Saracen Tufftrax elite

[retrotrack]

Hi all,

my Father has a 1992 Saracen Tufftrax Elite which I've told him it has been 'stolen'.

It's his baby, he's had it since brand new (I can only just remember going with him to get it). When I was a lad I trashed this bike and he was pretty upset about it. I have fond memories of this bike riding around our local canal paths with my dad, some of the best days of my life. If someone genuinely offered me £10k for this bike, I wouldn't take it. (....call it 11 and we've got a deal).

I remember him having a stash of cash that he'd been saving for a few years to get this thing.

I've stripped it down and stashed it in the loft, cleaning part by part without him seeing.

I will post pictures of it before I stripped it but I really really need some help on this. I'm on a very small budget but i'll do anything to get this bike back to original spec.

The handlebars are bent, saddle is ripped, pedals are shot and grips are worn. It also has no tyres.

If anybody has any parts or knows of any that I can get my hands on to rebuild this bike for my dad, I'd be really grateful. Here's how it should look:

James

 

[drystonepaul]

The components are a mix of Shimano Deore LX M550 and Deore DX in the MT-62 and M650 incarnations.

So you'll need the following parts:

M550 Deore LX rear mech

M550 Deore LX front mech. I think it's a 31.8mm band size for a 92 Tufftrax Elite.

M550 Deore LX chainset, although you could use a Deore MT-60 chainset here. Cartridge type BB though in 1992

M550 Deore LX hubs.

Saracen rather sensibly specced Deore MT-62 thumbshifters rather than rapidfire shifters.

Also fitted Deore MT-63 brake levers as standard too.

Cantilever brakes were Deore DX M650 as far as I know.

Let me know if you need any more details for the rest of the spec.
Good luck with finding everything. Fortunately these parts are relatively common so you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

 

[Robin Kilvington]

Will be following this with interest

 

[superstu]

Great stuff.

 

[Bryncrug72]

Cool idea, will be watching this

 

[retrotrack]

I already have all those parts, the bike is 90% there.

Only parts it actually 'needs' are tyres, brake-pads, handlebars, grips, pedals.

 

[Bryncrug72]

There is a chap on here who is selling panaracer smoke classics, they will give you that retro look again that black walls don't !

viewtopic.php?t=257248

 

[drystonepaul]

I already have all those parts, the bike is 90% there.

Only parts it actually 'needs' are tyres, brake-pads, handlebars, grips, pedals.

Although not the exact same parts as originally specced, here's what I would recommend.

The bars would've been a pretty generic silver flat bar, probably made by Kalloy.
SJS Cycles sell these Thorn branded ones: --> http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/thorn-6061-a ... prod12868/
The logo can easily be removed with a dab of paint stripper.

For pads I'd recommend Aztecs. Very good performance and period correct: --> http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/10 ... black.html

Period correct grips: --> http://www.wiggle.co.uk/odi-attack-handlebar-grips/

Tyres are a bit more tricky. They were originally Ritchey Megabites. These haven't been in production for many years and a decent set of original skinwalls would set you back a lot of money.

A good modern compromise is these Charge Splashbacks: --> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-Charg ... 19e18dc430
Ridiculously cheap on ebay.

For pedals, a pair of LX flat pedals should be fairly easy to track down.

 

[retrotrack]

Thanks for the update guys

I sadly didn't get this finished for Xmas due to funds and time but I'm hammering through it now! Pics soon..

 

[monkeymagic94]

I have just given my tufftrax elite frame to a friend to do a retro build. I loved it. So much so i kept the frame from age 14 to a few weeks ago. Many happy memories of it