing so. roughly $40 to $80 extra depending on how you want to go about it.