Fresh Gravel: Raleigh Introduces The “Roker” Carbon Gravel Bike


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Raleigh Roker
The carbon gravel grinder as interpreted by Raleigh. Seen at Sea Otter, this is the bike that will be known as the Roker. (Image by B Fornes)

Fresh Gravel: Sea Otter, the West Coast bicycle festival/race/exposition, is happening right now and we were forwarded some images by Raleigh USA‘s Brian Fornes straight from the venue. Brian has been busy as always and we appreciate his time and efforts!

The news is of a carbon frame, carbon fork, gravel specific design dubbed “Roker”, and if you think about how Raleigh has dubbed another weatherman related gravel bike, the Tamland, as an “Al-Weather” bike, this name may make more sense. The name aside, this is no cyclo cross frame dressed up as a gravel bike with bigger tires. RidingGravel.com spoke with Brian via the phone, and he assured us that this frame geometry is exactly like the Tamland’s. That bike having a longer chain stay, lower bottom bracket, slacker head tube angle, and larger tire clearances than Raleigh’s cyclo cross bikes do.

While we do not have specs solidified for the two model line up, we do know that there may be a Limited Edition black Di2 bike offered when these bikes hit the shop floors in early Fall 2015. Obviously there will be disc brakes and we’re betting one model with 105 and the range topper will likely have Ultegra 11 speed, much like the Tamland line up. What we do know is that all Raleigh gravel bikes will now feature flared drop bars with a mild, 12° kick out to the drop section, and will feature tubeless ready wheels. We’ve been shown renderings of what the two models might look like and they follow along with the Tamland’s style of graphics and color treatments. Pretty spiffy looking, if they end up like what we saw.

Now on to some images of the Roker. This bike is the first mold sample bike Raleigh has received and was rushed to Sea Otter for the show Wednesday. The bike is so new that Brian quipped, “The carbon tubes are still hot!” Well, maybe not temperature-wise, but they sure do look pretty hot! Take a look and see what you think…..

Roker
The drop bar flare is subtle. Think “Cowbell-like”.
Raleigh Roker
The cables, of course, are internally routed.
Raleigh Roker
The front brake routing pierces the left fork leg to the excellent TRP Spyre brake caliper and rotor here.
Raleigh Roker
The exit port for the brake, what looks like a “window” to help route cables, and a traditionally threaded bottom bracket shell, (!!!), are all seen here.
Raleigh Roker
The rear brake routes through the non-drive side chain stay to exit just ahead of the tidy post mount for the TRP Spyre rear caliper.
Raleigh Roker
Plenty of clearance here for the big, puffy Clement MSO
Raleigh Roker
Plenty of room around the seat stays as well.

Okay, that’s all for now. We’re told to look out for one of these Rokers at some point for a review/test, so stay tuned for any news on that front. For now, we’d like to thank Raleigh USA and Brian Fornes for the time he shared information with us and for the images sent over today used in this post.

Discuss and share your questions or thoughts about gravel bikes, gear, events and anything else on the Riding Gravel Forum

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Author: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted hails from Iowa. Home of over 70,000 miles of gravel and back roads. An inaugural member of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame and Co-creator of Trans Iowa in late 2004- Guitar Ted has been at the forefront of the growth of gravel events and riding since then. Creator of Gravel Grinder News in 2008, he produced the premier calendar of gravel and back road events. GT joined forces with Riding Gravel in late 2014.

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4 thoughts on “Fresh Gravel: Raleigh Introduces The “Roker” Carbon Gravel Bike

  1. Looks great. Raleigh is doing a great job over the last few years. I love the Tamland and now it looks like they have an all-road type bike for everyone from racers to adventurers.

  2. Looks great. I’m sure we’ll see lots of ride reports on this one. Now if only someone would report on that black and green Willard (ahem).

  3. Hmmmmm…………purdy slick 😉

    If they set some braze braze on’s to it they just may have the first large production available carbon touring bike

    Where is the nice traditional Raleigh badge?

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