my new Saracen
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Lovely, I was very tempted to get one of these.
Still might...
Still might...
Sketchyxup
Retro Guru
Spec is totally stock as per the saracen website, full XT, Fox R120 RL's, Fizzik seat.
Had my first ride out and it wasnt the immediate love affair I was hoping for, maby I just need some guidance/reassurance. Bike is a 19" and im 6'4" and strangely it feels really big??
Bike is super light and climbs almost without effort, but my problem with is it is when it starts heading back down. Its hard to describe but it wont seem to corner properly, seems to push the front wheel wide and lacks the flickable feel I was hoping for, its already got a reasonably short stem 90mm so I was expecting it to be sharper.
Tyres are terrible so that wasnt helping with corner confidence either, going to try the set of highroller off my other bike as see if it has a dramatic difference.
Iv been riding a cube Stereo 20" for the last 2 years with the odd blast out on my wifes C'dale trail (Med) when the cube has been off the road, I always enjoy the HT as i think the stereo makes everything too easy sometimes and wanted to get my own HT. The wifes med bike is way too small for me and i have to run seat post just over max extension to get anywhere near leg use so this 19" should be bang on the money size wise. It just feels big, from looking at the pics it looks like the seatpost has a lot of lay back too so that my be contributing.
The other thing is im having to run the stem really high and the brake levers flatter than I would to stop them contacting the tt when turning the bars all the way round(i.e. in a crash) is it just me being too precious over my frame but i really dont want my levers to dent my TT if i come off? Anyone else do this or should i just get over it?
When I get home this weekend the plan will be to get the tape measure on the cube and set seat to bar position the same length, possibly a riser bar to sort my brake lever issue out. Try some tyres that were designed with a consideration given to friction and take it back up them thar hills for another shot.
This may sound like a slating, its not, its just im very picky and like things set up correctly and fully expect this bike to have some classic attributes in there somewhere.
Had my first ride out and it wasnt the immediate love affair I was hoping for, maby I just need some guidance/reassurance. Bike is a 19" and im 6'4" and strangely it feels really big??
Bike is super light and climbs almost without effort, but my problem with is it is when it starts heading back down. Its hard to describe but it wont seem to corner properly, seems to push the front wheel wide and lacks the flickable feel I was hoping for, its already got a reasonably short stem 90mm so I was expecting it to be sharper.
Tyres are terrible so that wasnt helping with corner confidence either, going to try the set of highroller off my other bike as see if it has a dramatic difference.
Iv been riding a cube Stereo 20" for the last 2 years with the odd blast out on my wifes C'dale trail (Med) when the cube has been off the road, I always enjoy the HT as i think the stereo makes everything too easy sometimes and wanted to get my own HT. The wifes med bike is way too small for me and i have to run seat post just over max extension to get anywhere near leg use so this 19" should be bang on the money size wise. It just feels big, from looking at the pics it looks like the seatpost has a lot of lay back too so that my be contributing.
The other thing is im having to run the stem really high and the brake levers flatter than I would to stop them contacting the tt when turning the bars all the way round(i.e. in a crash) is it just me being too precious over my frame but i really dont want my levers to dent my TT if i come off? Anyone else do this or should i just get over it?
When I get home this weekend the plan will be to get the tape measure on the cube and set seat to bar position the same length, possibly a riser bar to sort my brake lever issue out. Try some tyres that were designed with a consideration given to friction and take it back up them thar hills for another shot.
This may sound like a slating, its not, its just im very picky and like things set up correctly and fully expect this bike to have some classic attributes in there somewhere.
Sketchyxup":2apiwbv8 said:
Glad you like it.
I am just short of 6 ft and it was too big for me. Felt more like a 21" and quite long. Saracen messed up when sizing the kilis if you ask me. The medium 17" is very small in comparison to the 19", something like 3" less of a seat tube. Saracen really should have made a frame size in between.
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