PINK '95 Saracen Powertrax for my girlfriend: FINISHED

[Muddy paw]

Re: Retro Saracen for the girlfriend

Yes the search for parts can drive you a little over the edge even if their not NOS when their hard to find but like you say in your case your just after decent quality parts so it's none so bad but unlike you i can't go somewhere cheapish even for common parts so on here and the bay are my hunting grounds but i prefer it on here tbh as the trust is soo much better ..

It's great when you can pick up decent quality gear to put to one side just incase you need it but what will most likely happen is you'll end up with enough main parts over the next 12months to start building another bike but theirs nothing wrong with that ..

Nope retro bikers never get carried away buying to many parts you know and to prove it you just ask any one on here ..

..

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

2 weeks ago i thought i was just buying a cheap bike for the misses to use, but its accidentally turned into a bit of a project.... :roll:

I stripped the bike down to the frame and forks the other night but plans came to a halt when i tried to remove the bottom bracket. it has these shitty plastic shells on both sides and i couldnt get it out; my pin spanner slips straight off so then i tried mulgrips, and clamping it in the vice & turning the frame but all that seemed to do is chew up the plastic. i even resorted to melting the cups with a blow torch but this turned out pretty pointless




By this point my patience had ran out so i just bought another saracen frame. its 2 inch smaller and has the extended seat tube, but im sure becky wont even notice its a different frame











i'm not sure which model it is, but by the looks of the serial number its a 1994 year, saracen something or rather...? :?



This frame is NOS unused and unpainted. it has a shorter 100mm headtube which is annoying because i planned a straight swap of the old forks but the steerer tube is too long, so instead im going to use these GT Timberline forks i picked up at the Bristol bike project yesterday, and are a perfect fit



There was a little rust on the main tubes so ive given it a bit of a rub down with wet and dry in places. next stop the powdercoaters, im gonna pay the guy who does all my motorbike parts to powdercoat it, and the colour ice choses is magenta pink!! (second column to the left, five down)


more pics when i got the frame back in paint

sean

 

[RockiMtn]

Re: Retro Saracen for my girlfriend: The project begins!!

valiant attempt, but i feel you're going about this in the wrong direction. having built up a bike for the missus, she cared more about comfort over everything else. case in point that HUGE balloon you're using as a saddle. :facepalm:

i think you should seriously contemplate using a more modern frame, albeit still old (early to mid 2k) to maximize her comfort, which will correlate directly with maximizing her usage of the bike. the higher front end will help immensely, coupled with a short stem and riser bars.

i myself picked up a 2003 RM Stratos for her and she loves it:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=48485

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: Retro Saracen for my girlfriend: The project begins!!

Very good mate only it's second column to the right not left .
Well if you had taken your original frame to the LBS it would of probably been cheaper than another frame as i took time out to call in a bike shop on the way home from work one staurday morning about 20 years ago to ask how much to have my BB removed on my old Dawes road bike so after my little chat with the guy at the bike shop i rode home with the tool i needed on loan to me till the monday ..

Well that's certainly a decent frame you picked up their and don't chuck the old one out as it's still usable mate and those forks you picked up look really decent and won't take much fettling to fit the frame mate ..

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

Ahh man that saddle is her favourite part of the bike, she wouldnt be happy if i changed that!

@muddy paw: second FROM the left then to be honest, the hardtrax i thought would of been a waste of a good powdercoat anyway. You can tell its a cheap frame because it looks generic and without the graphics you wouldnt even know it was a saracen. The new frame looks better quality, but it needs identifying

So the new frame went down to the powdercoaters today but im not gonna get it back until next friday

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: Retro Saracen for my girlfriend: The project begins!!

Okay then mate it looks like your newly acquired frame could be a 1994 Saracen Eiger as this is what i found in the clubs archive http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/1 ... n_1994.pdf

If i'm wrong some one will put you on the right path and your wait for your frame to be powder coated will be well worth it mate ..

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

Ive not seen the catalogue scan before but based on what i could find on google,i thought it could be an elger (or eiger... whatever)

Look at the people at the bottom of the catalogue styling out the saracen 'activewear' it looks really quite dated now

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: Re:

Ive not seen the catalogue scan before but based on what i could find on google,i thought it could be an elger (or eiger... whatever)

Look at the people at the bottom of the catalogue styling out the saracen 'activewear' it looks really quite dated now

Well i found the scan in next to no time but no surprise really as i occassionally have a look through them in archive .

You sometimes have to google search a range of bikes but picking a certain year tends to help and to me that active wear just looks "Retro" and cool so maybe i'm dated then ..

 

[RockiMtn]

Re: Re:

Ahh man that saddle is her favourite part of the bike, she wouldnt be happy if i changed that!

not saying that you should change it, but the fact that she won't let you change it shows they have very different wants/needs. if you have a look at the bike i built up for the missus, you'll see it too has a saddle with fairly big portions, though not as immense as the one on this bike.

a retro frame to start, gives you a big disadvantage to overcome given the shorter AC compared to more modern frame. ladies will want a more relaxed upright posture, placing more weight on the saddle (hence needing more cushion), and less uncomfortable pressure forward on the arms and body (as they tend to have less upper body strength compared to men).

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

well it looks like an eiger, but on closer inspection the dropouts arent the same. on my frame the dropouts are a bit more rounded... so its a 1994 year but whatever it is, it isnt in the 94 catalogue? :?

im thinking that the 11 after the 94 probably stands for november, and although i dont really know anything about saracen, with GT bikes a lot of the first 1994 model bikes for example were made in and stamped late 1993, and 1995 models in 1994 and so on... so maybe saracen could be the same, i'll see if i can find the 1995 catalogue on here.


*edit: ive looked at the 95 catalogue and it doesnt match anything in there. i doubt i'll ever know for sure what it is, not that it matters i suppose