Don't tell everybody about the under rated hybrids. I bought a Trek 750 for £40; great condition, double butted cro-moly frame and a full STX group set.....and it rode wonderfully from the off.
I know, our entire generation slept on these. They were never fashionable, but late in life I'm starting realise they were absolutely amazing bikes for everyday use. I now want one for myself.
I bought 4 BMW , full scale 28 inch folding Bikes, made in the 1990 s by Montague , USA , and sold at BMW Car dealers, to fit into the trunk of the BMW Cars. Equipped with full STX Group, they run nearly in Total silence, even in free hub Mode. The Stiftung is exzellent from the beginning. I payed 50 Euros each, and they are in nearly New condition, nearly not used. Original papersigns from the seller at the frame. My best buy in years 😂
I remember those! A lot of high-end car brands went for that fashion of marketing "companion" bikes, and a lot of them were awful. The BMW ones were brilliant however.
Bought a £50 Pioneer Trail a few years back with the intention of re-cabling and re-greasing then running it over winter - a shredded tyre led to the discovery that 42c tyres fit and with 3*7 gearing they go up anything (slowly) and do most of what a Gravel Bike does (slowly) I now have a Pioneer (Gemini is the 531 one) and two Dawes, one 501 Synthesis and one 531 Mean Streets. The Synthesis is in off road touring mode and about to take on Dartmoor for a few day (slowly). Concern about the weight and brakes when loaded proved unfounded (so far).
I bought a new Raleigh Magnum in 1988. I live in Nottingham, so you were alobliged to buy nothing other than a bike made down the road. It was labelled as an all terrain bike, but came with decent mudguards and a rack. It was far from premium, but I loved it. I've been looking to buy another and Icm amzed at how nany pop up on Murkeyplace & ebay. All have been too far away, but the number available is a testament to Raleigh's build quality.
The Magnum is a quality bike indeed. Never had any pretentions at being premium, just good honest solidity. I have no doubt they've survived in huge numbers.
I was an early adopter and bought a Raleigh Pioneer Spirit in 1992. It had Raleigh's bottom-of-the-range 18-23 tubing and about a year into its life, the seat stays broke away from the seat tube as I rode along the A3 through Elephant & Castle. Halfords agreed to replace the frame under warranty but told me there would be a long wait to get a new frame from Raleigh. They suggested using my components to build up a spare Carrera Crosstrax frame, which was made from Reynolds 525 tubing. The resulting bike was swift and light!
I love to hear reminiscences like this! You're not the first to tell that tale of seatstays coming away at the join, although I've never seen that happen with my own eyes. Clever of Halfords to get you onto one of their own brand frames too. Carreras were getting rave reviews in the press at the time, I believe those steel frames were being build under licence by Saracen.
I bought a 1994 Marin Redwoods, which was their premium hybrid of that year, and it's insane. Tange super light Shimano 700CX groupset with a crazy 11-19 cassette and 42-32-20 chainset. Crazy quick around town.
So happy to see this. I had this exact model in 1992. Excellent bike. You've really done it justice. The front wheel is actually the original one. Originally it would've had an Alexa/Maillard combo on the rear too, which was also quick release.
Thank you - and that is some interesting intel. In retrospect it makes sense - the Maillard/Alesa wheels were quite common on Raleigh spec lists at the time, but you'd have to spend a hell of a lot more for something like a Dyna-Tech to get Mavic. What threw me was the fact that the rear hub is a Suntour that matches the rest of the groupset. So whoever upgraded the rear wheel was clearly putting some thought into it at least!
If my memory serves me well.... The Oval/Oblong chainring provided a smoother pedaling rate, reduced fatigue on rider's legs, increased power output and provided more torque on start. I had the same set installed on my bike and I think my brother still has those cranks in pristine condition on his 1993/94 hybrid Catic bike
Yes, your memory is quite correct: that's what all the ad copy used to tell us! I had a Biopace chainset on my 1988 Ridgeback and I used to bore all my mates to death about all its various scientific and technological properties. What's interesting is that by 1992 they had fallen out of fashion and the market was pretty much split between those that still wanted them and those that didn't. Certainly the high end Shimano groupsets had all but abandoned oval rings by that year. But one thing I've never seen before in my life is a chainset that can't make up its mind. I will do some background reading and see if I can find out how they rationalised that. Unless I'm just being dumb and it's simply a case of a previous owner replacing a crash-damaged oval outer ring with a like-for-like round one because the latter were easier to source by that time?
Lovely stuff. As a Carry On fan I did smirk at the gratuitous thrusting of the cable routing. An ideal clip of B-roll to save for occasions where a train speeding into a tunnel won’t do justice.
I'm starting to think exactly the same thing. The hunt is on for my perfect early 90s hybrid, I have now realised this is what my collection is missing. Marin in Zolatone is target number one.
Amazing video Mr Dread, love the smooth-talking commentary. You're the Bob Ross of the English retro cycling world, this video shows my lack of knowledge of other brands foray into the hybrid cycling ring back in the 90s. However after having watched this video, makes me very excited to take delivery of my XO-1 and get riding on another classic hybrid!
I did a lot of background reading on this one! Hybrids were never considered cool by our generation, but for the first time in my life I'm thinking this could make a perfect daily rider.
@@red_dread a local pro is doing it, probably in the next days will be ready..... but i still think that i must get all the tools to learn how to do by myself
I always give any adhesive decals a blast with the hairdryer first, it usually helps. I do admire what you do with these piles of old skip fodder 😅. I can't find the love for them to be honest....canti brakes, threaded steerers....glad to see the back of them. Yes I know, I'm a heathen, it's good you do it all within a small budget. Good channel, very enjoyable.
Take away the cost of the bike itself and the top quality mudguards, and everything else came it at an insanely low price. For the previous build on this channel (same brand, same year) I spent almost the same total amount just on the rubber handlebar grips!
Versatile bikes with 700c wheels were around long before either of those. Nobody knew how to categorise them. Cross? Luxury city bike? Touring/trekking? Roadster? But it was Raleigh's marketing genius that created the "hybrid" market segment and made them a phenomenon.
I do love a good hybrid, just finished customizing a "Felt" hybrid to my liking great aluminium frame.. You can't beat a good pair of butterfly handlebars, I'm all about comfort these days.
“Assorted landfill”. Brilliant. Coffee well and truly spat out. Trick with the old internal cabling puzzle that I use on my Lambrettas. Leave the old inner in and pull the outer out, then slide a well greased outer over the old inner, then replace the inner. Have I said that right? Great vid Dread.
If I'd had the old and new at the same time I'd have used a similar trick. But I was impatient so I just ripped out the old and worried about the new when it arrived days later. Got away with it this time.
I've got a mk1 Raleigh mirage with a 501 frame and at the time, Raleigh was fitting qr hubs on the front and bolt on rear and sometimes even miss matched rims out of the factory, just to use up old stock.
I still fancy the early hybrids. My housemate (now wife) bought a Diamondback Avail in 1992/3? Great bike with CroMo frame, Shimano 600 drivetrain with fully indexed gears. I later built it into a CX bike. Wish we never sold it. Anyway, great video.
I run a bike repair business. Of all the pre year 2000 bike I get in the Raleigh Pioneer is, by a very very long way, the most common. That speaks volumes for their durability. However, I’ve never seen one with a Mavic rim. I suspect both wheels on yours were replaced. I’m pretty certain they came with steel rims or Alesa alloy rims.
A quality bike, if never a fashionable one. Yes, it's dawned on me that the Mavic rim was not stock. I've been informed that it's the front wheel (Maillard x Alesa) that's the original. Which is weird because the Suntour rear hub is a perfect match for the rest of the groupset - so at least it's a thoughtful upgrade by whoever put it there.
Great video! The rationale behind the slow-release rear axle may have been to discourage light fingers. The Falcon "racer" I had at the time was also sold like this. It's also ossible that a QR with horizontal dropouts was viewed with concern. That combination does work OK in practice but you do need to make sure the QR is done up tight or the wheel can move around under high torque loads.
@@red_dread What was the reason for them on any bike? Maybe it simplified production at Raleigh to use only one kind of dropout for everything. They allow some chain tensioning so work well on Sturmey-Archer 3-speeds etc., which they made a lot of. But they also have the benefit that you can get away with slightly sloppy alignment of the rear triangle: you can just wiggle the wheel a bit until it's centered on both sets of stays.
If the bike had gears (ie no need for the chain tensioning ability), yet it still had horizontal dropouts then that was a sure sign that it was a cheaper frame. I'm sure you're right that one of the reasons was that you could get away with less precise alignment in the factory. I have one or two lower spec old bikes in my collection and the horizontal dropout always annoys the hell out of me!
Naming aside, the 1990 Bianchi Intercept 'Cross Terrain' was fabulously hybrid -- at least a few rack mounts (or maybe the Equinox had them), wide tire clearance, sporty geometry, and deluxe AF.
Oh yes, that was a hell of a bike. No idea what they would have marketed it as back then, as I recall it was similar to the Kuwahara Pacer - if I could get a late 80s one of those I'd die happy. Certainly the Pioneer wasn't doing anything radically different that these higher-end bikes hadn't done before, but it was Raleigh's marketing genius that gave it a name and created the whole hybrid category.
I know you're a fan of Raleigh, but google Schwinn's catalogue from 1992 -> Crosspoint. Steel bike 11,8 kg stock. Built to last - have 2 of those. One restored and one is a city workhorse equipped with Acera-level gear (wish I knew what I had before I trashed all the gear in 2014). The one and only model produced in 1992.
Schwinn never really made too much effort to crack the UK market - I guess it wouldn't have been worth their while. They were around, but not as much of a household name. I did know a Californian rider who used to race them in the late 90s, his bike was pretty tasty.
My dad had a pioneer when I had my first (kind of) proper mountain bike…the muddy fox street finder! Great bikes of that time. Also just got a 92 diamondback Ascent EX that I’m about to restore….thought you might remember those?
Pioneers were definitely "for the dads" when we were kids weren't they? Such amazing bikes but certainly not fashionable at school. Yes I remember the Ascent EX vividly. I had a picture of one that I'd cut out of MBUK because I was saving up for it - but of course plans change when you have the attention span of an adolescent boy.
@@red_dread yes, dad had a white with black and purple decals, he’s always been a serial bike buyer that can convince himself a bike her wants is the best one in the world 😂. My Ascent is black with pink fleck/lines. Can’t wait to strip it!
I have several candidates in my collection - the 87 Saracen Trekker would be perfect for such adventures. But in real life, I always default to my Spa Audax Titanium or my Pace 853 hardtail for long distance overnighters. For on or off-road travels respectively, they're impossible to beat.
They were everywhere, but thanks to Raleigh all the other bike manufacturers felt they could no longer use the term "hybrid". Raleigh created and dominated the market sector, even if the bikes themselves were nothing particularly new.
@@red_dread if it was in original condition, sadly it was overpainted/stripped by almost all decals and it took me weeks and contacting an expert from Spain to find out. The brake cable stop in the back and frame/fork numbers in the end made the identification. It's Columbus Cromor tubing. Not very light but solid.
Great video, your commentary is easy to listen to... I enjoy that sense of humour. However, I don't agree... bikes exactly like yours, with similar equipment, were advertised as "cross country" back in 1990 and possibly even a bit earlier (for example, Kuwahara Pacer, Koga Myiata Terra Liner, Wheeler Cross Line series, etc.). I should point out that these brands were also offering "city" and "trekking/touring" models at the same time. So Raleigh wasn't the first... In my opinion, it all started in '89-'90. Personally, I own a typical cross bike from the Italian brand Dancelli, dating from 1988.
Versatile bikes with 700c wheels were around in all sorts of guises even before that - but nobody could decide how to market them. Luxury city bikes? Roadsters? Cross? Trekking? It was Raleigh that cemented the "hybrid" market segment in 91, hence my argument. The actual spec of the Pioneer was nothing that hadn't been done before - but Raleigh's genius was taking it to the people.
@@haemstah Thanks for your interest. Dancelli is a mysterious brand, with no catalogs available. It's unknown in Italy. I suspect that the Italians soldered framesets for some major sports brands in Germany, as Italian framesets were very popular there in the 80s. You can find an equivalent to mine if you search Google for 'Dancelli need repaint Reddit.' What can I say? Elegant Italian craftsmanship, interesting Columbus Aelle tubes, nice lugs, unicrown fork but with a lug, etc., and those comfortable 'slack' angles and convenient 'square' geometry (top tube = seat tube = 55 cm)." Yes cantis and it can take 700x43c wirh mudguards. Accually I want to sell my frameset.
@@red_dread Yes, I understand. But did the term "hybrid" turn out to be successful? Here in Central Europe, the term "cross bike" is widely understood. The term "hybrid" would only be understood by someone who is interested in bikes... but how is it in the UK?
@@pawelkarpinski7961 Cool. There was a Reddit post recently asking about poor man's Crust/Rivendell Euro options secondhand, which made me think of the Dancelli I'd seen, along with some Czech frame I came across pics of also. Your build pic on Reddit looks pretty cool👍
I only counted 3 different watches in just over 12 minutes...you're as bad as me! Lovely Pioneer (an unsung hero), I hope you kept the luminous mudguards for a future Sausalito/Stinson headache-inducing build
A piece of advice: never wear a rare Chronoscope when you're wielding hammers and blowtorches. Sadly the luminous mudguards are beyond repair - otherwise I'm sure I could find a use for them.
Great video! Those old Raleigh bikes are too cool to end up in the trash!
Quite right - every Raleigh was built to last a lifetime.
Nicely done video. Wonderful rescue of the great old Raleigh. What a generous deal you have made for your friend. Thank you for the video.
I'm not that generous - I hit him with the bill! He got an incredible bargain though, this bike for under £200 will outlast us all.
Don't tell everybody about the under rated hybrids. I bought a Trek 750 for £40; great condition, double butted cro-moly frame and a full STX group set.....and it rode wonderfully from the off.
I know, our entire generation slept on these. They were never fashionable, but late in life I'm starting realise they were absolutely amazing bikes for everyday use. I now want one for myself.
With a little work, they are good for another 30 years. I am not so sure that this will be true of bicycles sold new in shops today.
I bought 4 BMW , full scale 28 inch folding Bikes, made in the 1990 s by Montague , USA , and sold at BMW Car dealers, to fit into the trunk of the BMW Cars. Equipped with full STX Group, they run nearly in Total silence, even in free hub Mode. The Stiftung is exzellent from the beginning.
I payed 50 Euros each, and they are in nearly New condition, nearly not used. Original papersigns from the seller at the frame.
My best buy in years 😂
I remember those! A lot of high-end car brands went for that fashion of marketing "companion" bikes, and a lot of them were awful. The BMW ones were brilliant however.
Bought a £50 Pioneer Trail a few years back with the intention of re-cabling and re-greasing then running it over winter - a shredded tyre led to the discovery that 42c tyres fit and with 3*7 gearing they go up anything (slowly) and do most of what a Gravel Bike does (slowly) I now have a Pioneer (Gemini is the 531 one) and two Dawes, one 501 Synthesis and one 531 Mean Streets. The Synthesis is in off road touring mode and about to take on Dartmoor for a few day (slowly). Concern about the weight and brakes when loaded proved unfounded (so far).
I bought a new Raleigh Magnum in 1988. I live in Nottingham, so you were alobliged to buy nothing other than a bike made down the road. It was labelled as an all terrain bike, but came with decent mudguards and a rack. It was far from premium, but I loved it.
I've been looking to buy another and Icm amzed at how nany pop up on Murkeyplace & ebay. All have been too far away, but the number available is a testament to Raleigh's build quality.
The Magnum is a quality bike indeed. Never had any pretentions at being premium, just good honest solidity. I have no doubt they've survived in huge numbers.
I was an early adopter and bought a Raleigh Pioneer Spirit in 1992. It had Raleigh's bottom-of-the-range 18-23 tubing and about a year into its life, the seat stays broke away from the seat tube as I rode along the A3 through Elephant & Castle. Halfords agreed to replace the frame under warranty but told me there would be a long wait to get a new frame from Raleigh. They suggested using my components to build up a spare Carrera Crosstrax frame, which was made from Reynolds 525 tubing. The resulting bike was swift and light!
I love to hear reminiscences like this! You're not the first to tell that tale of seatstays coming away at the join, although I've never seen that happen with my own eyes. Clever of Halfords to get you onto one of their own brand frames too. Carreras were getting rave reviews in the press at the time, I believe those steel frames were being build under licence by Saracen.
I bought a 1994 Marin Redwoods, which was their premium hybrid of that year, and it's insane.
Tange super light
Shimano 700CX groupset with a crazy 11-19 cassette and 42-32-20 chainset. Crazy quick around town.
I've been looking out for early 90s Marin hybrids. They were indeed stunning.
So happy to see this. I had this exact model in 1992. Excellent bike. You've really done it justice.
The front wheel is actually the original one. Originally it would've had an Alexa/Maillard combo on the rear too, which was also quick release.
Thank you - and that is some interesting intel. In retrospect it makes sense - the Maillard/Alesa wheels were quite common on Raleigh spec lists at the time, but you'd have to spend a hell of a lot more for something like a Dyna-Tech to get Mavic. What threw me was the fact that the rear hub is a Suntour that matches the rest of the groupset. So whoever upgraded the rear wheel was clearly putting some thought into it at least!
If my memory serves me well.... The Oval/Oblong chainring provided a smoother pedaling rate, reduced fatigue on rider's legs, increased power output and provided more torque on start. I had the same set installed on my bike and I think my brother still has those cranks in pristine condition on his 1993/94 hybrid Catic bike
Yes, your memory is quite correct: that's what all the ad copy used to tell us! I had a Biopace chainset on my 1988 Ridgeback and I used to bore all my mates to death about all its various scientific and technological properties. What's interesting is that by 1992 they had fallen out of fashion and the market was pretty much split between those that still wanted them and those that didn't. Certainly the high end Shimano groupsets had all but abandoned oval rings by that year. But one thing I've never seen before in my life is a chainset that can't make up its mind. I will do some background reading and see if I can find out how they rationalised that. Unless I'm just being dumb and it's simply a case of a previous owner replacing a crash-damaged oval outer ring with a like-for-like round one because the latter were easier to source by that time?
Lovely stuff. As a Carry On fan I did smirk at the gratuitous thrusting of the cable routing. An ideal clip of B-roll to save for occasions where a train speeding into a tunnel won’t do justice.
The Rivendell you have when you can't have a Rivendell. Nice build. 👍
I'm starting to think exactly the same thing. The hunt is on for my perfect early 90s hybrid, I have now realised this is what my collection is missing. Marin in Zolatone is target number one.
Amazing video Mr Dread, love the smooth-talking commentary. You're the Bob Ross of the English retro cycling world, this video shows my lack of knowledge of other brands foray into the hybrid cycling ring back in the 90s. However after having watched this video, makes me very excited to take delivery of my XO-1 and get riding on another classic hybrid!
I did a lot of background reading on this one! Hybrids were never considered cool by our generation, but for the first time in my life I'm thinking this could make a perfect daily rider.
Lovely rebuild. About the same sort of time i owned a Peugeot Harvard hybrid.
Peugeot bikes always were a touch of class. Proud to own at least one.
Throughly enjoyed the video Thank you for sharing your talents
Nice catch! i've found a wheeler crossline from the same era. But since it was the frame only i will modifying into a gravel with discs.
Who's doing the welding? I wouldn't trust myself to add disc mounts!
@@red_dread a local pro is doing it, probably in the next days will be ready..... but i still think that i must get all the tools to learn how to do by myself
I always give any adhesive decals a blast with the hairdryer first, it usually helps. I do admire what you do with these piles of old skip fodder 😅. I can't find the love for them to be honest....canti brakes, threaded steerers....glad to see the back of them. Yes I know, I'm a heathen, it's good you do it all within a small budget.
Good channel, very enjoyable.
I don't usually do it on a small budget! You should see my previous video (the Dyna-Tech). That one got silly.
Great video on a another classic. 👍
Nice build! If I could suggest one thing though it would be using washers for the back wheel...if you hadn't anyway. Maybe I missed it.
You are quite correct - this didn't have them when I got it, and it definitely needs them. It's on the list of off-camera fixes!
Nice job but nearly 200 quid for parts wow.😊
Take away the cost of the bike itself and the top quality mudguards, and everything else came it at an insanely low price. For the previous build on this channel (same brand, same year) I spent almost the same total amount just on the rubber handlebar grips!
My mint condition 1991 Bianchi Boardwalk begs to differ with your thesis. Fun video!
Eh my 70s Malvern star skidstar has a different opinion
Versatile bikes with 700c wheels were around long before either of those. Nobody knew how to categorise them. Cross? Luxury city bike? Touring/trekking? Roadster? But it was Raleigh's marketing genius that created the "hybrid" market segment and made them a phenomenon.
I do love a good hybrid, just finished customizing a "Felt" hybrid to my liking great aluminium frame.. You can't beat a good pair of butterfly handlebars, I'm all about comfort these days.
I'm tempted to add one to my own collection!
11:06 this is hypnotic
“Assorted landfill”. Brilliant. Coffee well and truly spat out. Trick with the old internal cabling puzzle that I use on my Lambrettas. Leave the old inner in and pull the outer out, then slide a well greased outer over the old inner, then replace the inner. Have I said that right? Great vid Dread.
If I'd had the old and new at the same time I'd have used a similar trick. But I was impatient so I just ripped out the old and worried about the new when it arrived days later. Got away with it this time.
I've got a mk1 Raleigh mirage with a 501 frame and at the time, Raleigh was fitting qr hubs on the front and bolt on rear and sometimes even miss matched rims out of the factory, just to use up old stock.
I still fancy the early hybrids. My housemate (now wife) bought a Diamondback Avail in 1992/3? Great bike with CroMo frame, Shimano 600 drivetrain with fully indexed gears. I later built it into a CX bike. Wish we never sold it. Anyway, great video.
I wish you'd never sold it either! Would kill to get my hands on a bike like that now...
Well done sir 💯
Great video! Best videos ever!
I run a bike repair business. Of all the pre year 2000 bike I get in the Raleigh Pioneer is, by a very very long way, the most common. That speaks volumes for their durability.
However, I’ve never seen one with a Mavic rim. I suspect both wheels on yours were replaced. I’m pretty certain they came with steel rims or Alesa alloy rims.
A quality bike, if never a fashionable one. Yes, it's dawned on me that the Mavic rim was not stock. I've been informed that it's the front wheel (Maillard x Alesa) that's the original. Which is weird because the Suntour rear hub is a perfect match for the rest of the groupset - so at least it's a thoughtful upgrade by whoever put it there.
Great video! The rationale behind the slow-release rear axle may have been to discourage light fingers. The Falcon "racer" I had at the time was also sold like this. It's also ossible that a QR with horizontal dropouts was viewed with concern. That combination does work OK in practice but you do need to make sure the QR is done up tight or the wheel can move around under high torque loads.
Yes, those horizontal dropouts do annoy me, there was never any need for them on a bike like this in my opinion.
@@red_dread What was the reason for them on any bike? Maybe it simplified production at Raleigh to use only one kind of dropout for everything. They allow some chain tensioning so work well on Sturmey-Archer 3-speeds etc., which they made a lot of. But they also have the benefit that you can get away with slightly sloppy alignment of the rear triangle: you can just wiggle the wheel a bit until it's centered on both sets of stays.
If the bike had gears (ie no need for the chain tensioning ability), yet it still had horizontal dropouts then that was a sure sign that it was a cheaper frame. I'm sure you're right that one of the reasons was that you could get away with less precise alignment in the factory. I have one or two lower spec old bikes in my collection and the horizontal dropout always annoys the hell out of me!
8:04 agree, wider tires always!
Science 1, history nil.
"Here's another fun game" I say that all the time when I'm working on bikes.
Naming aside, the 1990 Bianchi Intercept 'Cross Terrain' was fabulously hybrid -- at least a few rack mounts (or maybe the Equinox had them), wide tire clearance, sporty geometry, and deluxe AF.
Oh yes, that was a hell of a bike. No idea what they would have marketed it as back then, as I recall it was similar to the Kuwahara Pacer - if I could get a late 80s one of those I'd die happy. Certainly the Pioneer wasn't doing anything radically different that these higher-end bikes hadn't done before, but it was Raleigh's marketing genius that gave it a name and created the whole hybrid category.
Fred salmon bar end plugs 👌
Had the privilege of riding with Fred a few times about 20 years ago. He wasn't World Champion by accident. An absolute machine.
Looks fantastic
That red tape is reflective tape, was on heaps of bikes back in the day
I remember it with grave distaste. It leaves a horrible residue!
Marin did some lovely hybrids BITD too which you can still pick up for cheap.
They did, and I would kill for one. If you ever see one in the UK with Zolatone finish, please let me know!
I know you're a fan of Raleigh, but google Schwinn's catalogue from 1992 -> Crosspoint. Steel bike 11,8 kg stock. Built to last - have 2 of those. One restored and one is a city workhorse equipped with Acera-level gear (wish I knew what I had before I trashed all the gear in 2014). The one and only model produced in 1992.
Schwinn never really made too much effort to crack the UK market - I guess it wouldn't have been worth their while. They were around, but not as much of a household name. I did know a Californian rider who used to race them in the late 90s, his bike was pretty tasty.
"A gentleman neither knows nor cares what's in his bank account." 🧐 Always a nice turn of phrase on this channel
I nicked that line off Jude Law, who delivered it with an elegant sneer in the Oscar Wilde biopic. It left its impression.
Enjoyed that! Brilliant😄
Lots of Laughs about this reference 10:27 to floating bikeshop ;D
That wasn't intentional! I'm aware of Floating Bikeshop but I don't get the reference. Will have to pay more attention to his social media.
My dad had a pioneer when I had my first (kind of) proper mountain bike…the muddy fox street finder! Great bikes of that time. Also just got a 92 diamondback Ascent EX that I’m about to restore….thought you might remember those?
Pioneers were definitely "for the dads" when we were kids weren't they? Such amazing bikes but certainly not fashionable at school. Yes I remember the Ascent EX vividly. I had a picture of one that I'd cut out of MBUK because I was saving up for it - but of course plans change when you have the attention span of an adolescent boy.
@@red_dread yes, dad had a white with black and purple decals, he’s always been a serial bike buyer that can convince himself a bike her wants is the best one in the world 😂. My Ascent is black with pink fleck/lines. Can’t wait to strip it!
Quite like that 👍
Looking forward a travel bike with a front and rear racks ready for longue trip as the muddy fox explorer
I have several candidates in my collection - the 87 Saracen Trekker would be perfect for such adventures. But in real life, I always default to my Spa Audax Titanium or my Pace 853 hardtail for long distance overnighters. For on or off-road travels respectively, they're impossible to beat.
The spa @@red_dread
I've a Razesa Hand Made ATB from 1992/3 which is also one of the first hybrids, made in Spain/Basque
In Germany "hybrid" was never a thing, everything was called a Trekking Bike.
They were everywhere, but thanks to Raleigh all the other bike manufacturers felt they could no longer use the term "hybrid". Raleigh created and dominated the market sector, even if the bikes themselves were nothing particularly new.
The Razesa, however, is something truly rare and special! Certainly more valuable than a Raleigh Pioneer - I'd love to see it.
@@red_dread if it was in original condition, sadly it was overpainted/stripped by almost all decals and it took me weeks and contacting an expert from Spain to find out. The brake cable stop in the back and frame/fork numbers in the end made the identification. It's Columbus Cromor tubing. Not very light but solid.
Nice bike that.
If I was wanting a gravel bike I'd buy something like this for £30, tidy it up and stick some nobbly 40mm tyres on it.
I'm certainly tempted to do something similar for myself.
Great video, your commentary is easy to listen to... I enjoy that sense of humour. However, I don't agree... bikes exactly like yours, with similar equipment, were advertised as "cross country" back in 1990 and possibly even a bit earlier (for example, Kuwahara Pacer, Koga Myiata Terra Liner, Wheeler Cross Line series, etc.). I should point out that these brands were also offering "city" and "trekking/touring" models at the same time. So Raleigh wasn't the first... In my opinion, it all started in '89-'90. Personally, I own a typical cross bike from the Italian brand Dancelli, dating from 1988.
I came across a canti Dancelli on Flickr that looked like it cleared 700x45 no probs. Similar model?
Versatile bikes with 700c wheels were around in all sorts of guises even before that - but nobody could decide how to market them. Luxury city bikes? Roadsters? Cross? Trekking? It was Raleigh that cemented the "hybrid" market segment in 91, hence my argument. The actual spec of the Pioneer was nothing that hadn't been done before - but Raleigh's genius was taking it to the people.
@@haemstah Thanks for your interest. Dancelli is a mysterious brand, with no catalogs available. It's unknown in Italy. I suspect that the Italians soldered framesets for some major sports brands in Germany, as Italian framesets were very popular there in the 80s. You can find an equivalent to mine if you search Google for 'Dancelli need repaint Reddit.' What can I say? Elegant Italian craftsmanship, interesting Columbus Aelle tubes, nice lugs, unicrown fork but with a lug, etc., and those comfortable 'slack' angles and convenient 'square' geometry (top tube = seat tube = 55 cm)." Yes cantis and it can take 700x43c wirh mudguards. Accually I want to sell my frameset.
@@red_dread Yes, I understand. But did the term "hybrid" turn out to be successful? Here in Central Europe, the term "cross bike" is widely understood. The term "hybrid" would only be understood by someone who is interested in bikes... but how is it in the UK?
@@pawelkarpinski7961 Cool. There was a Reddit post recently asking about poor man's Crust/Rivendell Euro options secondhand, which made me think of the Dancelli I'd seen, along with some Czech frame I came across pics of also.
Your build pic on Reddit looks pretty cool👍
I only counted 3 different watches in just over 12 minutes...you're as bad as me! Lovely Pioneer (an unsung hero), I hope you kept the luminous mudguards for a future Sausalito/Stinson headache-inducing build
A piece of advice: never wear a rare Chronoscope when you're wielding hammers and blowtorches. Sadly the luminous mudguards are beyond repair - otherwise I'm sure I could find a use for them.
Very kühl.
First here ha
Interesting bike and v informative video - thanks 🫡
Dropping science 247365