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Review: Raleigh Militis 3 Carbon Road Bike

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Raleigh Bicycles is one of those companies I think pretty much every one has heard of, right on up there with Schwinn. But if you’ve been around the bicycle industry for any length of time, you know that they’ve also had their share of problems. They’ve been sold, merged and reorganized so many times, I hardly pay attention when their name is a headline on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.

However, lately we’ve been hearing more from them, and they are making sure their continued presence is known. Seeing their name a lot among the single speed/cyclocross scene has helped in growing the current brand, and I was stoked to be offered a chance to ride one of their new road offerings. A few weeks later, the Raleigh Militis 3 arrived in all its flat black, SRAMed out glory. Read all about this top-of-the-line, $6500 machine after the jump…

Does it look good? Sure, this is a beautiful bike. While it hung in the shop, it would immediately draw the attention of everyone who came through. The frame design is very clean, very attractive. However, that could also be construed as the bike looking relatively generic as there’s very little distinguishing about it. Remove the Raleigh name, and this frame could pass for the high end offering from almost anyone. It features all the usual suspects we’re seeing from a lot of people these days; BB30, huge down tube, tiny seatstays, carbon dropouts, tapered headtube, internal cable routing. The lone piece of technology that Raleigh is claiming is called Direct Connect Evolution; the frame is constructed by molding the downtube and headtube as one piece. Logic tells me that this helps in the handling department, however they don’t offer any explanation. Why is this a good thing, or how it makes their bikes better?

How does it ride? All that said, the bike rode almost exactly like you’d expect any race-level $6500 carbon road bike to ride; really well. There was nothing exceptional about it, but I had no complaints either. It weighed less than 15 lbs. with Speedplay X2 pedals. It climbed fast (I was hardly off my best times on a couple climbs, and I normally ride a compact) and went wherever I pointed it. The handling was a little twitchier than I’d like, no riding off the bars to eat, but given the spec and sizing fit, this is obviously aimed at the racers.

What about the fit? The sizing was a major issue for me, as I simply glanced at their chart, found the specs that were closest to my current bike, and shot the email back. Unfortunately, I should’ve looked closer, because Raleigh had sized these models differently. I generally ride a bike with a 53-54cm top tube, with the Militis that was a Small. But their small was outfitted with a 0mm setback seatpost, and a 40cm bar. In setting it up for myself, I quickly realized that I couldn’t get the seat far enough back. They had intended for me to be riding the medium, sizing the bike by cockpit, rather than just top tube. Because of these issues, the size always made this bike feel off. The narrow bars were obvious out of the saddle and my saddle was always too forward. It was close enough to put miles on it, but it left me never feeling 100% comfortable on the bike. I did feel like a crit racer every time I went to the drops, though…

Is it worth it? The spec on the bike is probably where the bike shines the most. It’s a full SRAM Red bike, down to the chain and cassette, as opposed to the usual trick of saving dollars with Force there. The full carbon cockpit comes from FSA, and the wheels are the Mavic Ksyrium SLR with the Exalith braking surface. Even with those components, I think that $6500 is a bit of a stretch for this bike’s value. However, a quick search found most dealers already selling it at $5999, which is a more reasonable ballpark.

Buy it if: you’re a racer concerned with getting the biggest bang for your buck. You’ll get a full Red group, and a killer set of wheels.  The frame will perform, but you’ll never say the sentence, “Remember that Raleigh frame I crashed ten years ago? I wish I still had that…”

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17 Comments
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RC
RC
12 years ago

But we’ll/you’ll never know how it rode because it didn’t fit. Looks like a great bike.

Misterha
Misterha
12 years ago

So are you saying the Militis 3 is a comeback for Raleigh or unsuccessful?

Dom
Dom
12 years ago

Ditto RC. AnonymousChris really needs to take time when ordering a bike and actually pay attention to the sizing sheet.

JT
JT
12 years ago

I have this bike and I love it. The saddle is the worst thing ever tho. I got it because it was really close to the Geometry to my old look Kg171. Now that is the bike I wish i didn’t crash…. I wish I still had that…

WannaBeSTi
WannaBeSTi
12 years ago

While lacking more details, it seems the bike was at least ridden a little…

“It climbed fast (I was hardly off my best times on a couple climbs, and I normally ride a compact) and went wherever I pointed it. The handling was a little twitchier than I’d like, no riding off the bars to eat, but given the spec and sizing fit, this is obviously aimed at the racers.”

I think this is a great bike and comparable to other bikes with similar spec. The seatpost didn’t work for Chris so, he should have changed it out. How many bikes come out of a box fitting perfectly?

Chris, change the post and give us a real review. We all know how the components work.

Strawberry Sram
Strawberry Sram
12 years ago

— The good news is that Militis is not contageous and simply applying cream for 5 days will clear up the rash

anonyhippopotamus
anonyhippopotamus
12 years ago

i’m confused. you start out by saying that you got the wrong size, and then you continue the review judging how the bike handles? why did this “review” even get posted? especially from a guy that cut off his own thumb in a fixed sprocket

Mindless
Mindless
12 years ago

What, no disk brakes?

Jim
Jim
12 years ago

Raleigh seems to have improved quite a bit lately. Please test the Revenio Carbon 3.0

Nuggethead
Nuggethead
12 years ago

Raleigh continues to do what they’re best at: Limited Edition SSCX frames, belt drive(or not) internal geared townies, and value spec’ed, almost nice, “race level” bikes. Still, they seem to come up with a couple fun models every year.

JS
JS
12 years ago

Is it me or are those brifters WAY too high on the bars? And loads of steerer tube showing… and miles of shifting cables… Sorry, being pedantic but I think we are allowed to be when a company is trying to sell a 6 grand bike!

SGK
SGK
12 years ago

@JS…Ever think this is a demo/review bike where the reviewer my swap out things for a better fit (unlike this reviewer).

bikehauole
12 years ago

Loads of steerer tube showing…miles of cables. Lets be real here. It’s a new bike that leaves room for adjustments from the eventual end user. Once you cut it you can’t put it back. Better to have more than not enough and trim the excess once you have it dialed. I’ve ridden this bike and it is awesome. Show me another $6,000
sub 15 pound bike with comparable spec.

EVO
EVO
12 years ago

bikehauole: Every RED-equipped $6500 bike *should* be sub-15 lbs. but if you need an example handed off to you, how about the Cannondale EVO2?

http://www.cannondale.com/2012/bikes/road/elite-road/supersix-evo/2012-supersix-evo-2-red-21147
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-cannondale-supersix-evo-2-red-12-45942/

It’s lighter, $1000 cheaper MSRP and proven in the pro peloton.

McLinde
McLinde
11 years ago

I just demo’d this bike tonight. It was really responsive on climbing attacks, turned nice and quick, and went down the bumpy road as nice as any carbon ride should. If I was buying a $5k+ bike, it would make the short list.

ralph
ralph
8 years ago

i got this bike seem to me a good bike

ralph
ralph
8 years ago

done tt racing friday last week as im mdcc bike went fine it juist ride on the day all want ok

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