hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Well it ended up being done in dribs and drabs rather than over the satisfying pot of tea I'd planned... But it's now ready to hit the pump track!
Pump Track Build - 2003 Saracen XESS XTREME
- Thread starter hawkhill97
- Start date
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Really pleased with how it's come out.
I'm liking the balance of black/silver/red a lot. Aesthetically the only thing I'm not sold on is the deep section rims which look a bit out of place on a jump bike, but silver disc wheels seem comparatively hard to come by so they'll likely stay.
Although I've only taken it up and down the road so far, the bar/stem combo seems to feel really good (they're OEM so I suppose they ought to work well with the frame!).
As pictured the saddle is about as high as the seat post length allows - enough to pedal comfortably the couple of miles to the pump track, and a pretty good compromise for still being able to jump & manual as far as my (general lack of) ability allows.
When slammed, the saddle is pretty much sufficiently out of the way that it's 50:50 whether I'll contact the saddle or the rear tyre, so that's good - nothing worse on a pump/jump bike than feeling like the saddle's getting in your way.
I'm liking the balance of black/silver/red a lot. Aesthetically the only thing I'm not sold on is the deep section rims which look a bit out of place on a jump bike, but silver disc wheels seem comparatively hard to come by so they'll likely stay.
Although I've only taken it up and down the road so far, the bar/stem combo seems to feel really good (they're OEM so I suppose they ought to work well with the frame!).
As pictured the saddle is about as high as the seat post length allows - enough to pedal comfortably the couple of miles to the pump track, and a pretty good compromise for still being able to jump & manual as far as my (general lack of) ability allows.
When slammed, the saddle is pretty much sufficiently out of the way that it's 50:50 whether I'll contact the saddle or the rear tyre, so that's good - nothing worse on a pump/jump bike than feeling like the saddle's getting in your way.
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
One thing that pleasantly surprised me is that it manuals better than I'd expected. I thought 425mm chain stays might be long enough to make getting the front up noticeable more difficult, but it floats up quite nicely and does feel a bit more like I might one day be able to control it than the BMXs I've ridden in the past.
Guess the reach, stack and bar/stem combo must balance this out, or just by chance work reasonably well with my height and proportions.
Guess the reach, stack and bar/stem combo must balance this out, or just by chance work reasonably well with my height and proportions.
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Interestingly, the fork doesn't make that annoying clicking noise when the bikes being ridden, only when standing and pushing down on the bars without weight on the pedals. I guess as long as the fork is under a little sag, whatever is causing the click isn't making contact.
It feels good too - very different to what I'm used to (Rockshox Tora/Reba/Revs etc) with a lot of ramp up once you get past the sag point, and a more "solid" feel on landing bunny hops, but takes the edge off nicely.
No top out clunk either which is good, that's another of my pet hates.
The chain slap protection still needs a bit of improvement to make landings quieter though. Think I'll add some inner tube under the tyre strips and add a bit underneath the chain stay where the rear mech body is contacting it under hard landings.
It feels good too - very different to what I'm used to (Rockshox Tora/Reba/Revs etc) with a lot of ramp up once you get past the sag point, and a more "solid" feel on landing bunny hops, but takes the edge off nicely.
No top out clunk either which is good, that's another of my pet hates.
The chain slap protection still needs a bit of improvement to make landings quieter though. Think I'll add some inner tube under the tyre strips and add a bit underneath the chain stay where the rear mech body is contacting it under hard landings.
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Hoping to get out to one of the local pump tracks later this week to see how it feels there, as that's going to be what decides if it's a keeper or not.
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Cheers mate! I'm pretty chuffed with it so far!
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
It's all relative isn't it!
The 26" BMX I've been riding has 390mm chain stays, and I have to say it's noticeably easier to initiate a manual compared to the Saracen. Both are of course much easier than a 440mm+ chain stay trail bike!
I also think BB drop seems very important to how a bike feels to manual - the Saracen has quite a high BB and I feel like maybe this is offsetting the slightly longer chain stays and keeping it easy to get the front up.
You're dead right, 680mm feels so narrow now
I think my ideal on this sort of bike is probably more like 720mm, but I like that Tioga stem so much I think I'm happy to stick with the bars I've got, they actually feel fine once you get over the initial "how narrow is this" moment. I love my 780mm bars on my trail bike, but having watched videos of myself I do wonder if I should try going a little narrower... The wide bars are great for monster trucking through chunk but I do think they limit mobility somewhat.
I feel like the more it's about the rider's input versus the capability of the bike (and modern FS bikes are very, very capable!), the more sense a slightly narrower bar makes. Still wouldn't want to go below 720mm on rough & steep stuff though.
hawkhill97
Retro Guru
Just got back from the first proper test ride on the Saracen 
First off I took it to my local skate park. I'm not really good enough to make use of the quarters, let alone the spines, here... but it felt really good cruising around the bowls, and having a squish fork is sooo much nicer on the wrists for drops to flat concrete!
First off I took it to my local skate park. I'm not really good enough to make use of the quarters, let alone the spines, here... but it felt really good cruising around the bowls, and having a squish fork is sooo much nicer on the wrists for drops to flat concrete!
