xxnick1975
Old School Grand Master
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Nice rig
Nice rig
1989 Saracen Tufftrax singlespeed - rebuild
- Thread starter Ghosty
- Start date
Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser
After a year on the roads, the Saracen was starting to get a bit tired. The seat had a couple of holes, the grips were far from white and past redemption, the pedals were getting ratty (and my feet slipped off from time to time), it'd been through a couple of chains, and the Crazy Bobs barely cleared the chainstay, and made the brakes less than effective, with an appetite for brake pads to boot.
The inner left chainstay has a patch with no paint now, and even worse, it seems the rear brake when applied wasn't only using the pad to transfer force...
:shock:
Don't run tyres bigger than your brakes can handle.
I elected with something of a heavy heart that the Crazy Bobs would have to be taken off, and it remains to be seen if they'll live on on anything else (my Schwinn comes to mind).
So with a Cinder Cone's worth of spare parts lying about (it's not much use with a seized in bottom bracket cup), I nabbed the wheels and nearly new Schwalbe Big Apples:
It was boring to ride, more harsh, you couldn't lean it into corners as much. Not much fun, but it was OK as a stopgap.
I made up a dirt wheelset for it too out of things I had lying around.
It was fun, but a bit overgeared, and ludicrously buzzy. The rear tyre was a Specialized Dirt Control front, and the front was a Michelin Country AT, and both were old and a bit knackered. Took them on one ride to Liverpool, and gave up on them after that.
Having finally got some money together I decided last week that I'd sort it properly, as I missed it being fun, go-anywhere, do-anything.
I'd bought some Stronglight TNT cranks with bash guards and a 44T chainring off a friend recently, intending to use them on something else, but that project ended up stalling so I nabbed them for this, in order to create a more friendly gear ratio - we go from 42/14 to a more manageable but still fast 44/16, with a Shimano cog. The bashrings had to go though, it turns out one of them was mildly bent so the chain kept slapping it and clanging.
Having spotted an ideal wheelset for sale on here I decided I'd buy them, and the tyres I wanted, and that was that. I bought some new grips on a whim, too, and pulled the seat off the dead Cindy too. Finally, the oddly machined V-brake arm was replaced with an identical one, as the return spring carrier failed, so it didn't tension.
We are left with this:
It's a better bike than it ever was, leaves a massive grin on my face wherever I go now. :grin:
After a year on the roads, the Saracen was starting to get a bit tired. The seat had a couple of holes, the grips were far from white and past redemption, the pedals were getting ratty (and my feet slipped off from time to time), it'd been through a couple of chains, and the Crazy Bobs barely cleared the chainstay, and made the brakes less than effective, with an appetite for brake pads to boot.
The inner left chainstay has a patch with no paint now, and even worse, it seems the rear brake when applied wasn't only using the pad to transfer force...
:shock:
Don't run tyres bigger than your brakes can handle.
I elected with something of a heavy heart that the Crazy Bobs would have to be taken off, and it remains to be seen if they'll live on on anything else (my Schwinn comes to mind).
So with a Cinder Cone's worth of spare parts lying about (it's not much use with a seized in bottom bracket cup), I nabbed the wheels and nearly new Schwalbe Big Apples:
It was boring to ride, more harsh, you couldn't lean it into corners as much. Not much fun, but it was OK as a stopgap.
I made up a dirt wheelset for it too out of things I had lying around.
It was fun, but a bit overgeared, and ludicrously buzzy. The rear tyre was a Specialized Dirt Control front, and the front was a Michelin Country AT, and both were old and a bit knackered. Took them on one ride to Liverpool, and gave up on them after that.
Having finally got some money together I decided last week that I'd sort it properly, as I missed it being fun, go-anywhere, do-anything.
I'd bought some Stronglight TNT cranks with bash guards and a 44T chainring off a friend recently, intending to use them on something else, but that project ended up stalling so I nabbed them for this, in order to create a more friendly gear ratio - we go from 42/14 to a more manageable but still fast 44/16, with a Shimano cog. The bashrings had to go though, it turns out one of them was mildly bent so the chain kept slapping it and clanging.
Having spotted an ideal wheelset for sale on here I decided I'd buy them, and the tyres I wanted, and that was that. I bought some new grips on a whim, too, and pulled the seat off the dead Cindy too. Finally, the oddly machined V-brake arm was replaced with an identical one, as the return spring carrier failed, so it didn't tension.
We are left with this:
It's a better bike than it ever was, leaves a massive grin on my face wherever I go now. :grin:
Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser
So, time for an updated spec sheet:
Frame: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax 18" - Tange MTB
Fork: Saracen
Headset: ???
Stem: Bontrager with threadless adapter
Handlebar: eBay cruiser bar
Grips: Mongoose BMX lock-on mushroom
Barends: none
Brakes: Shimano Deore M510 silver
Brake Pads: generic
Brake Cables: Clarks
Cantilever cable hangers: n/a
Brake Levers: Shimano Deore M510 silver
Shifters: n/a
Front Derailleur: n/a
Rear Derailleur: n/a
Derailleur Cables: n/a
Cassette: 16 tooth Shimano DXR cog with VeloSolo blue and silver spacers (with a green one hiding behind the cog)
Chain: KMC B1
Cranks: Stronglight TNT, guards removed
Crank Bolts: Stronglight Xtractor
Chainrings: Stronglight 7078 44T
Chainring bolts: Stronglight
Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN55 68x122mm
Pedals: Wellgo flats
Hub Skewers: ???
Rims: Mavic XM319
Hubs: Shimano Deore M530 silver
Nipples: ???
Spokes: ???
Tyres: DMR Supermoto 26x2.2"
Tubes: Halfords
Saddle: Selle Bassano Vuelta
Seatpost: ???
Seatpost Binder: Kalloy qr
Weight: ??? light enough!
So, time for an updated spec sheet:
Frame: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax 18" - Tange MTB
Fork: Saracen
Headset: ???
Stem: Bontrager with threadless adapter
Handlebar: eBay cruiser bar
Grips: Mongoose BMX lock-on mushroom
Barends: none
Brakes: Shimano Deore M510 silver
Brake Pads: generic
Brake Cables: Clarks
Cantilever cable hangers: n/a
Brake Levers: Shimano Deore M510 silver
Shifters: n/a
Front Derailleur: n/a
Rear Derailleur: n/a
Derailleur Cables: n/a
Cassette: 16 tooth Shimano DXR cog with VeloSolo blue and silver spacers (with a green one hiding behind the cog)
Chain: KMC B1
Cranks: Stronglight TNT, guards removed
Crank Bolts: Stronglight Xtractor
Chainrings: Stronglight 7078 44T
Chainring bolts: Stronglight
Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN55 68x122mm
Pedals: Wellgo flats
Hub Skewers: ???
Rims: Mavic XM319
Hubs: Shimano Deore M530 silver
Nipples: ???
Spokes: ???
Tyres: DMR Supermoto 26x2.2"
Tubes: Halfords
Saddle: Selle Bassano Vuelta
Seatpost: ???
Seatpost Binder: Kalloy qr
Weight: ??? light enough!
and so glad you've got back the fun side of it once again as it would of been a shame to see it just left gathering dust ..Similar threads
