2012 Raleigh RXC Pro Disc
Raleigh RXC Pro Disc
The future arrived, built by a bicycle company founded in 1885.
This Raleigh made it into the museum section for bringing together a bunch of new trends and technologies into one fabulous bike. We have a carbon fiber bike at the top of a whole line (a whole line!) of cyclocross bikes. As recently as the mid ’90’s, riders would have been hard pressed to come up with more than three options for a pre-made cyclocross bike. We have the best in cutting-edge materials (some used in new areas of the bike). We have cyclocross-specific components, electronics, tubeless tires, and disc brakes all in one spot.
The Raleigh RXC Pro Disc utilized every bit of modern technology to hit the bike world. Carbon fiber is used in the frame, fork, rims, seat rails, stem and handlebar of the bike. Nothing too ground-breaking about that, but to put it all that carbon fiber in a production cyclocross bike was noteable. Cutting-edge Shimano Di2 electronics controlled the shifting. Again, electronic shifters have been out for a while, but Raleigh (and Colnago) were the first big bike brands to trust Di2 enough to spec it on a bike meant for the mud. Disc brakes provide the stopping power, and while they’re not hydraulically controlled (yet), they are a giant leap forward over rim brakes when the going gets muddy.
Enve Carbon Fork, BB7 Disc Brakes
Cole Carbon Wheels, Di2 shifting
Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting
All of this technology together on a bike in 2012 clearly showed where the bike world was headed. Now only a couple of model years on, and we’re seeing this kind of design and component selection on more and more models.
Bicycle Luddites would have to be amazed (and probably horrified) by this bike.