1994 Saracen Kili Flyer

:cool: very nice and clean looking.

Have you had a chance to ride it yet? interested to hear what you think of the ride, with those forks as well, and also good to see some pics of it out and about :)

Might contact you about the forks also, when i manage to stop buying frames and saving some money :LOL:

Mark
 
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I'm hoping to get out on it this weekend If I get a chance (although life is completely mad at the moment, so who knows?). I'll take some more photos if I do & do a short ride review.

The forks are here, with no immediate plans for them. ;)
 
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Well, I didn't manage to get out at the weekend, but I took full advantage of the clocks going forward & the resulting lighter evenings and took the Kili out for a quick shake down ride last night.

It was a bit stop & start as I fine tuned the gears & adjusted saddle height etc, but ny initial thoughts are...

It's quick! It's bloody quick. It certainly lives up to its name. The ride is lovely and light and the frame feels responsive, whippy even. I guess that is down to the light tubeset, I've never ridden an Ultrastrong/Ultralight frame before. I'd be interested to hear what others think of these tubes. The USE forks work about as well as can be expected for a boutique early '90's elastomer fork. They're quite flexy, but it doesn't really seem to be a big issue when it comes to ride feel. They don't weigh much which certainly works in their favour. The front end feels light and surprisingly accurate considering how the fork legs flex (fore & aft) under braking.

I would guess that, ride wise, it feels as fast as my old Orange E4, which is saying a lot. But it has more 'feel'. I have also realised that I get on better with a slightly larger frame, even though I'm 'only' 5'10". a 19" definitely suits me better than a 17".

It's obviously designed to be a race bike, light, responsive & stretched out. It feels like it just wants to go FASTER and it's going to be really at home on nice twisty single track I think.

Recon I've found a new favourite ride. :D
 
Nice report and suprising about the larger frames, what is the tt length on this out of intrest?

And didnt you grab any pics :)

Mark
 
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Top tube is just shy of 22.5" and seat tube is 18" c to c. I think it's probably a 19" frame. Those are pretty much exactly the same dimensions as my Zaskar Although the bb is higher and the head tube longer, the zero rise stem means the bars are at the same height.

The stem I'm guessing is around 120mm. The DB Response, which is the smallest frame I have (17") feels a little short in the top tube. I have to have quite a long stem, which I feel puts more weight over the front end than I'd like ideally.

Having ridden the Kili and the 19" Clockwork I think the Response is going to have to go. It's a fab bike, but it's just that little bit too small, which means it won't get ridden.

I forgot to take any photos, I was having too much fun. Going out again at the weekend, so I'll take some then, :facepalm:

Interestingly, although I've not got any scales with me, I would guesstimate its roughly the same weight as the Zaskar too, but with a steel frame & suspension fork!
 
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