1980s f&f- Dawes Cougar, early Muddy Fox or Saracen etc

Hi,
I'm after a steel, preferably 80s early MTB frame and fork (I only need F&F but would take a whole bike if reasonable and you didn't want to split).

I briefly had a Dawes Ranger, which felt great but was too big so I sold it on - now wishing I had it but in a smaller size. One of those, or a Dawes Cougar (even better; all 531), the earliest Muddy Fox (when it was called the S&G Muddy Fox or something similar), an early Saracen would fit the bill. I'm picky - I'm after a lugged frame and fork (*not* unicrown). I'm not fussed about the surface condition, as long as it's sound and free of dents, and comes without seized seat posts or BBs, etc, as I'd consider powder coating. I'm going to build it up into a Long Haul Trucker-esque utility / commuting / touring bike with an Alfine hub.

Something like this would be amazing: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;start=10



I'm 5'9; will use this with swept-back bars so a longer top tube isn't a big problem, but I don't want standover of more than 80cm or so. A 21" or 22" square frame would do me fine.

hope someone might have something suitable!
thanks...

Re: Dawes

Got this 1989 Dawes Quest f & f + orig. bars, grips, stem, bb. Never did do the drop bar thing.
Frame is lugged but fork is unicrown (531 though).
Need the space £20 + postage?

Re:

Hm, tempting, thank you. Could you tell me top tube & seat tube measurements?

Re:

top tube 22" c-c, seat tube 19" c-c approx.

Thanks for the measurements. Hm, I measured my Marin and it's the same TT, so perhaps I need more reach than 22". Sounds odd though... I wonder if there is something else not right with my setup as 22" or 22.5" should really be enough. If it's ok with you I'll have a think...

Re:

Original stem is long, 135 mm I think. Gives a fair stretch.

Those are decent 3 piece forks too

Hi
Sorry to jump in here but is the Quest frame 531?

Cheers
Adrian

Despite buying a nice Dawes Quest here (thank you @jimbo-xc !), I've discovered it's no bigger than my current frame :facepalm: , so I'm still looking... and I'm still picky. Anyone?