Born Again Saracen Kili Flier Comp.

Whilst a great many of you were tackling the MM course at the weekend, I too was toiling mightily on two wheels. Since loosing my job I have had a lot of time to ride myself back into a little form. Around a stone has gone from the midrift and none of my trousers fit anymore.
Since seeing that Mark Beaumont thing on the BBC, I have wanted to give a long distance ride a go.
I even bought and built a 1988/9 Saracen Kili Flier in glorious pink/purple. When it came to the crunch (getting the forks braze ons added), I hesitated. The top tube just felt too long even with my primate arms. Also when off up the Chase, the rigid Kili was the bike I grabbed.

Something else was needed. I thought of my 1990 Kili Comp. I have owned this beast from new. Chaps like PaulstottUK will remember it from the early 90s. A short top tube (it came with a 150mm flat stem) made for a heavy but stable ride. Here it is in it's previous (XC) guise:

After some thought and lots of good advice from Chris667, I started to make some changes. So, I totally stripped the frame included removing the original (and pristine) rear brake cable and it's very corroded outer from the frame. How you laughed (at me) when I sprayed Waxoil all over the kitchen. V brakes were added to give more reliable stopping power and considering how many times my legs would be going around, some XT cranks in 170mm length were purchased from Nimbus. Rigid forks went back on along with a flash stem from Orange71.
This (Softride??) item is strange. It feels like undamped forks as the parallellagram design keeps the bars in their original plane. It is quite soft and has a degree of sag. Downside is it tops out and squeaks a bit but it will stay for sure.

look forward to seeing it built up - have you dialled in as much preload into the stem as you can? I found it OK when at full preload.

I have always had a fair bit of camping gear. Chris667 supplied the front bags which mean I didn't have to alter the forks. A one man tent which is slightly larger than a coffin fold down nice and small. Very badly injured shoulders mean I hae to carry at least two matresses in order to get any sleep at all. Once loaded, it weighs around one metric tonne. I stuggled to maintain an average speed of 20KPH although my route was West into a fresh to strong westerly. The hills of the Shropshire/Welsh border may not have been a good choice of venue either.
I managed around 65 miles a day. I felt good on the third day and could have gone on for another few hours but I wanted to watch the F1.
I am reckoning on needing to do 70 miles per day if I try the end to end. One thing is for sure, it will be a smelly two weeks or so.

very envious!

A damp flannel to the sweaty bits does wonders for one's BO

Look's like a great set up you've got going there, haven't seen Profile Durango bars for years! (I've just bought some Scott AT-4s for touring, courtesy of a RB member..)
Don't think you can beat the open road for easing/making the best of the unemployment blues ... ?

fully laden tourer always gets me spirit of adventure an all that.

IWGO, this is a fantastic story. As kaiser said, it's got the 'spirit of adventure' but you've also turned your redundancy into an opportunity to do something positive, and you've got off your arse and done it. Really cool stuff!

(Plus there's tons of photos of an early 90s Saracen -- so no complaints from me on that count! )

Tried one of those box airbeds yet?
Ive camped for 30 yrs and until recently used a kip mat[or 2] only

after buying it i discovered heaven ,i've a wee track pump that does the business and i take that along[doubles for bellows on the fire ]

Normally ,when i camp,im up at the crack of dawn,on my first night on the airbed i slept in to 11AM :shock: