Retro Bike - Raleigh Pioneer (Another one!)

clb1970
clb1970 Posts: 7
edited September 2014 in Your road bikes
At GT-Arrowhead's suggestion I'm starting my own thread for my new (to me) retro bike which was generously given to me by my brother-in-law.

It's a Raleigh Pioneer Dual Trek hybrid, made in the late 90's early 2000's I believe. It originally looked like this:

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It had a Acera groupset, cantilever brakes, a HUGE padded saddle, 38C tyres and was in need of a thorough going over. Shifting was by grip-shift, a concept I loved when it came out... until I used it.
It weighed a ton too, and handled 'oddly'
The tyres and tubes had punctures.

To make it 'mine' to update it and to satisfy the critical eyes of the MAMIL brigade at work while still spending next to nothing on it to comply with SWMBO I spent time trawling ebay and Halfords clearance.

I learnt a lot about how groupsets work together, how you can trick certain things into working, and how others you cant.

No work in progress pictures I'm afraid, but here it is 'now' in unusable condition, waiting on wheel bearings and to sort out handlebar positions etc.

New (new to me) components:

Shimano Sora compact chainset which meant swapping to a Hollowtech 2 BB
Shimano Sora front and rear mech
Shimano 8 speed cassette
Shimano ST 2200 brifters
Shimano HG chain
Deda drop bars/tape
Added a quill to 1&1/8" adapter and a stem
Alloy seatpost
Allfine race 28 rims on unknown hubs
Vittoria tyres
Dia Compe long reach caliper brakes
'eBay special' decals

The bike was bare-metalled and resprayed in gloss white to complement the blue stickers and jagwires.

Pretty much everything was bought used from ebay or from halfrauds in their clearance section.
I'm very chuffed with how it turned out for the (not a lot honestly) money, especially with the components I've managed to get onto it compared to new £5-700 bikes with entry level groupsets. Also I seem to have shaved about 2Kg from the weight. Which isn't too shabby at all!

(Oh, and I know the pedals are wrong, as is the position of the handlebars, and the gear cables are too short, but it will be rebuilt as a flatbar soon, so I'll sort those bits then)

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I originally have gone down the drop bar racer route, but I think I'm going to flat bar it as in the 30 years since I last rode a drop-bar I seem to have doubled in weight and halved in flexibility.

Comments

  • lawrences
    lawrences Posts: 1,011
    I wonder if 20 years time somebody will pull a Carrera hybrid out the shed and give it some racing stripes.
  • Probably, a bike's a bike after all and not everyone can afford something top of the line, plus there's something very rewarding about recycling and repurposing.
    I also not only thoroughly enjoyed the building, but I learnt an enormous amount as well.

    Chris
  • lawrences
    lawrences Posts: 1,011
    I do like a project and one of these old ones has a bit more charm than something new.
  • Chris, good for you, mate, the bike's a transformation, great work! This forum has a fair proportion of elitists and poseurs and folks with massive disposable income (I'm not referring to anyone posting on this thread by the way) so you may not get much feedback on here. For me, if people are on bikes they're proud of and riding them, not sitting on the sofa, then it's all good.

    Enjoy your "new" bike!
  • Mate that looks amazing! Mine isnt going to be anywhere near as good, looks or spec wise.

    I was having a look at those cranks yesterday thinking "i wish i could afford them" :lol:

    I missed out on a great set of Ultegras yesterday, because i went for a last minute bid and my eBay was logged out for somneone, so i missed it :( Im watching another set of Campag cranks though. And ive got the rest of my bits ordered. Just waiting for it all to arrive so i can throw it all together and get riding!
    clb1970 wrote:
    Probably, a bike's a bike after all and not everyone can afford something top of the line, plus there's something very rewarding about recycling and repurposing.
    I also not only thoroughly enjoyed the building, but I learnt an enormous amount as well.

    Chris

    This is exactly my way of thinking. Im building myself a fairly decent road bike for not much. Taking it apart and putting it back together yourself is always really satisfying for me. I also love retro frames, both road and mountain bike, so doing a cheap retro build is a win win for me.
  • I missed out on a great set of Ultegras yesterday, because i went for a last minute bid and my eBay was logged out for somneone

    I know exactly what you mean.
    In the end those cranks cost me just over £20 I think, but I had bid on about 10 sets before that.
    One could be philosophical and say 'it's all part of the fun'

    Chris
  • somneone

    I dont know what happened there... Thats supposed to say "some reason". Stupid phone.

    £20 is a bargain and a half for those. Ive been looking at ones locally that i can just collect and pay for on collection, but if i dont have any luck in the next week or so, im going to ask my mum if i can use her eBay to bid on some.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,324
    For me, if people are on bikes they're proud of and riding them, not sitting on the sofa, then it's all good.
    Too right.