Saracing !!

[Andy B]

Isn't the modern brand Saracen owned by madison ?

Yup, according to the website that's under construction they are.

Although noting on the Ultimate Pursuits (Madison) website...

 

[silverclaws]

Yessss, Halfords, once a place to get good stuff, way back, now a place that don't even stock a basic rotor arm and dizzy cap for a bog standard Corsa as I found out recently, Halfords do indeed suck and the bike mechanic I came across there was questionable too.

So Halfords, it going downhill, will effect what it sells and if Saracen are there, they will pass on their shoddy name. But it was Halfords where I first saw the Saracen range back in '92, a lovely grey tufftrax I took a liking to instantly and a multi coloured e-stay with magura brakes, that I loved, but was waaaay out of my price range. All my pals had Marins and Diamond Backs, I got a Saracen, true temper avr tubing, it was class compared to the pals bikes, I suppose a typically conservative British bike. At the time I got a 26 lb traverse elite with full XT for £465.

What I found even then, the mtb lust was for American bikes, Saracen at my mtb club, '' the woollybacks '' were scarce, but out on rides, it never failed, neither did the Orange bikes, they earned my respect.

Maybe it is the package mentality, a complete bike to the liking for a set price, to me, it was always the priority being the frame set and everything else that hangs on it can be changed to personal taste, but then I before mtbs, bought frame sets and built bikes from there.

Having said all that, I have seen some very poor looking saracens in recent years, full suspension with paint flaking off and rust beneath, plastic componentry and steel chain rings.

 

[orange71]

I have three Saracens currently - Kili Comps - 2 with wishbone rear stays one with normal. 2 are 853 tubing and are fantastic to ride. All from around 97 eish.

 

[W W Biffta]

think its fair to say the "sarcing" phrase is indeed your basic snobbery. apart from it rhyming (saracen, saracing.. ok kind of rhyming) saracen is probably the brand that you find as many people willing to defend as slag off (unlike say townsend/apollo etc) so it has extra needle value.
for sure my 89 sara has never let me down, lots of spills, no dents, still on the original headset
some of modern low end stuff is a bit shoddy, wouldnt even count the bso full sussers as the same brand, but like has been mentioned they still put some nice stuff (carbon kili, reynolds 631 zen) just i dont think they actually manufacture anything anymore (since late 90's,) just bolt it together.

 

[ferrus]

My first road bike in '82 was actually a Saracen, [-quite a nice bike with Ishiwata '0245' tubing and Shimano 600 groupset] They were a tiny stuggling company then, who'd gone bust and my LBS in Coventry had bought up their last stocks and was selling them off dead cheap. To my surprise they resurfaced a few years later as a MTB manufacturer. Not sure if it was the same company or whether they had bought the name/brand.