'87 Saracen meets adventure bikes. Retro MTB shakedown on urban trails 

Yes, I guess those early British Saracens didn't make it that far afield - but then I bet you see some MTBs out there that we would consider impossibly exotic!

@@red_dread yes. I have been to British Columbia , Canada and thats where I was in MTB heaven. Myself I have a rare swell old TechNova that most know nothing about. Middle Canada made bike in the 80's.4130 1 1/4" headset .

When you see the price of a replacement you’ll know why I was so happy to get this one fixed! God damn

@@red_dread I’ve seen 😂 fortunately I found a pretty much NOS wheelset with a 6 speed block on for the price of just a block so I’ve got that spare when needed. And a used one too somewhere! The one on my Trekker is still going strong thoufh

I broke up a perfectly good 7-speed XT Hyperglide to make garden ornaments about 20 years ago. I now realise it would have been less stupid to use diamonds.

Thanks, nice to hear you enjoy them. I wish I could do more but I have a very busy life! There's plenty more coming though.

Me too, it's surprisingly rare outside the world of BMX. So powerful and cool looking.

All it needs is mudguards, which will be a job for another day.

@@red_dread Yes. Not very "period" as mudguards were considered uncool but I do love the things in this weather.

I've never heard of anyone ever breaking an Orange. Those things are so good.

I literally just ripped the tire yesterday 😂

When you see the price of those Uniglide cassettes you'll be very glad you already have one, no matter how rusty! I'd give it a night in the vinegar, then if necessary flip all the sprockets for a whole new life. They're easy to disassemble, you just need a tiny spanner (6mm iirc). All you need to know is the smallest sprocket (the one most likely to be worn) is also the lockring. You can reverse it but you'll need to make or find a spacer because it has a flange on one side. I managed it easily enough and mine now runs flawlessly.

Definitely my favourite means of transport, if not the fastest.

Thanks, I think a solid 80s MTB that's properly set up is hard to beat. The point-and-shoot simplicity is a delight, compared to my modern bikes where you have to check the shock pressures etc the night before a ride!

I actually prefer it when it's sub zero - there's much less of a cleanup operation when you get home! I also love shopping for extreme weather clothing so I'm always prepared.

Gracias, saludos desde Stockport!

Yes, they'd put some great thought into it. Started at a very cool urban coffee house (right next to my office) and took in canals, woods, river, mud, ice, lakes, parks, wasteland, cobbles... All within Manchester.

A fine bunch of hardy northerners. Pace rarely exceeded a brisk jog. My kind of riding.

Au contraire, these were a different crew. Make no mistake, the cartel remain shady and evil men.

Haha😂

😂😂

There was a lot of style on display, I'm ashamed to say very little of it from me. Yes, those were some of our familiar routes - TPT, Mersey etc. Lovely in these conditions.

All my power is drawn from this hair.

You certainly have to be careful with jet washing. Mine has a lower power setting specifically for bikes, and you need to follow a technique of spraying across all bearings, seals and pivots at 90 degrees - never directly at them.

I have given this subject a lot of thought in the past. For touring, you can definitely use a bike like this 80s Saracen, in fact I'd say the geometry and build quality make it perfect for the task. In the early days of mountain bikes, they were very much built with adventure and long distances in mind, so the geometry would be ideal on anything up to about 1989. From 1990, everything changed because the fashion became much more race oriented, and bike geometry got more aero, twitchy, long/low and generally uncomfortable as we all wanted to look like the pros, even if it meant riding ridiculous time trial geometry off road! By the mid-00s the fashion swung back to more "trail" oriented geometry, and you could once again buy quality MTBs with a more upright, stable and comfortable position.

I doubt it's exactly the same, but for sure there would have been a lot of similarities across different mountain bike manufacturers back then. Certainly lots of different brands would have used the same tubing (in this case Tange), same components (Shimano groupsets, limited choice on things like stems and seatposts). It's likely a lot of them would have had contracts with the same factories in Taiwan too, although I do think this Saracen was made in England.

@@red_dread Thanks for the reply! I’m about to purchase a really nice Trek Antelope, all original with bio-pace chainrings and Shimano components of the era, and this sure looks extremely similar to what you have. Will use it to learn light touring on and off trails. excited! 😊

@@mozaic_channel These bikes are perfect for light touring. You could ride in total comfort for days, and it won't let you down.

The weaklings look upon my thunderous Saracen and tremble

And the don't forget the quinnie

Hi, yes I do know: he got it from Velo Orange. Hope you can get one where you are!

@@red_dread Thank you for the info sir, appreciate it, I saw a long quill stem here but can't put modern drops. bcoz of u and oldshovel , I got into this hobby, now my modern giant talon is not in use anymore.haha

I still have it, and I still ride it occasionally - it works perfectly except that extremely complex rear shock which is going to be a headache to service. Will probably revisit the project in the Spring. By the way, it's a Genius not an Endorphin. The Endorphin is another fascinating bike I've never actually ridden - it had a rigid thermoplastic elevated chainstay and was apparently quite weird to ride. Would love a go on one someday.

All my bikes are tasty, that’s true. But this one is more of a delight than most.

@@red_dread yes so you have mentioned. 😁😎 And the weather might I add looked like a dog's breakfast (snow mud and muck)

I loved that reference to the body horror genre. An unexpected fusion of flesh and machine always adds spice to a ride.