1995 Saracen BACKTRAX

So I discovered this awesome site whilst looking for my 1998 Specialized HardRock which was stolen in Brighton, I still miss that bike.

So since then Ive been riding my more modern GT about town and realized I love the old MTBs for cruising and commuting.
Keeping an eye out I found this for a reasonable price of £50 not to far from me and decided to pick it up.

Im fairly sure this is a 1997 Saracen BACKTRAX, *1995 thank you @jimwise68 for the correction!

Im really happy with at it seems completely original and has been well looked after, I'm amazed at the colour of this pictures don't do it justice it has such a thick coat of lacquer on it which produces a super rich green colour. Everything seems in working order.

It has these Schwalbe Marathon tyres on it which I'm not a fan of. I picked up that seemingly unused Panaracer from my local bike place for a low cost.

Im not sure on what tyres I would like any suggestions would be great. I do really like the Tan wall look, but think I want something modern like a gravel bike style tyre. I also dont want to spend loads

It has the Grip Shift gear shifters not completely sold on them although original,

Ill be using it to commute and have fun on so any inspirational direction would help,
Also does anyone have any tips for sticking back down the old peeling decals. Thanks

Re: 1997 Saracen BACKTRAX

Jake___":3dewqubm said:

So I discovered this awesome site whilst looking for my 1998 Specialized HardRock which was stolen in Brighton, I still miss that bike.

So since then Ive been riding my more modern GT about town and realized I love the old MTBs for cruising and commuting.
Keeping an eye out I found this for a reasonable price of £50 not to far from me and decided to pick it up.

Im fairly sure this is a 1997 Saracen BACKTRAX,

Im really happy with at it seems completely original and has been well looked after, I'm amazed at the colour of this pictures don't do it justice it has such a thick coat of lacquer on it which produces a super rich green colour. Everything seems in working order.

It has these Schwalbe Marathon tyres on it which I'm not a fan of. I picked up that seemingly unused Panaracer from my local bike place for a low cost.

Im not sure on what tyres I would like any suggestions would be great. I do really like the Tan wall look, but think I want something modern like a gravel bike style tyre. I also dont want to spend loads

It has the Grip Shift gear shifters not completely sold on them although original,

Ill be using it to commute and have fun on so any inspirational direction would help,
Also does anyone have any tips for sticking back down the old peeling decals. Thanks

Click to expand...

Looks great. Nice and simple.

Re: 1997 Saracen BACKTRAX

Nice find it is a pretty original looking 1995

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/1 ... n_1995.pdf

Enjoy blasting it around

You cant beat tanwall tyres on retro bikes IMO, black tyres just look wrong to me.

Re: 1997 Saracen BACKTRAX

jimwise68":3vumkf0l said:

Nice find it is a pretty original looking 1995

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/1 ... n_1995.pdf

Enjoy blasting it around

You cant beat tanwall tyres on retro bikes IMO, black tyres just look wrong to me.

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AHhh Awesome thanks for that! a 1995 thats cool, love that catalog,

Yh I think some tan walls are required! Do you have any suggestions? Bit of a noob when it comes to vintage bike parts

Tan wall tyres are one of the issues of retro bikes. Schwalbe make a lot of new rubber with tan walls. Seems the majority of gravel bike conversions go this route.

Other options are finding original ones on here or on ebay or some sites have them, like here https://bicyclist.cc/product-category/c ... es/page/5/

These seem like a decent buy for the money (they look similar to Ritchey Alfa Bites), https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MTB-TYRE-26- ... %7Ciid%3A8

But really depends on your budget as some go up to the £100s.

I'm sure there will be more replies and help on this subject from other members.

jimwise68":3hojv44y said:

Tan wall tyres are one of the issues of retro bikes. Schwalbe make a lot of new rubber with tan walls. Seems the majority of gravel bike conversions go this route.

Other options are finding original ones on here or on ebay or some sites have them, like here https://bicyclist.cc/product-category/c ... es/page/5/

These seem like a decent buy for the money (they look similar to Ritchey Alfa Bites), https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MTB-TYRE-26- ... %7Ciid%3A8

But really depends on your budget as some go up to the £100s.

I'm sure there will be more replies and help on this subject from other members.

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Great thanks ill keep an eye out for some, i do think it needs it. Feels wrong spending more than you paid on the whole bike on tyres ha

I've done that on my last three bikes! hahaha

Got to look the part though it totally transforms them. I bought a 1997 Saracen over the weekend and the tyres I put on were more expensive than the bike.

Well worth it though,

jimwise68":gynowbna said:

I've done that on my last three bikes! hahaha

Got to look the part though it totally transforms them. I bought a 1997 Saracen over the weekend and the tyres I put on were more expensive than the bike.

Well worth it though,

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Ahh right I see how it goes then haha

Yeah that looks mint mate!

Re:

Enjoy.

For your info that lush green was Saracens powder coating that they used to use on their bikes of that era. I've a couple of the Neon purple powder coated frames. Very tough and comes up nice with a polish and a bit of elbow grease. Dunno if you saw these either...

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/M ... 5.pdf.html

but you can read all about your bike from the original catalogue.

Re: Re:

bobmac892":35ctq0pj said:

Enjoy.

For your info that lush green was Saracens powder coating that they used to use on their bikes of that era. I've a couple of the Neon purple powder coated frames. Very tough and comes up nice with a polish and a bit of elbow grease. Dunno if you saw these either...

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/M ... 5.pdf.html

but you can read all about your bike from the original catalogue.

Click to expand...

Yeah I noticed the paint quality straight away, it has such a thick coat of lacquer on it. Thanks for that, @jimwise68 beat you to it and sent that catalog to me already