Saracen Tufftrax project

Feels a little strange being over here as I'm very much a roadie however last year me and the missus enjoyed a few canal/ beach rides and since then I've been yearning for a retro mtb to replace my Rockrider.

After posting in the wanted ads Kermitgreenkona88 came up trumps with a Deore DX equipped Saracen Tufftrax, catch being it needed assembling.

How I received it:




I intended to lay all the parts out jigsaw style but the weather, time and space didn't permit so I just built it!











I just built it with the parts supplied apart from the bb which had a knackered thread and the front innertube which had a puncture :facepalm: Can't complain for the price though and I had alternatives to hand.

Looks alright eh I'll change a few bits out. Not keen on the odd tyres and would like some amber walls really, Splashbacks would have been perfect but doesn't look like they make them anymore, maybe go for Halo's. If not I have a couple of new (black) City Jets in the shed which would suit the bikes intended use but unsure of how they'll look.
Rear cassette body is a bit sticky, I have a replacement in the shed which may fit, I'll try that soon.

Overall really happy with it and will treat it as a rolling project upgrading/ changing bits as I go.

Couple of little jobs today:

Original seat is a rather nice Avocet R21 with a tatty seatpost:







The black PVC tape was covering some nasty scratches.

When I was younger, about the time this bike was built I was riding with a Selle Italia Rider saddle which remains my all time most comfy saddle. I managed to source one at some time and it sat in the parts bin waiting for the right bike to come along which I decided will be this one. Seat was a little tatty so I used some black leather dye and gave it a clean up. Looks pretty good, have to see how it holds out colour wise. I also had a new Promax seatpost in black of the right size but despite my efforts to remove the logo I had to give up in the end. Looks ok but not one for the bike snobs.













Only other job was to change the grips to something more subtle. Again I had some black Clarke lock on grips from my old stock so stuck those on. Looks better even if not period correct

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Great stuff. Got to love a 89 Tufftrax.

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Looks great takes me right back to '89 and my first MTB

Thanks fella's thought there was no love for my new toy

Kermit offered me a long or shortcage rear mech but I forgot to tell him my choice, luckily he went for the long cage option as I already have a short cage so I could try them both. After fitting the long cage I decided that I'd really prefer the short cage, probably the roadie in me, so I dug it out and fitted it. I also have some sealed bearing jockey wheels which I thought I may as well fit too. Not sure though, quality is good but they make it a bit too silver now. I'll wait until it's all back together before deciding.











I also said about the odd tyres. Well I thought I'd try the Schwalbe City Jets on it which will suit my mainly on road/ hard surfaces perfectly. Must say I really like them so they'll be staying. (If anyone wants a Panaracer Smoke Lite folding or a Continental Double Fighter 2 folding get in touch)

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Here's mine.

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Oh, and the Traverse I'm slowly working on.

Yes I've seen that brocklanders! Very nice original example, very nice

So this didn't satisfy me



Very worn chain on an equally worn cassette. Add to that the silent, very tired freehub it wasn't gonna run how I want it to. I had a spare new Shimano freehub in the shed but alas it was not compatible with the Exage hub. By now though I had decided that I wanted more than 7 speed on the back mainly due to having a not too worn Ultegra 10 speed cassette and matching chain.

So new freehub ordered and fitted which also saw the axle bearings replaced.





Now running with that lovely new ratchet sound from the freehub and axle is lovely and smooth.

So now to fit this:


More curious than anything else as I've heard stories of the old mechs not being able to span the width of the cassette which always strikes me as odd as they're the same width as 8....

Anyway, long story short it all went together fine Obviously I have to run the thumbies in friction (these could do with a lick of grease to get them a bit slicker) but the shifts are very slick, really happy with the outcome

When Kermit told me the bike came with Deore DX four finger brake levers I was very pleased, however in practice I found that I didn't actually like them! So I managed to pick up a pair of Deore DX two finger levers on here and made the swap (four finger levers for sale if anyone is interested)





Now to a major faux pas fitting Suntour and Shimano onto the same bike! Well it's a faux pas in my book anyway!
Wasn't keen on the Deore LX cantilevers from the outset preferring to ideally have DX to match the rest. However I have always wanted to try Suntour Self Energising brakes and as SJS has them for just £5 a pair I got some ordered. I was also inspired by the black brakes on the original spec bike. I had a pair of Dia Compe 988 canti's on the shelf too which I thought would be a better match to the Suntours and plus they're black (and green and a redish colour!)













So I think that's about it! Job done and now to get some miles in

I *think* I have a set of those suntour canti's lying about in a box somewhere, would be interested to know whether they are any good? My cannondale has ALIVIO canti's so I would imagine swapping to the Suntours would see a marked improvement!