Considering buying this bike

cabraman

I am considering buying a Raleigh Pioneer Elite 2 to replace a 5 year old Dawes Kalahari. All my cycling is around town so the commuter style suits me fine.

My questions are what is the general opinion of Raleigh bikes and this one in particular. Also it costs €1189 in ROI but £700 in NI. If I buy it in NI will I have difficulty in after sale service in Dublin especially as this bike has hub gears and disc brakes.

Any advice welcome.

AstraMonti

cabraman wrote: »

I am considering buying a Raleigh Pioneer Elite 2 to replace a 5 year old Dawes Kalahari. All my cycling is around town so the commuter style suits me fine.

My questions are what is the general opinion of Raleigh bikes and this one in particular. Also it costs €1189 in ROI but £700 in NI. If I buy it in NI will I have difficulty in after sale service in Dublin especially as this bike has hub gears and disc brakes.

Any advice welcome.

I have no clue about the bike, but this doesn't sound good:

While Raleigh have recognised the benefits of hub-gears for the urban cyclist, the combination of non-adjustable dropouts with a bolt-on chain tensioner just doesn’t work very well. On rough ground or after back-pedalling the chain loses tension which causes the pedals to jolt forward rapidly as you take up the slack. While not dangerous, this little quirk can be unnerving when pulling away from junctions and highlights a problem with using the same frame for both hub-geared and derailleur-equipped bikes.

kona

Raleigh = ****e

uberpixie

kona wrote: »

Raleigh = ****e

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/hybrid/product/pioneer-elite-2-33660

Bikeradar gave a faily good review. (thye have also given good reviews on the high end stuff they make e.g. m-trax range that cost circa £1000:eek:)

Personally I would look at either

1) Specialized Sanfrancisco 2 for around 500
http://www.cycleways.com/store/product/41735/Specialized-Globe-San-Francisco-2/
has a 3 speed hub if you really want an internal hub.

Review here (they recently changed the name from centrum sport to sanfrancisco)
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/urban/product/centrum-sport-08-28151

2) A cannondale badboy. e.g http://video.cannondale.com/images/09/CE/large/9BRD7_BBQ.jpg
Think I saw one recently in cycleways, looked dead sexy in matt black with cannondale written in very subtle black gloss letters on the frame.
If I was going to blow €1000 I would rather blow it on a sexy overpriced cannondale than a poxy overpriced Raleigh :pac:.

Tbh there are plenty of good hybrids around for the €500 mark or less, don't see why you would need to spend €1000?

blorg

While Raleigh have recognised the benefits of hub-gears for the urban cyclist, the combination of non-adjustable dropouts with a bolt-on chain tensioner just doesn’t work very well. On rough ground or after back-pedalling the chain loses tension which causes the pedals to jolt forward rapidly as you take up the slack. While not dangerous, this little quirk can be unnerving when pulling away from junctions and highlights a problem with using the same frame for both hub-geared and derailleur-equipped bikes.

Alfine is generally specced with a chain tensioner and non-adjustable dropouts, blame Shimano for that one rather than Raleigh.

As Kona says, Raleigh don't have the reputation they once had.

I'm skeptical with BikeRadar reviews, 4 sometimes seems to be as low as they go