We first clapped eyes on the Raleigh Militis Comp at the Nottingham brand’s house show in July and since then it’s been one of the most eagerly anticipated machines at RCUK Towers.
We’re the first of the UK media to receive this aluminium chassis-ed steed for test and the prospect of a debut ride is one we’re looking forward to.
We’ve beaten the drum long and loud for aluminium frames as an alternative to budget carbon (a material that more recently has returned to cycling’s cutting edge). Lively, engaging, and typically offering considerably more bang for your buck in the spec stakes than some (by no means all) entry-level composite offerings, far from being a supposed poor relation to carbon, we believe a well-crafted aluminium frame can be the choice of the thinking cyclist.
Raleigh, it seems, believe so too. While the upper echelons of the Militis range are carbon fibre steeds (the £5,000 flagship Militis Team, is, unsurprisingly, the machine supplied to the UCI Continental squad of Briggs, Scully, Blain et al), the Militis Comp is far from an afterthought.
Central to Raleigh’s ambition to create a range sufficiently comprehensive to become a dealer’s only brand, as they were for decades, the Miltis Comp is the result of a desire to create a race-ready machine for the Cat 3 or Cat 4 competitor, and a close working relationship with Kinesis in Taiwan. The outcome? A 1,300g frame with oversized downtube, Pressfit 30 bottom bracket, and a headtube that tapers from 1.5” to 1-1/8” – all de rigueur for the most sophisticated (and most expensive) carbon frames.
Having told the backstory, will move to the present, and the machine signed, sealed, and delivered to RCUK Towers, and now awaiting test.
