1989 Saracen Tufftrax

slackboy

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Picked this up this afternoon. A very original looking Saracen Tufftrax - complete with bottle holder and matching pannier rack. The guy I bought it from had owned it from new and only really used for commuting the short distance between home and work.

Overall its in pretty nice condition with the exception of the chainstay bridge which has some nasty looking corrosion and the bottom bracket which has a bit of play.

He also chucked in set of Cateye lights with boat anchor batteries and the original instruction manuals for thumbies and derailleurs.

The plan is to treat the rust and use it for shopping trips rather than the car. Given that decent pannier rack costs more than I paid for it, that seems like a sensible justification for a new bike.

I might see if I can source a Deore DX derailleur though as the jockey wheels on the Mountain LX one are a bit worn.

My friend has this bike when we were kids and I was always a bit jealous of him. I remember going along with him to a race down in cheddar gorge in '89 or '90 that was a complete mud fest and my first night away without my folks. He was riding one of these and I had a Hardrock.





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Yeah that would be awesome if you could do em all... if there's a cost let me know... :)

Would like the Thumbies one more importantly! ;)
 
Had a partial strip down. Headset is notchy and the seatstay and chainstay bridges are quite badly corroded. Goodness knows how that happened as the rest of the bike seems pretty much unmarked - the thumbies might as well have just come out the packet.

I need to source some tools to service the bottom bracket but once thats done and the rust is treated I'll get it back on the road. Just need to buy some pannier bags now.

Here the links to the service guides if anyone is interested

Deore MT62 Thumbshifters

Exage M350 Cantilevers

Mountain LX Front Derailleur M452

Mountain LX Rear Derailleur M452
 
do yourself a favour and change the brakes. without a doubt the worst brakes ive ever used.
 
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do yourself a favour and change the brakes. without a doubt the worst brakes ive ever used.

I was having that debate with myself. They look awful and they feel awful to touch and I my prefer the look of the DX levers and canti's...but it cost me virtually nothing, it will be used for trips to tesco and its spent 30 years completely original and it would be a shame to change that now.
 
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slackboy":2uhmvagu said:
do yourself a favour and change the brakes. without a doubt the worst brakes ive ever used.
its spent 30 years completely original and it would be a shame to change that now.
Totally agree same as mine, my rear one is a tad stiff but it needs a good service & it'll be fine, personally I dont have on issue with them at all!
 
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