Saracen Kili Comp 1997, Rusty bum rescue

[frazchops]

I always lusted after these, starting with the older Kili XTR but never managed to get hold of one back in the nineties. On a whim I asked my friend, who works in/for an undisclosed bicycle recycling charity, if there was anything earmarked for the bin that was interesting. Think you can probably guess what he sent a picture of…

 

[frazchops]

So first up, time for a wash! Wheels are an odd pair from the shed to get it off the ground. (If anyone has a ti-glide rear in silver in a 117 Ceramic msg me!). Bike came up well but has obviously sat for some unloved, the cast wishbone was in pretty bad shape and there was a lot of raised spider lines on the rear paintwork as well, so time for an investigation…

 

[frazchops]

Wire wheeled the paint of after a quick scrub with the old wire brush. Love the rear detail on this frame, welded to brazed investment cast wishbone marrying up to Ritchey socket style dropouts, again brazed. Lovely mix with the neat welds. Certainly worth saving (in my mind).

Didn’t find any pinholes, tried weld penetrant dye as well but didn’t take any pictures.

So despite the front decals looking surprisingly fresh after a wash it was time for a strip down…

 

[frazchops]

(That’s the Father in Laws 3000 btw, not mine!)

So finally for the frame back from powder today, it’s had a colour change and some ‘sort of 96’ Kili decals from Gil. That was my request because I couldn’t deal with the yellow, anyway.

So it’ll be a hiatus now as I finish up my house renovation, watch this space

 

[Lucidone]

Very nice - look forward to your build as and when.
A fantastic find/save!

 

[TreaderSteve]

Super cool and a nice find/ renovation. I always cringe at a nice item sitting on concrete/ paving slabs though! Signed-in for the build...

 

[Bearvalley90]

That is a great frame and fork combo; my dad had the same year kili team and it was a stunning bike

 

[R-V]

Beautyful. Just missed the opportunity to buy a protraxx so it's nice to see this.

 

[frazchops]

Small update, been in the mooch for parts and managed to get hold of a lovely old Phil Wood on a D522 Ceramic & a new pair of Nitto bars (not sure if that counts as a concession to modernity?).

Cabled the bike up for a quick chainless bimble. I have some tan walls on their way along with an old LX front derailleur. Hopefully the next post will be ‘completion’

 

[frazchops]

Hello again folks, real life alphas put paid to getting this done in a timely fashion but I finally managed to square the bike off with some NOS Vittoria tyres.

Took the bike out to the local hills (Aberfoyle) and it’s a hoot. Excuse the photo quality as it is pretty horrid weather wise up here at the moment!

Maybe a brake lever swap will happen in the near future as the bushings are quite worn, otherwise I think it’s done!