BoTM Bike of the Month May 2021 nominations - 1988 and earlier - Sponsored by Terra One Tyres

[mammeluk]

Saracen don't seem to have made an appearance yet, so here's my last minute offering...

steely_Jon's 84 Saracen Conquest

Some more pics and info here:
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/early-saracen-lovers-anonymous.40984/page-205#post-3142744
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I'm trying to find the original specification for the handlebars on this, could you send me a couple of photos of the stamping on the bars please?

 

[steely_Jon]

I'm trying to find the original specification for the handlebars on this, could you send me a couple of photos of the stamping on the bars please?

Hiya, sorry I’ve only just seen your message. I’ll get the bike out of the shed later and send the pics you need

 

[steely_Jon]

I'm trying to find the original specification for the handlebars on this, could you send me a couple of photos of the stamping on the bars please?

Hope these are ok. I rolled the grips up as far as I could without damaging them and couldn’t see any code or model no. Just the ‘cro-mo’ pictured

 

[mammeluk]

Fantastic, thank you. I've owned my since new so I must have cut the bars down enough that the Cr-Mo bit is missing. Mine are 615 wide now so I guess they must have been 650-670mm originally? Now I wish I hadn't but there must have been a reason ...

I've just stripped and rebuilt it. I considered a respray but decided to keep the original 'patina' in the end. It's surprisingly nippy, and the biopace rings which I had turned on the spider are now back in the original position and work very well. All is original except for the seatpost, seatpost bolt and saddle.

Anyone reading this who may have a source for biopace chainrings, an original handlebar or a 14-17-20-24-28-34 freewheel please contact me.

 

[The History Man]

Fantastic, thank you. I've owned my since new so I must have cut the bars down enough that the Cr-Mo bit is missing. Mine are 615 wide now so I guess they must have been 650-670mm originally? Now I wish I hadn't but there must have been a reason ...

I've just stripped and rebuilt it. I considered a respray but decided to keep the original 'patina' in the end. It's surprisingly nippy, and the biopace rings which I had turned on the spider are now back in the original position and work very well. All is original except for the seatpost, seatpost bolt and saddle.

Anyone reading this who may have a source for biopace chainrings, an original handlebar or a 14-17-20-24-28-34 freewheel please contact me.

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Your bike stand is a bit cumbersome.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Your bike stand is a bit cumbersome.

We used to cut down handle bars because early single track was really single track. People just found ways to go in the bush and had to cut down bars to fit between trees. I had an early 90s Trek that I gave away last summer where I had made the bars very narrow for this reason. This became sort of a thing or look and a lot of people cut them off to be what they thought was better. There were a lot of downed trees back then.

 

[DrGooGoo]

Fantastic, thank you. I've owned my since new so I must have cut the bars down enough that the Cr-Mo bit is missing. Mine are 615 wide now so I guess they must have been 650-670mm originally? Now I wish I hadn't but there must have been a reason ...

I've just stripped and rebuilt it. I considered a respray but decided to keep the original 'patina' in the end. It's surprisingly nippy, and the biopace rings which I had turned on the spider are now back in the original position and work very well. All is original except for the seatpost, seatpost bolt and saddle.

Anyone reading this who may have a source for biopace chainrings, an original handlebar or a 14-17-20-24-28-34 freewheel please contact me.

View attachment 561234

I have the same bars on my 86 cannondale sm600. They are uncut and they measure 670.
I see nitto still makes a similar bar but it is aluminum and has a bit of a backsweep.
https://global.bluelug.com/nitto-low-rise-bar-silver.html

 

[The History Man]

We used to cut down handle bars because early single track was really single track. People just found ways to go in the bush and had to cut down bars to fit between trees. I had an early 90s Trek that I gave away last summer where I had made the bars very narrow for this reason. This became sort of a thing or look and a lot of people cut them off to be what they thought was better. There were a lot of downed trees back then.

I was meaning the retro bins

 

[mammeluk]

I have the same bars on my 86 cannondale sm600. They are uncut and they measure 670.
I see nitto still makes a similar bar but it is aluminum and has a bit of a backsweep.
https://global.bluelug.com/nitto-low-rise-bar-silver.html

Thank you. I did look at those but the centre is 25.4mm, the original is 22.2mm. I really want to keep the stem.

Thank you also for noting the handlebar width, it gives me a bit more to go on. There are motorcycle handlebars that may suit.