1983 F.W.Evans HISTORY UPDATE...

[damo smith]

Well done, you are now the owner of one of the first US style mountain-bikes to be mass-produced in the UK.

I am glad to hear that this has gone to someone who will appreciate it and carry out the 'sympathetic restoration' it deserves.

Just post here If you need any help with finding parts, period photos etc, or any info to help you with the restoration.

Here is a Mountech currently for sale on eBay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/22473520...d=link&campid=5338793676&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

Cheers, looking forward to getting started on it.

Will strip it down and go through every part. It will be ridden so guess my first question is tyre choice. Unsure what they came with and guessing new period correct tyres are limited. Wondered if the TerraOne T1 would fit the bill? Also the sponge grips are shot so deffo need swapping out with a similar foam type.

A quick look around it and the headset looks in rough shape. Can’t see any names on it. What would it have had?

Thanks for the support

 

[Tootyred]

You will have to look at tyre width. Terraone are 2.1 ( god knows why, surely if your making retro tyres you would make the a retro size....even 1.95 for example!) So they may not fit in the rear.

Ive used the "etc" branded foam grips in the past, last well are comfortable and cheap.

 

[Peachy!]

You will have to look at tyre width. Terraone are 2.1 ( god knows why, surely if your making retro tyres you would make the a retro size....even 1.95 for example!) So they may not fit in the rear.

Ive used the "etc" branded foam grips in the past, last well are comfortable and cheap.

I agree, (about the Terraone boob) a bit silly imo

 

[damo smith]

You will have to look at tyre width. Terraone are 2.1 ( god knows why, surely if your making retro tyres you would make the a retro size....even 1.95 for example!) So they may not fit in the rear.

Ive used the "etc" branded foam grips in the past, last well are comfortable and cheap.

Brill. Just looked. Best shape so far. Thanks

 

[legrandefromage]

The first time my dad saw an ATB it was brought to him by a parts company to show him the next “new thing”. We stripped it down sprayed it and rebuilt it with our decals on. We then sold it from the photo only to some of our customers. When the parts and tubing came in they went into production in Warwick. All hand built to order by a small but very talented workforce including my engineer dad, Brian Staples, my Mum who was a finisher and myself who sprayed them. When we were approached by Bluemels to invest, the business was sold to them with the family remaining as Directors. It then moved to their premises at Wolston. Coventry where it traded until Bluemels went into administration taking Saracen with it. The bikes Mike had would have been as a result of the administrators selling off stock. Saracen was profit making right up until the end. I loved our bikes and it was the end of an era. X

 

[Saracengirl]

Re:

Bluemels didn’t build bikes.

They acquired Saracen from the chap who set it up and then later sold it to the third set of owners when they went into liquidation.

Bluemels were in Wolston - now a housing estate - and Saracen were in Warwick.

There’s an early connection with Knights cycles from wolves, and Evans had their own frame builder in Mr Healey. That Saracen started as an up shoot of staples bike shop in kenilworth, and that F.W. Evans were themselves a two shop operation at the time, I don’t think either would have built for t other.

That suggests that both sourced frames initially from the same third party. The Saracen above is later, with simple cable stop and 531 tubing - at this point Saracen would have taken the design in house presumably and made some production changes, and Evans did similar.

Outsourcing could have been to msteel which would explain the Yates canti stop on first produced frames, also Jackson’s or Mercian - both of whom (though they won’t admit it) themselves outsourced at times to a local to here frame builder from Coventry.

That’s roughly where I’m thinking with things at the moment.

Saracen was built and designed by Brian Staples from the time of his Kenilworth shop until Bluemels went into liquidation. Never built by a third party. Gary Smith at Evans initially dealt with us directly for ATB and road bikes with his own badge on.