After owning this frame for a nearly two years (if memory serves) I have finally built it up with as close to factory spec as I could reasonably get to for now. It's been a long process with it taking a back seat while I slowly collected bits for it and moved house twice!
In the early to mid 90s Saracen were in their pomp and it was the chosen brand of the local shop where we would congregate and ride out from. The titanium Kili Ultra was the top of tree and a bit of a unicorn dream bike for me. One of the chaps I rode with had one and I lusted after it hugely. I ended up buying a steel Kili XTR frame which I still own to this day (there's a thread somewhere).
The Kili Ultras were very rare. I can only ever recall seeing two in the flesh and when I started building and playing with retros I made a mental note to keep an eye out for one but thought it unlikely I would ever be lucky enough. A '95 one came along on ebay but went for strong money, I was a bit skint at the time having bought a few bikes in quick succession and I really wanted the monochrome coloured '94 as that was the one I remembered and matched my Kili XTR.
Then, surprisingly a chap popped up on here with a frame of one for sale (along with a ti Marin). He knew it was something interesting but no more. I got in touch and helped him work out that it was indeed a '94 and from there we struck a deal. A friend of mine was dispatched to collect it as it was down in Essex where he lives. The story (well that which we know) behind it was truly bizarre.
The seller was a property developer and he had bought a house unseen at auction. When he got the keys and had a look inside it was a full on mid '90s timewarp as if it had just been left, maybe with gladiators still playing on the TV one evening. All very odd. One bedroom was festooned with period MTB posters and in a shed out the back was a fair bit of bike stuff. My friend collected the frame for me along with some Pace RC35s and a bag of bits the seller thought went with it (some of it did, some of it didn't)!
And then, it was mine. It has been used but relatively little. A small amount of cable rub and the odd small mark but beyond that very, very clean. It then sat in a box for a long while while I collected what I could to match the original spec and moved house twice.
Finally, now things are settling I got stuck in.
Here it is just before starting the build. (Sorry about the modern stuff behind!)
IMG_0669 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
My intent with this build has been to get it to as close as I reasonably can to factory spec without going crazy either in terms of spend or waiting forever until the requisite part pops up for sale. Now it is built though I will aim to treat it as an ongoing project to get closer to factory spec (luckily the period brochure is nicely detailed).
Here's a few detail shots of the frame to show condition and the frame itself. Nice industrial dropouts!
IMG_0670 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
IMG_0671 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
IMG_0672 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
OK, so to the build. Slightly sadly the first thing to go was the original decals. They were in a nice condition without being pristine and I'd have happily kept them except for the fact that someone had peeled off the "Ultra" bit at some point! So, quick email to Gil and sorted!
IMG_0678 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
Then, on with the build. Luckily the frame had come with the headset which was in decent condition. A nice, original Aheadset. The RC35s I had replaced the elastomers on and given a good service as well as a clean. I also changed the steerer to one that was actually long enough!
Here's the front end all built up. The gem here is the stem. Saracen mostly used Ritchey stuff at the time but for some reason the Kili Ultra came with a Ballistic titanium stem and matching bar ends. Amazingly one popped up on ebay NOS! Bought! The bars are a good example of the general principle I applied. The correct ones are Ritchey Force Lite and that's what I have but they're the wrong finish, the originals being more polished.
IMG_0679 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
As things progressed here was a particularly nice bit. The bike did indeed have a Royce from new. Annoyingly this one is a bit long but I have another that's correct on it's way to me.
IMG_0682 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
From there it accelerated a bit as I got stuck in and I forgot to take pics! So, the next ones are it in built form. In terms of spec the bits that are "wrong but close" are
Saddle - Should be a Vetta SL titanium. I have a Vetta SL cromo. I do actually have a Ti one but the cover is a mess so I need to restore it.
Seat post - Should be a Ti USE one. Mine is alloy
Seat clamp - some polished alloy no name piece, been impossible to find something that matches the slightly odd tube diameter so this generic matt silver one will do.
Rims - Should be Ritchey Rock 440, haven't found a decent pair of those so found these NOS Rock Comps and built them onto the M900 hubs I already had
Tyres - Rear one is correct Ritchey Zmax WCS 1.9. Front is very nearly there but is a hardshell so the graphics on the side are wrong
Bar ends - the ballistic ti ones I have never ever seen any of. The control tech examples on here look similar so for now they'll do
Cables - Should be XTR with grey outers. I've gone with some modern stuff as I had it to hand.
Cassette and chain - Should be M900 but I have currently got modern SRAM stuff on to get it running.
Everything else is right, mostly the M900 groupset. It's all very good but not perfect condition. I stripped it all, cleaned and rebuilt.
So, here it is!
IMG_0684 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
IMG_0685 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
IMG_0686 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
IMG_0687 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
In the early to mid 90s Saracen were in their pomp and it was the chosen brand of the local shop where we would congregate and ride out from. The titanium Kili Ultra was the top of tree and a bit of a unicorn dream bike for me. One of the chaps I rode with had one and I lusted after it hugely. I ended up buying a steel Kili XTR frame which I still own to this day (there's a thread somewhere).
The Kili Ultras were very rare. I can only ever recall seeing two in the flesh and when I started building and playing with retros I made a mental note to keep an eye out for one but thought it unlikely I would ever be lucky enough. A '95 one came along on ebay but went for strong money, I was a bit skint at the time having bought a few bikes in quick succession and I really wanted the monochrome coloured '94 as that was the one I remembered and matched my Kili XTR.
Then, surprisingly a chap popped up on here with a frame of one for sale (along with a ti Marin). He knew it was something interesting but no more. I got in touch and helped him work out that it was indeed a '94 and from there we struck a deal. A friend of mine was dispatched to collect it as it was down in Essex where he lives. The story (well that which we know) behind it was truly bizarre.
The seller was a property developer and he had bought a house unseen at auction. When he got the keys and had a look inside it was a full on mid '90s timewarp as if it had just been left, maybe with gladiators still playing on the TV one evening. All very odd. One bedroom was festooned with period MTB posters and in a shed out the back was a fair bit of bike stuff. My friend collected the frame for me along with some Pace RC35s and a bag of bits the seller thought went with it (some of it did, some of it didn't)!
And then, it was mine. It has been used but relatively little. A small amount of cable rub and the odd small mark but beyond that very, very clean. It then sat in a box for a long while while I collected what I could to match the original spec and moved house twice.
Finally, now things are settling I got stuck in.
Here it is just before starting the build. (Sorry about the modern stuff behind!)
IMG_0669 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrMy intent with this build has been to get it to as close as I reasonably can to factory spec without going crazy either in terms of spend or waiting forever until the requisite part pops up for sale. Now it is built though I will aim to treat it as an ongoing project to get closer to factory spec (luckily the period brochure is nicely detailed).
Here's a few detail shots of the frame to show condition and the frame itself. Nice industrial dropouts!
IMG_0670 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrIMG_0671 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrIMG_0672 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrOK, so to the build. Slightly sadly the first thing to go was the original decals. They were in a nice condition without being pristine and I'd have happily kept them except for the fact that someone had peeled off the "Ultra" bit at some point! So, quick email to Gil and sorted!
IMG_0678 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrThen, on with the build. Luckily the frame had come with the headset which was in decent condition. A nice, original Aheadset. The RC35s I had replaced the elastomers on and given a good service as well as a clean. I also changed the steerer to one that was actually long enough!
Here's the front end all built up. The gem here is the stem. Saracen mostly used Ritchey stuff at the time but for some reason the Kili Ultra came with a Ballistic titanium stem and matching bar ends. Amazingly one popped up on ebay NOS! Bought! The bars are a good example of the general principle I applied. The correct ones are Ritchey Force Lite and that's what I have but they're the wrong finish, the originals being more polished.
IMG_0679 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrAs things progressed here was a particularly nice bit. The bike did indeed have a Royce from new. Annoyingly this one is a bit long but I have another that's correct on it's way to me.
IMG_0682 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrFrom there it accelerated a bit as I got stuck in and I forgot to take pics! So, the next ones are it in built form. In terms of spec the bits that are "wrong but close" are
Saddle - Should be a Vetta SL titanium. I have a Vetta SL cromo. I do actually have a Ti one but the cover is a mess so I need to restore it.
Seat post - Should be a Ti USE one. Mine is alloy
Seat clamp - some polished alloy no name piece, been impossible to find something that matches the slightly odd tube diameter so this generic matt silver one will do.
Rims - Should be Ritchey Rock 440, haven't found a decent pair of those so found these NOS Rock Comps and built them onto the M900 hubs I already had
Tyres - Rear one is correct Ritchey Zmax WCS 1.9. Front is very nearly there but is a hardshell so the graphics on the side are wrong
Bar ends - the ballistic ti ones I have never ever seen any of. The control tech examples on here look similar so for now they'll do
Cables - Should be XTR with grey outers. I've gone with some modern stuff as I had it to hand.
Cassette and chain - Should be M900 but I have currently got modern SRAM stuff on to get it running.
Everything else is right, mostly the M900 groupset. It's all very good but not perfect condition. I stripped it all, cleaned and rebuilt.
So, here it is!
IMG_0684 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrIMG_0685 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrIMG_0686 by Ben McCaulder, on FlickrIMG_0687 by Ben McCaulder, on Flickr
