Saracen Kili Racer

[Splatter Paint]

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Step 1

Procure old mountain bike from internet advertisement or auction.

If auction site, wait for a week for the auction to end and place a bid in the last few seconds. Pray that it doesn’t get ‘outed’ on RetroBIKE whilst you are waiting. Do not view beforehand but bombard the seller with questions about the bike. Learn all you can before bidding, bid an appropriate amount based on the info you have and the grainy pictures. Don’t consume alcohol before bidding.

Win or purchase item and then collect from seller, look for cracks! Drive home feeling pleased as punch or totally gutted – there is no middle ground. Unload the bike at home, stare at it for a while, absorbing the details you missed before you bought it. Is that a crack?

 

[Splatter Paint]

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Step Two

Take it for a quick spin (assuming the condition allows you to do so) around the block to confirm it is the right size and there are no major problems.

In my case, even with a child seat and child on the back, it still handles better than a Kirk, so I moved on to Step Three. My kid fell asleep on the way home so clearly the ride quality is very smooth!

 

[Splatter Paint]

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Step Three

Formulate a plan of action for the bike. This could include renovating, repairing, upgrading or just swapping parts over for personal preference.
In this case for the Kili; saddle, tyres, grips, QR axles. I did a little of Step Three in Step Two because that big gel saddle was nasty and I had to make sure the brakes were tip-top with the child on the back.

 

[Splatter Paint]

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Step 4

Disassemble and de-grease. Witness years of accumulated gunge disappear from the bike and become ingrained in your skin. Plan to wear gloves next time and set about cleaning door handles, light switches and whichever sink you used. At this point you may find mechanical horrors, in which case return to Step Three.

The Kili needed a new front gear cable and the snapped cable adjuster fishing out of the shifter and a new one fitted.

 

[Splatter Paint]

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Step Five

Assemble the cleaned components and new parts, replace cables and other consumables as required. Use scales to gauge how much lighter the new parts are. In the case of the Kili, I lost a kilo from the tyres alone. :shock:

 

[Splatter Paint]

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Step Six

Polish everything, well, apart from the brake pads, rim surface, grips etc….

 

[Splatter Paint]

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Step Seven

Now you have restored your bike, go ride! Mud is optional, though you get more kudos if you got it muddy.

The Kili rides very well indeed, very little bottom bracket flex, good overall. The stem does pitch you over the front wheel a lot though, so that has to go.

 

[Splatter Paint]

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Step Eight

Now your bike is all muddy and the chain sounds awful due to the ingrained grit, return to Step Four if you enjoyed your ride or Step Three if you didn’t.

I enjoyed mine time to wash that chain though... :facepalm:

 

[The History Man]

That's an awful lot of calamine lotion?

 

[Joe_Rides]

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Blood and sand! That looks brand new after cleaning and polishing! Excellent job.