My 1st road bike was a Raleigh. Had it for 6 days and the head tube cracked. I wasn't riding unusual, just general road riding. I took it to the LBS for warranty repair and it took them 3 months to get the frame swapped out from the factory. Ended up buying a Specialized. The lower end Allez is a good bike for the $$$. I put over 2500 miles on mine this year, and just upgraded to a Tarmac. Will not buy Raeigh anything again. Poor warranty turn around, and the rep they sent to the LBS wasn't that great either and didn't seem to care that it was taking them (Raleigh) so long to get me a frame. BTW - the LBS refused to refund my $$$ so that I could buy another bike. Had to do a trade in and took a $200 loss on the deal.