Circa 1995 Saracen retro-mod winter hack bike

drystonepaul

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NWA-GoytValley-December-10.jpg

December 2010 - NWA Goyt Valley and Buxton ride
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July 2009 - In the beginning...

Several months after getting hold of this damaged and therefore free Saracen frame, I've finally got around to building it up.
I ordered a frame from the 'Bankrupt Surplus Bikes' bloke on eBay back in February. I was a bit annoyed when the wrong frame turned up, and a damaged one at that. Despite this, I can't fault John the eBay trader for his excellent customer service. A couple of very polite email exchanges and the correct frame was sent out and, as an added bonus, I got to keep the original one. So two frames for £20 has to be a real bargain.

The frame I originally ordered was built up to replace my touring bike and turned out very nicely like this:

Saracen-Tourer%20-%20First-Ride%20(3).jpg

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But then left with another spare frame which was easily repairable I decided to make good use of it.

So began work on my 'retro-mod' winter hack bike.
Here is the damage to the frame:

saracen-dropout.jpg
saracen-top-tube.jpg


I repaired the bent drop-out and decided that I could live with a cosmetically damaged top-tube. I did however remove a section of brazed on cable pipe for a rear canti brake and drilled out the lower cable stop so that I could use v-brakes.
I raided the spares box and gathered together enough parts to build yet another bike.
Eventually the frame and £5 set of Saracen forks went off to the powder coaters.

£30 and 8 days later...

Saracen-Hack-01m.jpg
Saracen-Hack-02m.jpg

Saracen-Hack-03m.jpg
Saracen-Hack-components.jpg


And so this was built up over the weekend using mostly Deore M510/530 components, with 8 speed STX-RC shifters, and some bullet-proof self built wheels.
The mudguards and rack are a very practical feature which should keep me dry in winter as well as during the permadrizzle summers we seem to be getting nowadays.
All this weighs in at a reliably tank like 34 pounds, so it'll be good for training on too.

Saracen-Hack-04.jpg


Saracen-Hack-05p.jpg
Saracen-Hack-06p.jpg


Saracen-Hack-07s.jpg
Saracen-Hack-08s.jpg
Saracen-Hack-09s.jpg


I'm not totally sure what year this frame is, but my best guess would be about 1994 or possibly later, but whatever it is I quite like it.
So there you have it. Another piece of old Saracen steel put to good use.

EDIT: The 1993 range nearly all had 26.2mm seatposts. This bike takes a 26.4mm post so is more likely a 1994 or 1995 frame.
 

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