Early Saracen Lovers Anonymous......

[Ashthebig]

Here are pics of my 97 Saracen recoil. Its like new and rides a dream.

 

[Benmac]

Hello all, first post here. I've stumbled across this place almost by accident while looking at some retro MTB stuff.

Just having a gander and this stuff really takes me back, funny how you think you've forgotten stuff but it all comes back so easily when you see it again. Anyway, to SAracens.

I was obsessed with MTBing in the 90s only falling out of it through lack of time, work etc. I still have my bike though. I'll try and get some pics to put up but basically it is:

94 (I think) Saracen Kili XTR frame (Tange Prestige)
Rock Shox Judy XCs
XTR V brakes
XT Mechs
Middleburn RS4 (I think) cranks
Hope hubs on Mavic ceramic rims
USE seatpost (purple, oh yeah)
Flite ttanium saddle
Zoom stem
Not sure on the bars as I can remember snapping a USE titanium one and it escapes me what replaced it

 

[Easy_Rider]

The 94 Kili XTR could possibly be my favourite Saracen

 

[Dead Rats]

Hello all, first post here. I've stumbled across this place almost by accident while looking at some retro MTB stuff.

Just having a gander and this stuff really takes me back, funny how you think you've forgotten stuff but it all comes back so easily when you see it again. Anyway, to SAracens.

I was obsessed with MTBing in the 90s only falling out of it through lack of time, work etc. I still have my bike though. I'll try and get some pics to put up but basically it is:

94 (I think) Saracen Kili XTR frame (Tange Prestige)
Rock Shox Judy XCs
XTR V brakes
XT Mechs
Middleburn RS4 (I think) cranks
Hope hubs on Mavic ceramic rims
USE seatpost (purple, oh yeah)
Flite ttanium saddle
Zoom stem
Not sure on the bars as I can remember snapping a USE titanium one and it escapes me what replaced it

damn right you should get a pic up!

 

[Benmac]

damn right you should get a pic up!

OK, here we go. Firstly apologies for the iffy phone photos. I couldn't find a memory stick for the camera.

So here it is. By way of explanation the bike's history is thus:

I got my first 'serious' MTB in 1990 (I think). It was a Claud Butler 'Limited Edition'. Basically this was a Pagan but made from Reynolds 501 rather than 531 and painted silver. This bike saw me well for a few years with some upgrades along the way funded by whatever I could lay my hands on as a student.

The time came though that I needed an upgrade. An old school friend ran a tiny bike shop in the back of his father in law's second hand furniture shop. He was a saracen dealer and most of the people in our little club rode them, including our 'star' who rode or Royce (the BB people) and had a Kili Titanium (was it called an ultra?). Lovely bike. The shop owner had a Kili XTR which was essentially the same bike but made from Tange Prestige rather than Ti.

I couldn't stretch to a whole new bike but my mate managed to acquire a frameset (the bike has Judy's on it as you can see but I started with the straight legged rigid forks and still have them in the judy box). I built this up using some new parts (BB, Aheadset, brakes) and some bits swapped from my Claud Butler (The CB I was able to build back into pretty much standard having kept most of the parts, I sold this to a mate).

So, then over the next couple of years I slowly upgraded here and there to the condition it is still in today. Its seen me very well this bike, raced at the Malverns and in the World Cup qualifying race one year at Newnham Park. I just don't use it these days other than the occasional potter with the Mrs on her bike and the dog plodding along. Part of me wants to sell it (but only ever to a 'very' good home and part of me couldn't bear to part with it. I'll put up a similar post about my road bike in a mo but for now, here are the pics.

Here it is, classic side on pose held up with a fuel can.

The judy's with a brake booster and the XTR V brakes. Can also see the Pace / Renthal Bar, Onza grips and the XT levers and shifters.

Close up of the frame stickers

The classic 'pierced' seat tube and 'S'

The Mavic 261 ceramics. These are 36 spoke jobs so plenty strong. The ceramic element never really performed as amazingly as was touted IMO. There is an improvement definitely and this is particularly noticeable with normal brake blocks, however this munches through the blocks quickly. I have the special harder ceramic ones in there. Biggest benefit I suppose is that the rims just don't wear.

Close up of the rear Ti Glide hub. This was one of the first Hope made and originally had the aluminium cassette holder. These got chewed by the cassette making removing it very hard. At one race I went to hope had a stand and my front hub had knackered bearings. I left the bike with them to replace them and when I came back they had done the rear as well and changed the cassette holder for the upgraded Titanium one. The cost of this? Nowt. That's service.

Flite saddle and USE seatpost (not sure I'd discovered good taste at this point). The blue collar on the top tube is a thing to allow a cable outer to run from it to the rear V brake. The standard mountings would only accommodate a cable inner.

The rear XT mech and was that purple thing called a 'cog hog'?

Probably my favourite bit on the bike, the cranks and Pace chainrings. Lovely stuff.

Close up of the drpouts showing the Ritchey stamp.

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[DeletedUser006]

Very very very nice indeed

 

[dendy]

Yes very nice

I have what I think is the kili flyer frame from 94. Same grey finish but emerald green logo.. I was waiting until I new exactly what frame and year it is but i can't..

I will be powder coating it as paint is a bit far gone.. Here are some pics of the parts I have so far...

I have cranks shifters etc (m737) on the way and will be fitting m739 v brakes.. When powder coated I will apply new green logos..

 

[Benmac]

Ooh, now that is nice. The Saracen bikes always looked very 'right' with Pace forks. I intended to buy some for mine but the Judy's came up for an absolute steal and at the time as a student money wasn't flowing.

This site is inspiring me, I'm thinking of doing a mini restore including getting rid of the purple. I'll lose the yellow saddl as well asI have a black flite as well on my road bike which is yellow.

A damn good strip down and service won't do any harm.

 

[dendy]

Thanks

imo you would be mad to sell your kili.. A mini restore sounds like a very good idea..

 

[brocklanders023]

Second what dendy says. You'll regret it if you sell it and have far more fun restoring it with the help of the rb for sale section!