Originally Posted by KonAaron Snake

Life is funny. One day you're king of the world, riding to work on some beautiful overkill bike and the next, you're wondering if you're going to bike again. My Doctor told me no cycling for 6-9 months because of the risk of re-injury. Coming from a legal background, I negotiated; eventually he agreed that riding a lower stand over bike at lower speeds should mitigate much of the risk he was concerned about. I bought a Raleigh Twenty...thinking it would be better than nothing, but probably not much better. I've now ridden that bike and have some observations to share:

Stuff I really like:

1. The fenders are great...they stay put, they have ample coverage and they don't dent when leaned up against stuff.

2. I love the width of the wheels and the tire pressure...it rides very nicely on a variety of surfaces...much better than I'd have thought.

3. It's sportier and quicker than I expected, especially accelerating. I never thought the bike might be fun, but it is! It doesn't hold speed well.

4. I LOVE that rear plescher rack - so useful! I can toss a laptop under it. A lock. Groceries. Use a pannier. It's just a great rack and I'd love more like it. It's also positioned well...I have huge feet, but I can ride with a pannier and not get heel strike. Well... occasional, but not awful!

5. I can just leave it outside and not fret over things. It has thick paint.

6. The mattress saddle works amazingly well with the positioning, better than the Brooks leather I tossed on and tried.

7. Parts are standard, easy to maintain.

8. It looks cool!

9. Lots of room for added stuff...surprisingly versatile as a platform.

Stuff I like less:

1. The biggest weakness of the bike are the steel rims; wheel rotational weight stinks and braking is compromised. I don't understand why Raleigh bothers to put fenders on bikes that are useless in the rain. I initially didn't think I'd bother addressing the issue, but I've decided the bike has a useful future and it would be more useful with alloy rims.

2. I think my dislike of IGH is well known, and it has only increased with this bike. Changing flats is more difficult, the indicator chains are weak and I'm constantly dealing with cable stretch. I finally got the SA working and tensioned, but to get it there, it now doesn't shift as well at a full stop. It seems to be either/or - when it's shifting at a full stop, it's too lose to shift into low gear. It also doesn't shift as well while pedaling and the rythm of shifting while coasting is very odd. The spacing between gears is more limited, I prefer better gear ranges. I do not understand why folks use these.

3. The rear gearing is too high...I believe it's a 16 tooth. I think a 20 would be a LOT more sensible and I'll be changing mine out shortly. I'm assuming Raleigh expected people to walk up a lot of these hills.

4. Cornering is VERY compromised because the pedals are low to the ground. If I take a turn anything but soft and slow, the pedal grinds the pavement.

5. The positioning is very odd...it feels like the cranks are further forward than normal; I don't like it at all. The hand positions are very limited and I can't really get out of the saddle with these bars. I don't think drops would work because of the weird forward positioning.

6. I feel like I'm constantly slipping off of the pedals...part of that is that I'm not used to platforms, but part is the crank position and placement.

7. It weighs a TON! I wish they made one in 531! It's too heavy to really use as a transit-bike machine and it folds pretty big. As an actual portable folder, it's limited.