Raleigh UGO Folding Bike Review

Assalamualaikum,

Sebenarnya, saya rasa bersalah juga nak siapkan blog post untuk kali ni. Final exam hanya tinggal kurang sebulan. Project submission pula perlu dihantar minggu depan. Project write up belum lagi siap. Dah start gabra. Tapi teringin nak menulis sebab dah lama tinggalkan blog ni sebab sibuk dengan study. Tak apa, menulis ni pun satu terapi. Terapi minda, kononnya la..

Ok, hari ni nak bercerita tentang basikal. Basikal Raleigh UGO. Bulan December tahun 2015 yg lepas, saya ada belikan sebuah basikal untuk wife. It was just out of the blue thing. Tanya wife, whether dia interested to own a bicycle, supaya boleh berkayuh bersama-sama anak-anak dan saya during her free time. Dia jawab nak, jadi mula la process nak dapatkan sebuah basikal for my wife.

Mula la saya bergoogle ke sana sini, searching for a suitable bicycle for my wife. Dia tak nak mountain bike or road bike, so the next best thing is a folding bike or also known as a foldie. Foldie ni senang, boleh dilipat-lipat, senag nak simpan. Tak makan ruang. Nak dibawa dan diusung ke merata-rata pun mudah. Kasi lipat and then masukkan ke dalam kereta. Nak diguna untuk pergi beli nasi lemak pun senang. Tak le awkward sangat kalau dibandingkan bawa mtb or road bike untuk pergi beli nasi lemak.

Kalau dalam dunia foldie ni, ada a few brands yang famous. Brompton and Dahon are among the highly sought for. Tapi dua-dua brand tu mahal, boleh kopak duit si suami ni kalau nak beli. Dah la si suami ni keja kilang jer...Jadi si suami pun cari la mengikut keupayaan si suami. Cari punya cari, jumpa la satu brand ni yang memang famous turun temurun. Raleigh! Raleigh UGO to be exact. Jadi hari ni, nak bercerita sikit tentang Raleigh UGO ni. Kononya nak buat review ler. Jadi saya curi sekejap basikal foldie wife saya ni, ride dia ke satu area yg cantik for a photo shoot and I will give my thoughts on that bike.

Sejak December sudah, sudah banyak kali saya test drive Raleigh UGO ni. Dan saya pernah bawa Raleigh UGO ni untuk satu event Fun Torture Ride yang dibuat di main kampus USM di Pulau Pinang baru-baru ni. Kenapa saya kata Torture Ride? Itu untuk post yg lain kali, insyaallah.

In general, Raleigh UGO ni satu foldie yang selesa untuk dikayuh. Tapi, ride feelingnya memang la tak sama bila saya ride Merida saya tu. MTB dgn foldie memang banyak bezanya. Tapi foldie Raleigh UGO memang selesa untuk kayuhan santai. Tapi to be honest, kalau saya nak push dia for a harder ride pun still ok. Semasa di USM utk fun ride tu saya guna UGO ni untuk hill climbing. Of course gearing tak cukup (UGO ni 7 speeder jer), jadi agak susah nak climb those steep hills at USM. Tapi saya rasa it is close to adequate. Downhill was fun, tapi scary sebab dalam kepala always imagining the handle stem akan patah. But, alhamdulilah, UGO ni survive that tests. Jadi, UGO ni saya boleh katakan kuat juga dan sturdy. Saya juga notice yang standard brakes were more than adequate. Bila going downhill di USM tu, the brakes were responsive and predictable. Those brakes gave me enough confident to go at speed during downhill. But do take note that climbing and downhill at USM were still on a paved roads. Not off road. Saya tak rasa yang foldie ni sesuai for off road. Kalau ada yang nak cuba, silakan. Nanti please share your experience here.

On build quality, saya rasa Raleigh UGO was built well. To date, saya tak nampak any cracks or corrosions on the UGO. All are still pristine. And I'm glad to report that nothing fail on the bike to date. So far so good. Based on these attributes, saya rasa Raleigh UGO is a good buy for a recreational bike. Even though UGO sesuai untuk riadah, saya rasa it can cope with any endurance event (on the road ya, bukan off road). Begitu confident saya dengan UGO, saya plan untuk guna this foldie for a 26km cycling event di Kulim pada hujung minggu nanti. So, this bicycle is highly recommended by me.

What about the price then? I bought the bike for roughly RM870. Saya rasa dengan harga tu, it is an affordable bike for someone who looks for a reliable and comfortable bicycle. If you are one of the owner of Raleigh UGO, pls share your thoughts...

All in all, it was a good buy. My wife was happy with her new bike. The kids were happy as well when their mom joins them for cycling during the weekends. Syok ler....

Kat bawah ni, saya ada share sedikit gambar-gambar sexy Raleigh UGO ni. Pandai dia berposing hari tu. Sedikit nota yer.....rumah kat dlm gambar-gambar tu bukan rumah saya ya. Tak mampu saya nak beli rumah banglo berjuta-juta ringgit di Scarlet Villa tu.

Di hujung sekali post ni, saya ada sertakan sedikit specification list untuk Raleigh UGO ni. Spec list saya dapat dari website Raleigh.

***SPECIFICATIONS***

Frame -- Alloy, folding

Fork --  Alloy, rigid

Bar / Stem -- Alloy riser

Saddle -- Comfort with spring

S.post / Clamp -- Alloy 500mm / alloy QR

Pedal -- PP body/folding cage

Brake -- Alloy V-brakes, Alloy lever

Shifter -- Shimano TX

Derailleur (F/R) -- Shimano TX

Chainwheel -- 52T Alloy crank

Cogset -- Shimano 7-spd freewheel

Hubs -- Alloy w/QR

Rims -- Alloy

Tyre / tube -- 20 x 1.95 / Schrader valve

Accessories -- Bottle Cage and Side stand

Bye!!