Several months after getting hold of this damaged and therefore free Saracen frame, I've finally got around to building it up.
I ordered a frame from the 'Bankrupt Surplus Bikes' bloke on eBay back in February. I was a bit annoyed when the wrong frame turned up, and a damaged one at that. Despite this, I can't fault John the eBay trader for his excellent customer service. A couple of very polite email exchanges and the correct frame was sent out and, as an added bonus, I got to keep the original one. So two frames for £20 has to be a real bargain.
The frame I originally ordered was built up to replace my touring bike and turned out very nicely like this:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But then left with another spare frame which was easily repairable I decided to make good use of it.
So began work on my 'retro-mod' winter hack bike.
Here is the damage to the frame:
I repaired the bent drop-out and decided that I could live with a cosmetically damaged top-tube. I did however remove a section of brazed on cable pipe for a rear canti brake and drilled out the lower cable stop so that I could use v-brakes.
I raided the spares box and gathered together enough parts to build yet another bike.
Eventually the frame and £5 set of Saracen forks went off to the powder coaters.
£30 and 8 days later...
And so this was built up over the weekend using mostly Deore M510/530 components, with 8 speed STX-RC shifters, and some bullet-proof self built wheels.
The mudguards and rack are a very practical feature which should keep me dry in winter as well as during the permadrizzle summers we seem to be getting nowadays.
All this weighs in at a reliably tank like 34 pounds, so it'll be good for training on too.
I'm not totally sure what year this frame is, but my best guess would be about 1995 or possibly earlier, but whatever it is I quite like it.
So there you have it. Another piece of old Saracen steel put to good use.
