So i bought a saracen conquest.....it was relatively cheap, one owner from new, local, came from a shop i knew exceeding well and was a complete mess!
The bikes has had numerous "modifications" in a rat rod style over its life and is somewhat scabby.
So why did i buy it!?
Well, when i started work in bike shops, saracen had just started up.....in fact mountain bikes in the uk had really just " started up". Whilst most thought it was probably a passing phase (like raleigh choppers) there was some pretty inspiring stuff going on. One thing that caught my attention was Nic and Richard Crane taking mountain bikes up Kilimanjaro on new years eve 1984!
Although i never met Nic, he went to the same college as me and his exploits were the stuff of legend, especially for us climbers, walkers and mountain bikers. For those of you who have no idea who im talking about, he's the older, tall guy who did the walking stuff on bbc "Coast" series.....the guy with the brolly.
They used Saracen conquests for this task as documented in the book "bicycles up Kilimanjaro" which they wrote after the adventure. I think the reason being.....they were the only company who said yes!
Saracen were built by hand, in the UK from reynolds 501/531, by "knight fabrications"...hence the knights helmet on the badge. Early frames were sold to FW Evans too.
Sadly, like so many companies doing great things, money was not always their friend and the company got sold on several times...production moved to asia in 1986 under the Stanforths ownership and a great British bike line was lost to the far east. Sadly what most people remember of Saracen (poor quality, cheap bikes) are a million miles away from the beautiful work originally produced with such care.
When i finally put down the trackie in 86 and bought a mountain bike it was a all new tufftrax......what i would have loved was a conquest.....at the other end of the range!
So im going to take the opportunity to pay homage to a pair of true heroes of mine and the legend that was Saracen.
Enough waffle, lets get started...here it is.......
The bikes has had numerous "modifications" in a rat rod style over its life and is somewhat scabby.
So why did i buy it!?
Well, when i started work in bike shops, saracen had just started up.....in fact mountain bikes in the uk had really just " started up". Whilst most thought it was probably a passing phase (like raleigh choppers) there was some pretty inspiring stuff going on. One thing that caught my attention was Nic and Richard Crane taking mountain bikes up Kilimanjaro on new years eve 1984!
Although i never met Nic, he went to the same college as me and his exploits were the stuff of legend, especially for us climbers, walkers and mountain bikers. For those of you who have no idea who im talking about, he's the older, tall guy who did the walking stuff on bbc "Coast" series.....the guy with the brolly.
They used Saracen conquests for this task as documented in the book "bicycles up Kilimanjaro" which they wrote after the adventure. I think the reason being.....they were the only company who said yes!
Saracen were built by hand, in the UK from reynolds 501/531, by "knight fabrications"...hence the knights helmet on the badge. Early frames were sold to FW Evans too.
Sadly, like so many companies doing great things, money was not always their friend and the company got sold on several times...production moved to asia in 1986 under the Stanforths ownership and a great British bike line was lost to the far east. Sadly what most people remember of Saracen (poor quality, cheap bikes) are a million miles away from the beautiful work originally produced with such care.
When i finally put down the trackie in 86 and bought a mountain bike it was a all new tufftrax......what i would have loved was a conquest.....at the other end of the range!
So im going to take the opportunity to pay homage to a pair of true heroes of mine and the legend that was Saracen.
Enough waffle, lets get started...here it is.......
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