1989 Saracen Tufftrax singlespeed - rebuild

[Ghosty]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

I have wondered about the tensioner jumping off...
Chainline's fine - it's just length that needs shortening (again!). Took 3 links out last night, will have to do yet another at some point.
Tensioner lined itself up when I put the chain on it as the cog and chainring are all good.
It isn't jumping any more, anyway.

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

It may of seemed tricky or should i say tedious but Rod seems to know the in's and out's of it very well and makes pefect sense so any way you seem to have nailed it and it only requires some cruising to be done and some feed back afterwards of course ..

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

Finished and test ridden a little, brakes are decent enough but need new pads (first time setting up Vs, wow it's easy).
The ride is interesting, like nothing I've had before, those cruiser bars really make a difference - you sit very upright with them. I'll have to wait and see if it does the same thing to my back that the Fire Mountain did - I really hope not, bit it might just be a case of chucking in some headset spacers or something. It's geared ideally for me (42/14 as on my MBK), it'll really go when pushed, but it'll happily amble along too and get up reasonable inclines with some effort. Tried it with the chain tensioner first, it was okay, but if you really pushed on the pedals the chain jumped. Hm. As suggested I ook the tensioner off and shortened the chain a little more and it just clears the chainstays, if the chain was any shorter I'd have clearance issues. Lucky. Transformed the power delivery though, it's loads nicer. Jumping is gone now too.
I think the rear tube isn't quite holding air :roll: I'll wait and see.

Anyway, what is an update like this without pictures?











Spec time:

Frame: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax 18" - Tange MTB

Fork: Saracen cro-mo

Headset: ???
Stem: Bontrager threadless adapter
Handlebar: eBay cruiser bar
Grips: Evans Cycles 'fwe' lockons, white
Barends: none

Brakes: Shimano Deore M510 silver
Brake Pads: ???
Brake Cables: Clarks
Cantilever cable hangers: n/a
Brake Levers: Shimano Deore M510 silver

Shifters: n/a
Front Derailleur: n/a
Rear Derailleur: n/a
Derailleur Cables: n/a
Cassette: 14 tooth cog with VeloSolo blue and silver spacers (with a green one hiding behind the cog)
Chain: shortened Shimano HG
Cranks: Shimano Deore LX M560
Crank Bolts: ???
Chainrings: Salsa 42t
Chainring bolts: ???
Bottom Bracket: Cup and cone? unsure, could be Exage 500LX
Pedals: ???

Hub Skewers: ???
Rims: Mavic 221
Hubs: front Shimano Deore M510 silver, rear LX Parallax M560
Nipples: ???
Spokes: ???, rear DT Swiss
Tyres: Schwalbe Crazy Bob 26x2.3"
Tubes: ???

Saddle: a funky blue 'snakeskin' one, unbranded?
Seatpost: ???
Seatpost Binder: Kalloy qr

Weight: ??? light enough!

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

Nice work mate and i understand your reasoning for the tensioner but most only use them on bikes with horizontal drop outs if i remember correctly but any way the ride sounds great with the set up now sorted and i can't believe how clean the bike looks around the cassette area now it's a single speed and i'm clearly tempted to do a single speed set up myself but not sure which bike mm so only time will tell ..

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

Yeah, I think you're right now I think about it - bikes that just have a 'hole' for a dropout too. Good to have one in stock, anyway.
I liked it more with the tensioner first, but I've changed my mind now - and it goes better too so it's win win.
Single speeds are great for spare frames or for some cheap fun - I wonder if it's worth me rebuilding my Fire Mountain with a sus fork, riser and s/s...

oh dear, it's happened again.

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

Yes i didn't want to step on your toe's earlier but as soon as i saw it without the tensioner i thought the lines looked cleaner but if that chain is jumping again then the question is how much wear is their on the chain ring and do the links of the chain seat snugly on the chain ring and single cog and is the chain links all freely moving along it's full length or just thinking about the join on the chain as they can be a bit stiff if the pin hasn't seated correctly and rebuilding the kona as a ss sounds great but your now a stem short :facepalm: ..

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

Nope, chain's fine now! Think it was the tensioner making it jump - wouldn't surprise me.
Chainring is almost new, cog is new and chain is new. It's all good - every thing I did to the driveline improved it a little more.
I'm used to messing with chain pins by now, but I still hate it :facepalm:

I don't mind that I don't have the Velocity - I don't have the P2 either! I want a threadless suspension fork and stem for it, really - and I'd put V brakes on this time too, so I don't need a canti hanger either. It's all good.

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

Okay then you seem to have cracked it and sometimes even with a fair bit of experience with chains they can still prove to be a mare so good to see you got their with it as it really is looking the part now ..

Glad to see you won't be needing the stem seen as your thinking of going threadless and i assume you have an aheadstem then for your kona if you go ahead with the ss project ..

 

[Rodrigues]

Re:

Good work dude

Looks loads better without the tensioner and rides better by the sound of it.

Well done for persisting until it was right. I'm terrible for just doing the quickest things to get the bike going - but I usually end up changing it again soon after.

Get some more pictures when the sun is shining :-D

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1989 Saracen Tufftrax - a budget klunker/cruiser

Well it seems I forgot about this place, having been engrossed in cycling, longboarding and a beige coloured motoring forum so I'll just drop in with an update.


It's great :grin:
I use this thing all the time now, it's a cracking bike. Started making angry creaking noises at one point that worried me a bit :shock: , but I regreased the crank splines... that helped a little, but it was still there :evil: creak creak on every stroke. Then it did it as I got on... :idea: I tightened the seat clamp bolt and it went away. :facepalm: Goes well enough, easy to control - and best of all doesn't hurt my back at all like that hateful Fire Mountain did :grin: (I still have that frame...)
I've not done anything else to it but ride it.
People love it - I get a lot of comments on the tyres, and a lot of those people follow up by asking why the tread goes up the sides of them - that's because they're designed for those weird 26" wheel BMXs you see now and then. It's great though - all that tread is handy for gripping round corners and the like :idea:

Who needs fatbikes?!



Here 'tis - with my MBK peeking in behind it.