Early Saracen Lovers Anonymous......

[ajm]

My brother had (and has) a '91 or '92 Conquest, which he bought frame only, second hand a year or two later... actually quite a nice bike with Mag 20s (or were they 21s?) on it. I asked Saracen for more info on the original spec in 1996 or so, and they very kindly sent me that brochure...

 

[clownfish]

1992 Complete Saracen Catalogue now up here

SaracenCatalogue

Thanks to AJM

ditto! been looking for this for ages, cheers.

 

[monkeywelder]

Hi, I've just got back into bikes. I've got a Saracen Sahara Elite in the garage (I thinks it's a '93). The elastomer forks are shot.
Can I -
1, Strip them and get replacement elastomers?
2, Put a rigid fork on it (in which case what would be appropriate for the geometry?)
3, Put a new suspension fork on it (again what would be appropriate and cheap?)

If I put different forks on will I have problems with the brakes as they now seem to be obsolete?

Any help would be appreciated as it's too nice a bike not to ride it.

Cheers.

 

[Easy_Rider]

1:- I don't know if you can get hold of these anymore :?
2:- Lots of rigid forks available, even original Saracen ones can be had on ebay or here.
3:- I would suggest anything below 50mm travel would be ok. Rock Shox Mags or Quadras are farely cheap and a good option.

Canti brakes are only obsolete in the shops(apart from some tourers), but not round here

 

[JohnH]

MonkeyWelder, I've just changed the forks on my 1993 Sahara Elite for exactly the same reasons.

I had the original Saracen "own-brand" jobs (1 and 1/8" threaded steerer tube, 144mm long) and I've replaced them with Rock Shox Quadras (1 and 1/8" threaded steerer, 140mm long -- I took out one of the spacers at the top of the headset). I should post a picture in this thread. Anyway, in the meantime I can tell you that they work wonderfully.

If you have anymore questions about this, feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

[monkeywelder]

Guys, many thanks for the replies.
I'll have to keep an eye out for some quadras.

A couple of other questions -
If I put some 'new' suspension forks on, how can I get round the lack of a brake cable hanger (?) that the cantis need?

Might a project 2 fork be a good rigid alternative? (Does anyone know if they do a version that would fit???)

Again, thanks.

 

[Easy_Rider]

They have a canti hanger intergrated into the brace.

 

[JohnH]

If I put some 'new' suspension forks on, how can I get round the lack of a brake cable hanger (?) that the cantis need?

If you put some new, long-travel suspension forks on your 1993 Sahara, there's a good chance that it will look something like this....

Might a project 2 fork be a good rigid alternative? (Does anyone know if they do a version that would fit???)

eBay usually does have a selection of Project 2s. You're looking for a 1 and 1/8" threaded steerer with enough length. Or you could change your headset to take a threadless steerer.

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

I love this thread. I'm not sure if this bike has featured here before. If it has it won't have been in this guise.

As an aside, my mum was going through her very extensive receits collection and found the one for this bike! I had managed to save some of my student grant by consuming only fresh Welsh air and a little beer all year!

5th January 1991.

Saracen Kili Flier Competition: £749.99
(There was a £50 discount as this was a 1990 bike.)

Cateye CC100 Wireless Computer: £44

I still have that computer and although it is the size of a small television, it still works.

 

[Carlos the Slackal]

Profile Durangos! Wow!

I had a pair of those, way back when. I then found some amazing grip tubes for them as well. Such great bars for long distance riding!