Raleigh Pioneer Classic

[Cycleops]

They even turn up down here. This is one I found in one of many street sales lots in nearby Madina. I didn’t know they did a ladies version.

 

[Wookee]

The chap I bought mine from was selling a matching ladies one too. The wife wasn't interested though - ebike only for her

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

In the UK at least, the ladies ones seem to be more common than the mens frames. They can make good mechanical donors to transfer the parts to a larger mens frame, as the rider is likely to be smaller and lighter, and the moving parts suffer less wear and tear.

 

[raleighnut]

Nice solid bikes, you can lose a fair bit of weight by swapping out a lot of the standard steel components for Aluminium ones (bars, seatpost and crank)

 

[Wookee]

In the UK at least, the ladies ones seem to be more common than the mens frames. They can make good mechanical donors to transfer the parts to a larger mens frame, as the rider is likely to be smaller and lighter, and the moving parts suffer less wear and tear.

I will bear that in mind as I will probably be looking for a second one in a few months when prices are more stable. Looking at a Trail perhaps due to the gearing etc, but will put road tyres and wheels on it . Went out for a hilly test ride on my classic on Sunday and the gearing wasn't quite enough to get me up the steeper climbs. Absolutely fantastic on the less hilly bits though and will now be my main commuter

 

[Wookee]

Nice solid bikes, you can lose a fair bit of weight by swapping out a lot of the standard steel components for Aluminium ones (bars, seatpost and crank)

I do like the solidness of the steel, and a couple of kilos isn't going to affect my ride much. I did have to change the seatpost so I could move my seating position backwards and got an aluminium one - a very noticeable difference made even more so by the much smaller saddle. The original one had enough springs and padding to sleep on!

 

[raleighnut]

An inexpensive set of Aluminium 'Straights*' will drop a similar amount of weight.

* Slightly angled back flat handlebars.

 

[DCLane]

I will bear that in mind as I will probably be looking for a second one in a few months when prices are more stable. Looking at a Trail perhaps due to the gearing etc, but will put road tyres and wheels on it . Went out for a hilly test ride on my classic on Sunday and the gearing wasn't quite enough to get me up the steeper climbs. Absolutely fantastic on the less hilly bits though and will now be my main commuter

My Trail has the benefits of 21 speed, although the drawback for me was a 22/28/38 triple crankset. Changing that was a pain, requiring not just the crankset changing but also the front derailleur and bottom bracket - I now run 28/38/48 which is much easier for my type of riding.

If you need lower gears then it'd be ideal; the 22 small ring with a 28 sprocket should get up most things!

 

[Wookee]

My Trail has the benefits of 21 speed, although the drawback for me was a 22/28/38 triple crankset. Changing that was a pain, requiring not just the crankset changing but also the front derailleur and bottom bracket - I now run 28/38/48 which is much easier for my type of riding.

If you need lower gears then it'd be ideal; the 22 small ring with a 28 sprocket should get up most things!

My other bike - which will likely fail completely soon- has the 28/38/48 which is what I would look to change to. Hopefully some of the bits from that bike would change over.

 

[Wookee]

An inexpensive set of Aluminium 'Straights*' will drop a similar amount of weight.

* Slightly angled back flat handlebars.

I quite like the bars as they are, although I will probably add some bar ends just so I can alter my hand position sometimes.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Pioneer Trail and Pioneer Jaguar are both nice bikes, with 28/38/48 triples and Reynolds 501 frames in the case of the lugged & brazed versions. The welded ones are generic 4130 cro-moly, which is semi-oversized and I believe only plain gauge not butted.
The Trail had MTB bars, so bar ends fit well if wanted. I've got a 1995 model Trail, one of the last lugged framed ones, and it's my go-to flat bar bike for longer rides. I particularly like the deep red paint, almost a flam finish.

 

[Wookee]

So, I managed to find the Pioneer I wanted, a Spirit, for the princely sum of £22. Right size, geometry and gearing so it should get me through the London to Brighton and similar rides. The chap I bought it off was middle-aged and said it belonged to his father originally. Any ideas on the age? The serial number on the BB is not legible.

Apart from a derailleur issue the one thing I did notice is that it has a replacement rear wheel and it is way off centre

Their is an extra nut/spacer that my classic doesn't have which could be the problem? Anyone have any experience of this? I don't want to just take the spacer out and tighten the nut up if this isn't the correct thing to do. I have seen this wheel on eBay and don't know if it the correct size, as mine have 700c tyres on?

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Looks to be another early one, with the tall headtube and higher BB clearance. You need long legs to be able to stand astride those from the first couple of years production! As it's got canti brakes it wont be 1990, so is probably another 1991 or possibly 1992 bike. That pattern of frame had been superceded before 1993, so it can only have been made within a pretty short production timeline.

 

[Wookee]

Looks to be another early one, with the tall headtube and higher BB clearance. You need long legs to be able to stand astride those from the first couple of years production! As it's got canti brakes it wont be 1990, so is probably another 1991 or possibly 1992 bike. That pattern of frame had been superceded before 1993, so it can only have been made within a pretty short production timeline.

Thanks John Fortunately I do have long legs and it fits me well. Any suggestions about the wheel issue?

 

[raleighnut]

So, I managed to find the Pioneer I wanted, a Spirit, for the princely sum of £22. Right size, geometry and gearing so it should get me through the London to Brighton and similar rides. The chap I bought it off was middle-aged and said it belonged to his father originally. Any ideas on the age? The serial number on the BB is not legible.

View attachment 539591

Apart from a derailleur issue the one thing I did notice is that it has a replacement rear wheel and it is way off centre
View attachment 539593
Their is an extra nut/spacer that my classic doesn't have which could be the problem? Anyone have any experience of this? I don't want to just take the spacer out and tighten the nut up if this isn't the correct thing to do. I have seen this wheel on eBay and don't know if it the correct size, as mine have 700c tyres on?

Nah that wheel is a 27" whereas you have 700c, that big nut was a factory bodge, instead of fitting a thin cone nut they used normal nuts to increase the width of the hub* to fit a wider spaced rear triangle.

* they'd probably got thousands of those hubs to use up.