Which Frame Should I Build Up?,

Another vote for the bear valley!

Saracen. That's it.

wookiee":1mxpg8fm said:

Oh btw the Marin frame has a '93 Eldridge stem and QR seat clamp on it...but looks like a 96/97 frame?

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And what looks like '94 forks. Bit of a mish mash but the potential is there.

The marin will be the most good looking, I will probably built first that one and then the saracen.

May have tracked down a specialised stump jumper 1994 frame, it's green and purple that much I know. Should pick it up in the week, will post some pictures then but at the moment I am in favour of the Saracen, only because I raced on one back when I started mountain biking.

I vote Shogun (surprise, surprise), or Marin.

That era prairie breaker is probably Tange Prestige and ought to be quite a nice rider if it fits you. Get the decals remade and paint it a color you can stomach!

Here's Arran's '91 Prairie Breaker Pro build...viewtopic.php?p=613694



Could do worse!

shogun is my fave and I love the colour, I shouldn't say his but if it goes up for sale. But don't to that!! Built it its retro beauty!

sproket_jockey":1ldt4t2r said:

Do any of you recognise the Saracen frame, I looked through the Saracen catalogues and found one with the same stickers but the frame didn't have the pierced top tube?

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Saracen 'Special or Limited Edition' bikes were generally bikes built up at the Saracen factory from surplus frames from the previous model year.
So an old frameset, rehashed with a different set of stickers and possibly another colour.

A prime example of this is the 1992 Kili Racer, which was an LX M550 equipped bike in the 1992 catalogue and the uncatalogued 1993 Race Elite.
Both have the same e-stay frame in red, but the 93 version was a bit of a parts bin special which had anything from Alivio to DX components hung on it.

I suspect your 'Limited Edition' is a 1992 frame built up and sold in 1993. This is based on the canti bridge on the seat-stays, as opposed to a cable noodle on the seat tube cluster as more commonly used on frames from 1993 onwards.

Could be the same frame as anything from a Tufftrax to a Traverse, but I suspect it's most likely the same frame as the Tufftrax.
The catalogues are here for reference: --> http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/M ... atalogues/

Bit biased I know, but if it fits and if you have some historical attachment to it, then I'd build up the Saracen.

Actually, on second glance, the chainstays on your Saracen look more like those on the Traverse and Traverse Elite frames, rather than the deeper section types on the Tufftrax frames.
The top tube routed cables also support this id.

In which case it could well be made from True Temper AVR tubing, which is rather nice.