Frame and fork, trash or treasure?

[RockiMtn]

Hey what year was that rockhopper!!! :shock:

That was the first bike I ever bought for myself, exact same colour red on grey!!! Sadly it got stolen about a year or less later. :cry:

1991 possibly, there was a stumpy comp in the same colour scheme in 1991.

:cry: that makes me feel like crap if that's the case. that means my first two bikes I ever bought and owned lasted no more than a year or so before they got stolen. 1st being that Specialized RockHopper, 2nd being a Rocky Mountain Experience.

 

[cherrybomb]

I think that might be a Saracen frame. I'm not at all sure, but those drop outs ring a bell from somewhere and I've never owned a Specialised.

 

[Dr S]

Its deffo not a Saracen. Steel Saracens had internal routing for brake cable, under BB for mechs. Later ones had the seat tube pierce the top tube. Drop outs are identical toearly 90's Diamond Back low to mid range frames- weight is similar too.

 

[Anthony]

Presumably mid 90s with the top tube routing, doesn't look much like a Saracen to me, and would a Saracen be likely to be in your dad's shed in Ontario?

If your scales are true, those are the weights of a pretty high-end frameset. Adjusting for the headset bits, the frame weighs below 4.4 and the forks 1.55. That's light and way light respectively. 24 seems a little too light for a Cirrus to me, but even adding 10% to all those weights, it's still a good quality frame.

 

[RockiMtn]

excuse my ignorance, but i've never heard of Saracen. were they popular in Canada/North America?

the 03 stratos is just under 27lbs. the 92 blizzard from what i recall was over 26lbs, maybe 26.5lbs or so. all my bikes are small size.

i'll weight and post my syncros post with my flite saddle and see how that measures up.

 

[RockiMtn]

Hi, wanted to revive this thread in hopes that someone can identify the frame and/or fork.

I've updated the pics with new ones I have just taken.

re-weighed the frame and it is approx 4lbs, 9oz/2.05kg
fork is approx 1lb, 10oz/740g

in comparison, the joe murray project two forks weigh in at approx 2lbs/950g

the mystery forks also has the similar "spinner" embossed dropouts as the p2 forks.

i've also made some measurements of the frame. it's approx 18" bb to top of seat tube, 22" from center of seat tube to center of head tube, 17" from center of bb to center of rear drop out.

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

oops double post.

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

The serial number screams Universal Cycle a mainland China joint venture factory that was started by Dodsun of Taiwan. Dodsun built for lots of companies over the years and in the 94-5 era a lot of their customers took their entry to mid level bikes to Universal in China to save 5-7 percent to either make more profit or price their bikes more competitively. If memory serves me correctly 1993 was the first year Dodsun pushed us to take our entry price point models to UCC and I think that was the first year the plant was up and running. I chose to stay in Taiwan not wanting to risk any quality issues although the UCC plant has always been among the best Mainland facilities.... well run with excellent management. Rear dropout has rack eyelet holes which says mid level to me. Who used a dropout like that??....anybody recall. Fork end also suggests a mid level fork...but with that fork weight it's light for a BIG bladed fork. Seat Post size may also help with the ID. as well has the head tube size...what are they? Diameter of the top tube, seat tube and down tube may help also. Not sure if it's just the bare color but it looks like OS tubes. What size Front derailleur clamp does it take?

 

[Anthony]

I think the shadow is making the top tube look fatter than it really is - it seems to be a 28.6, with a 28.6 seat tube and a 31.8 down tube. As GM says, you can learn something from the post size - if it'll only take a 26.4 post it points to a thick tubewall, the bigger the post it'll take, the thinner the tubewall and the higher the implied quality.

The weight is consistent with a mid-level double-butted frame, say more like a Hammer than a Blizzard. The fork weight is comparable to the lightest triple-butted P2s, whereas the 950g you quote is for a plain-gauge P2.

So it's all pointing to a good quality frame - certainly not trash, not the highest either, but its value would be enhanced by knowing its name!

 

[lewis1641]

the top of the seat tube looks very similar to my recently aquired khs. not familiar enough with it to remember the cable routung but i'm pretty sure its the same as that.

have a look at the khs in this thread...



http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... hlight=khs

my money is on khs