1992 Saracen Tufftrax Elite (Update 25/06/11)

drystonepaul":2vmhkwmb said:

Looks great ER. The red and grey go very well together. Am I right in thinking there is a slight metallic fleck in the grey...?

Click to expand...

Cheers Paul, yes there is a metallic fleck in the paint, looks really nice in the flesh.

richie d":2vmhkwmb said:

Thats nice! I'm kind of regretting selling the thing now :roll:

Click to expand...

Funny how I got hold of this frame in the end, you never know, if I find a smaller one then this might be heading back to you.

Hi ER, Thats a nice looking machine Looks new, You have done it proud, Is it original paint and decals ???

Gravy Monster":369ydy9w said:

Hi ER, Thats a nice looking machine Looks new, You have done it proud, Is it original paint and decals ???

Click to expand...

Thanks
Paint is original, they were powder coated so quite tough. The original decals would have been white like on page 9 here. These are replacements done in 93/94 so only a year younger than the paint.

This is how it would have looked new

Ooops :twisted:










That's better

I have come to the conclusion that I really like the handling and ride of this bike. Maybe it's because it's a large frame and I usually ride smaller ones, or maybe it's just got the S factor, I don't know. Anyway, here is my dilemma. The way it's geared now, it's slightly too low for pure road and tootling to Chester or commuting and geared way too high for my local gloopy mud trails, don't like having an SS geared too low because you look and feel a twerp riding to your local trail and it takes forever. So the conclusion is I want to gear it and put this SS stuff back on the Parkpre when it's fixed.

I will use Deore thumbies and probably Deore front and rear mechs, but my dilemma is on the cranks. Think they need to be 110bcd rings, but all i have is some middleburn cranks (the early ones), initially I thought the tapered cranks (getting narrower toward the pedal end) would suit the Q21 forks as they taper too, then I thought would it be too much bling for a deore equipped Tufftrax? (Deore was the OE spec for '92)

Or should I just keep it SS? Or 1x8?

:?

I'd go for a 1x7 if it were me. Be warned though, you'll need a chain guide on the top of the chainring for anything remotely bumpy, which may spoil your clean SS aesthetics.

Weighed this bike in work yesterday just out of interest and i'm quite shocked. It always felt light, I guessed it to be around the 27lb mark as I'm sure they were 29/30lb new with all the gearing.


It weighed 24lb :shock:

I really like the organic brake booster, is it light

very nice I like the grey

Did this stay SS or did you go 1 x 7 fella?

At the moment it's hanging up and is 2 x 0 awaiting my attention, I think I will turn it back to 21 speed.