What is this? MTB or Tourer!?

[Helmut Head]

You can probably tell by the question that I'm not an MTB'er!

I'm a long time retro roadie - and have limited knowledge on MTBs - anyway I've been looking for something to go light off-roading and saw this for £50.

Shimano Altus / Alvio ?? 7 speed, mudguard and rack eyelets, forks look too thin for a MTB?

Thnx in advance,

 

[ibbz]

What size wheels ?

 

[FluffyChicken]

They look 700c, so it'll be a Hybrid for that era, not road and not MTB.
the in between land..

Or an old Gravel bike as it would be now.

Altus/Alivio is the modern naming for of the Exage range.

 

[ibbz]

Geometry fork and head tube etc look like road and not MTB

 

[Tootyred]

Hybrid......basically a trackie.....skinny tyres, amazing fun offroad and gets you to the pub.

Born in the days when every manufacturer had a million cheap road bikes they could not shift for love or money , because everybody wanted a mountain bike. (Amazing how things change and then go full cicle).

Boss at Raleigh "Hummmm, what do we do with these containers of bikes?"
Head of marketing "Stick straight bars on them sir, its what all the young people do - we will call it a hybrid"

Brilliant!

 

[mattr]

And unless its the angle of the camera shot, your forks are possibly bent?

 

[Magpiegifts]

.be a braver man than me ride that hard off road

 

[madjh]

It is the gravel of the 90´s. In that era was call Hybrid, today gravel because it is more cool or something like that.

 

[sinnerman]

You can probably tell by the question that I'm not an MTB'er!

I'm a long time retro roadie - and have limited knowledge on MTBs - anyway I've been looking for something to go light off-roading and saw this for £50.

Shimano Altus / Alvio ?? 7 speed, mudguard and rack eyelets, forks look too thin for a MTB?

Thnx in advance,

Its a Raleigh Pioneer. 700x28c, for those that wanted a utility bike, rack mudguards, mountain bike gears, more efficient cantilever brakes rather than low end calipers, but without the trudge that 26" tyres provided with wider tyres, designed for the trip to the shops, the ride in the park with the kids and the occasional cycle path and bridleway. Not a Gravel bike, but a Hybrid, neither Mountain bike nor Racing bike, but a combination of both. I believe they are still made today and for the same purpose.

The spec on this one has been changed by the look of it over the years and those forks are bent.

(P.S, Halfords sold a lot of the ladies version to the Yummy Mummies during the bike boom of yesteryear).

 

[FluffyChicken]

Interestingly this Pioneer has properly shite brakes on it
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203066682083
He says it's not a Gravel bike, the only difference is that gravel bikes sit in the next budget slots up and come with discs.
But Gravel (original purpose) fits this segment perfectly.
"designed for the trip to the shops, the ride in the park with the kids and the occasional cycle path and bridleway"
"neither Mountain bike nor Racing bike, but a combination of both"
except Hybrids are designed to be used all the time. See Holland, i.e. a mode of transport.
Today that model is about £400 in the shops.