When I saw this I knew I had to have it...

[Aravis]

A 1990s Raleigh Pioneer Tourer, 21". I wouldn't want it to be any smaller, but it's fine. To all intents and purposes it's unused - a few marks from storage, but nothing you wouldn't expect to see on a bike that's been in a showroom for a little while:

Once I'd moved across my Flying Fortress, put on a sensible pair of pedals and removed the wheel unbalancers I took it for a test ride. This was very short because the rear tyre isn't sitting properly. The tyres and wheels are presumably original and neither seem particularly good. I have a decent pair of unused wheels - Deore hubs and A119 rims - which should be perfect.

I wasn't looking for butterflies but, to be honest, I hardly make full use of drops and probably the only reason they feel right is because I've used nothing else for almost 40 years. It won't be fair to judge until I've ridden with the butterflies for several hours. I was quite surprised how well the twist-grip gears work and how natural they feel.

I'd been thinking of trying a 42/32/22 chainset anyway. I'm quite amused at having a bottom gear of 22x34, but if I can pedal fast enough to stay upright I suppose I may as well keep it. The cassette is 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-34.

I think that's all for now. It probably won't get a proper ride before next weekend. It's name, for Strava purposes, will be Gordon.

 

[DCLane]

A 1990s Raleigh Pioneer Tourer, 21".

I'd been thinking of trying a 42/32/22 chainset anyway. I'm quite amused at having a bottom gear of 22x34, but if I can pedal fast enough to stay upright I suppose I may as well keep it. The cassette is 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-34.

I think that's all for now. It probably won't get a proper ride before next weekend. It's name, for Strava purposes, will be Gordon.

Meet mine:

The changes to date have been a different saddle, rear tyre and a changed crankset. You're lucky having a 42 large ring: mine came with a 22/32/39 .

I swapped the crankset, which also necessitated a different front derailleur, for a 28/38/48.

Still to add is a rack once I've found the right one. Still looking - I'm after 'stylish and in silver' rather than 'functional and rugged'.

 

[raleighnut]

Nice.

 

[Drago]

That is a gem.

 

[numbnuts]

very nice

 

[Aravis]

Meet mine:

Ah yes. I'd seen that in another thread. Very nice too. It's not quite identical - I have a few touring features like a second pair of bottle cage mounts and front rack mounts. That may be the extent of it.

It's been out for a proper test, and I'm very happy. The butterflies felt like a violation of the natural order to begin with, but after an hour or so I started to feel I was gaining more than I'd lost. There are multiple positions on the front which are similar to riding on the hoods, but slightly higher and more comfortable for me anyway. It's obviously not really like the "Superman" position, but it has something of that feel. I made sure I was riding like that whenever I saw a roadie coming, and most of them nodded.

I'll do a proper write up in Your ride today....

 

[Vantage]

That's a gorgeous bike.
I wish mine had gears that low.

 

[nickyboy]

This thread has prompted me to go rooting around in the garage for a bike I inherited from my Dad.

I thought it was the same model but it isn't.. mine is a Trail rather than a Tourer

And yes i know it needs some TLC. I haven't ridden it for years

 

[ufkacbln]

The quadricycle from the Prisoner TV series has just come up for sale

My wife tells me that I am NOT interested