Free - Raleigh Pioneer

[Crackle]

I don't want to tempt you but Evans will give you 50quid trade in on it.....

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I don't want to tempt you but Evans will give you 50quid trade in on it.....

I doubt Evans would be able to supply anything that rides or works any better than the old Pioneer, without spending big bucks. The thing is, these sort of old machines have hit the bottom of their depreciation curve, like a 12 year old car - but may still be in very good cosmetic & mechanical condition, depending on use & maintenance. From an economic point of view there is no point whatsoever replacing a fully depreciated vehicle all the time it remains functional and reliable.

 

[Crackle]

I doubt Evans would be able to supply anything that rides or works any better than the old Pioneer, without spending big bucks. The thing is, these sort of old machines have hit the bottom of their depreciation curve, like a 12 year old car - but may still be in very good cosmetic & mechanical condition, depending on use & maintenance. From an economic point of view there is no point whatsoever replacing a fully depreciated vehicle all the time it remains functional and reliable.

If that's what you want, then fine. I own a Pioneer which I passed onto my son. The reason I know about the Evans trade in is because he's probably going to trade it in. It doesn't cut the mustard for him any more. I'd take it back but I have no use for it and I'd never sell it now, as this thread shows, you can't even give them away.

 

[Salar]

Well,

As they say .....You couldn't give it away .

This would have made a nice bike for someone, hardly a mark on the frame, new tyres and tubes, just needed a bit of fettling.

Anyway I'm going to hang onto it now and give it the upgrade it deserves, probably new stem, trecking bars, chainset etc.

Shame, but there you go. It will have a new lease of life. @SkipdiverJohn and @Rickshaw Phil please note

 

[DCLane]

Well,

As they say .....You couldn't give it away .

This would have made a nice bike for someone, hardly a mark on the frame, new tyres and tubes, just needed a bit of fettling.

Anyway I'm going to hang onto it now and give it the upgrade it deserves, probably new stem, trecking bars, chainset etc.

Shame, but there you go. It will have a new lease of life. @SkipdiverJohn and @Rickshaw Phil please note

They're decent bikes: my 21 speed Pioneer Trail has a larger chaining, which meant a new front derailleur as well, and has just received some Vittoria graphene tyres via PlanetX.

It's used as a 'bad weather' bike and for local trips.

 

[Salar]

Mine is only 15 speed SIS gripshift.

But I'm fed up with adjusting the front derailleur , so may well go retro and fit friction thumb shifters.

 

[roadrash]

I think its more like you couldn't give it away to anyone local enough to collect it , which is a shame for such a generous gesture, good to see your giving it a new lease of life

 

[Salar]

Yes I know.

West Wales is a bit barren, but the bike was close to Hereford, which is slightly more populated than where I live.

It's the same for me, I see plenty of cheapish bikes on fleabay which I'd snap up, but they always seem to be hundreds of miles away.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Well,

As they say .....You couldn't give it away .

This would have made a nice bike for someone, hardly a mark on the frame, new tyres and tubes, just needed a bit of fettling.

Anyway I'm going to hang onto it now and give it the upgrade it deserves, probably new stem, trecking bars, chainset etc.

Shame, but there you go. It will have a new lease of life. @SkipdiverJohn and @Rickshaw Phil please note

I'd have loved to have had it as another project but can't realistically fit another one in just at the moment. Pleased you're keeping it to enjoy though.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. For what it's worth, I think from a close look at the photo that is about the same age as mine in which case you may find it has 132.5mm rear dropout spacing. If that is the case it's possible to just squeeze a 135mm hub into it. Lots of interesting options available then.

 

[Salar]

Its a 1992.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Its a 1992.

It's newer than that, going by the pictures. Yours has a welded frame, not lugged. From what I've been able to work out, the last year Raleigh built brazed & lugged frames at Nottingham was 1995, and the Pioneer frame was always brazed, unlike some of the low-end 18-23 hi-tensile MTB frames which were welded from the late 1980's.
Glad to hear you are going to keep it after all. Might as well hang on to decent British-built Raleighs if you have one - they don't make them like that any more.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Its a 1992.

I'd have said it was later than that as well. The 1996 model looks most likely.

 

[Salar]

Correct,

http://veterancycleclublibrary.org....on=search&searchtext=Raleigh&tpage=7&items=16

Which is full of information it's either 1995, 1996.

Colour is the oddly named Canadian Usambara-purple. Usambara mountains are in Tanzania and I'm not sure I'd take it up those mountains.

Price in 1995 £150, in today's money approx £300

EDIT : Just done some googling apparently "The Violets of Usambara" takes place in Montreal.

Some deep thinking went on in Raleigh back then!

 

[uphillstruggler]

My 23 year old example is my frontline service bike, the one I automatically go for if I'm not going anywhere too dodgy and I want something that rolls a bit more easily than a knobbly tyred MTB. The back-up bike is a 30 year old 531 framed Gemini 18 hybrid, the ancestor of the Pioneer, very similar overall but a tad lighter in weight. No-one seems to appreciate old British-built steel, they all want far-east stuff with ugly looking oversized tubing frames these days.

Just came across a Gemini in a local shop, I don't think they want the earth for it either.

if anyone is interested, send me a pm and ill get more details.

 

[Blue Hills]

Colour is the oddly named Canadian Usambara-purple. Usambara mountains are in Tanzania and I'm not sure I'd take it up those mountains.

Price in 1995 £150, in today's money approx £300

Congratulations to whoever thought that name up. I reckon the marketing team got themselves paralitic in one of Nottinghham's dodgier pubs and threw darts at ripped out Atlas pages.