Early Saracen Lovers Anonymous......

That Hydrotech is simply LOVELY!

Anyone watching that Tufftrax on ebay ;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170552347426&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I do hope the seller gets a good price for it, as it is about as good as it gets, with only 30 miles from new.

And those tyres, I would guess Richey z- max, but skin wall at that.

Watching, yes! I'd be bidding if not so far away. I'd go say 175 on it.

it is a very nice example.. I have one as my hack bike and they are a nice solid bike. imo the fact that it is pick up only will really hinder the maximum bid. I live not too far away so will be watching the bidding closely

I'd rather have:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MENS-SARACEN-RUFF ... 500wt_1156

LGF is spot on - what a beauty

There sure seems to be a lot of old Saracens coming up on ebay now, or is it because of this place that there is more interest in them now. Just looking at the suggested search terms along with retro on ebay, there is Saracen now.

Although it is sad really that only now the old Saracens are becoming appreciated, as bitd my day that is '92- 95 of actual mtb type usage they weren't thought of up to much. My theory was everybody wanted flashy yank steel, British, English even was perhaps considered a bit staid. Mind I seem to remember Raleigh, Claud Butler,British Eagle and Muddy Fox received that overlook treatment too. Perhaps back then I actually believed in Britain.

But I watch ebay for Saracens in the hope my old '92 Traverse Elite will come up, as I want that back, for I can positively identify it, it has an acid etched number corresponding to my old post code burnt into the frame just above where the front mech hanger band was on the non crank side. But the frame will do at least.

Old Saracens certainly seem to have become more popular over the last couple of years. I would think that RetroBike has influenced this for sure.

The fact that they regularly turn up on eBay is a testament to how durable they were and still are. One should remember that Saracens were built to cope with year round riding in the UK, so while expensive lightweight American steel may have rusted away, the heavier powder coated Saracens shrug off a decade or more stored in a damp shed with the resilience of a cockroach.

That is perhaps why there are so many of them still around.

With the surge in popularity in cycling over the past couple of years and the 'bike to work' schemes, I reckon there will be plenty of people dusting off their old bikes to use them, or to sell them on for something more modern.

Bitd, my Saracen excelled in mud, one of the things I liked very much about it, even with 2.1 tyres fitted, it came with, there was still space between the tyres and the chainstays. The other riders on American steel were hopeless in mud, perhaps because the bikes were designed for American ground conditions; Marin, Marin County, California, sandy I would expect, England, it rains a lot and we are specialists when it comes to mud, especially that peaty acid yuck up on top of Kinder Scout before the stone paths were built.

In fact the very first day I had my new Traverse Elite, my pal who turned up on his Diamond Back Sorrento thought I was mad traversing it through deep gloopy Rainford farm land mud, a sort of mud that although the bike was moving sort of forward throught the mud, it was tracking sideways, I guess paddling its way through. The DB got no traction at all and the pal fell off into the mud, which I think was mixed with silage, it smelled that bad. Tyres I know, 2.1 Ritchey Megabite kevlar beaded folders against 1.9 Farmer John's Nephews

Saracen I always thought of as a very effective cross country bike not a mountain bike as very few of the so called mountain bikes ever see mountains, although the Saracen e-stays to me were the best for xc duties.

Let me never miss the opportunity to trot out my 'Tufftrax in the Rockies' picture...


Brainard Lake by therealkw15, on Flickr