Revolution Country:
Cycle (the journal of the CTC - Cyclists' Touring Club). April/May 2005
'The traditional drop handlebar touring bike is something of a niche product. That's nowhere more apparent than at the entry level end of the market. While there are hundreds of mountain bikes available for less than £500, lots of 'leisure bikes' and 'trekking bikes', touring bikes at this price can be counted on the fingers of one hand... with fingers to spare.

It's true that touring bikes tend to be bought by more experienced cyclists, who know what they want and don't shirk from paying decent money for decent goods. However, a touring bike also makes a good general purpose machine. Mudguards and luggage capacity are as useful for commuters as tourers, and a bike with good brakes, low gears and 32mm-plus tyres will readily cope with moderate off-road riding.

The Revolution Country is one of 2 tourers we've come across that costs not just less than £500 but less than £400.

FRAME AND FORKS
Traditionalists will be pleased to note that the frame is made from Reynolds steel tubing. It's nothing special, not 531 or its modern equivalent 725 but 520, which is straightforward chrome-moly. The fork is CrMo too. The frame doesn't look traditional because it's a compact design. This accounts for the small sounding frame sizes offered: you need to add 7 or 8cm to those numbers to get the non-compact equivalent.

A stiffer frame will be marginally stiffer than a non compact. I couldn't detect any difference, but better resistance to flexing is worth having if you'll be hanging heavy loads on the rear triangle. The main triangle ought to be a bit stiffer too, in part due to the oversized down tube. This doesn't add undue weight, as the frame walls are thinner.

The frame has ample clearances for mudguards and sensible tyres. There are braze-ons for 3 bottle cages and racks front and rear. There's no dynamo bracket, but you do get a mount for spare spokes on the left-hand chainstay.

COMPONENTS
Shimano Sora STI shifters offer the convenience of being able to change gear from the brake hoods, set against the problem of having a more complex mechanism to fix it if it fails. For this sort of bike, which will likely be used more for recreational riding, commuting and perhaps European touring rather than for expeditions along the Karakoram Highway, I think this is a fair trade off.

Sora is Shimano's cheapest combined brake-gear shifter, costing £100 when new. It works well. A thumb-operated button lever on the brake hoods moves the chain to the smaller chainrings/smaller sprockets.

A sideswipe of the brake lever shifts the chain the other way, against the derailleur spring. It's arguably better for tourers than racers as tourers spend their time on the drops, where the thumb-button is accessible.

Although it's a 24-speed bike, the gear range is biased towards light touring. A 28/38/48 chains means that, with the 11-30 cassette, bottom gear is 25 inches while top is a racer's 118 inches. Tourers need low gears more than high ones, and if you've got 4 panniers and/or a big hill to climb you'll miss having a 20 inch gear. With less luggage, it's not a problem.

Sora levers don't pull enough cable for V-brakes, so instead you get mid-profile cantilevers from Tektro. They're simple and effective. Interestingly you also get auxiliary brake levers that you can use from the tops. Leverage is better than with the main drop levers, and even though I mostly used those because that's where my hands mostly were, the auxiliary levers were very useful when signalling, giving control of the bike with just one hand on top. You do lose a bit of handlebar real estate having them.

The chromo-plastic mudguards are fine, but I'd much prefer 'break off' safety clips for the front guard stays. The rear rack is just adequate. The attachment arms flex a bit and an unnecessary parcel spring. Nevertheless, for lighter loads it's okay.

The wheels are fine for a tourer at this price. Alloy Rigida Zac 2000 rims have a double wall construction and a machined braking surface. They have a safety line, and even a sticker telling you that 'rims are subject to wear' and showing you what to look for. They're laced to Shimano C201 alloy QR hubs with 36 stainless steel spokes apiece. Both were well tensioned and true, and remained so. You would expect a freehub on a £400 bike and you get one. This is less likely to suffer a bent or broken axle than the threaded hub you might find on the sub-£300 trekking bike.

Summary
If you're about to get your first 'proper' bike, get this instead of that fitness bike you were thinking of. The Country's bigger clearance and its braze-ons make it more versatile. Those auxiliary Tektro levers should make the transition to drop bars easier, and Sora shifters are user friendly and effective, especially for new and returnee riders, who will likely value ease of use above expedition worthiness. It's not just a beginner's bike: anyone after a budget touring bike should put this on their shortlist.'

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