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UR BIK IZ SARICIN
+1
You can polish a turd...but it's still a turd.
STW brand snobbishness at its finest! I'd quite like an Ariel if I was in the market for a 6" play bike.
You can polish a turd...but it's still a turd.
But you can roll it in glitter....
If you haven't ridden one yet I'll be at the Singletrack weekender and you welcome to have a quick spin on my Ariel
I will require a spin on your ego chariot though 😉
You maybe pleasantly surprised
I suppose I can claim ownership of the Raw 2 and Rufftrak in the garage 
Halfords Saracens at their most remarkably poor.
I own two of them. An old one for shopping and work and my girly friend has got the other. The latter has been to afan, brechfa and done a few winters up cannock chase. Cracking tool and still gets ridden on a constant basis. It is also a spare for anyone who wants to come along but doesn't have a bike.
Don't think I'll be joining the fan Club though.
Plenty of people on here own Skoda cars, wonder how long it'll take before Saracen loses it's old image ?
It's really sad that Saracen are still struggling to shake off their old image. Saracens of the mid/late nineties were true classics, the old Kili series and the Tufftrax (which, kind of like Specialized's timeless Stumpjumper, has existed in various incarnations for years).
Then they went all mass-market, cheapo full sus sold through Halfords which was almost the death of them. 🙁
Now they're back and good again but still the brand snobs are just looking at the name and ignoring the rest of it.
I'm in the process of completely revamping my old Ti Saracen which has sat in the shed for years not really doing a lot. Stripped it right back to bare frame the other day, just waiting on some parts to build it back up again.
1 OFF MI BIKZ IZ SARACIN 😉
1991 Saracen Trekker Hydrotech. And a proper dayglo beaut it is too!
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/5089981924_6df3a2d908_z.jp g" target="_blank">
It was always brave to relaunch a name with such a bargain bin reputation, and although I wish the folk at Saracen no harm I can't help thinking they'd have been better off starting with a new name. There are plenty of bike brands including quite a few in the UK that didn't exist here five or so years ago (Ghost, Mondraker etc).
My race bike is a Saracen - a magnesium Kili something or other. 3lb frame and nice and compliant. Still hasn't broken yet.
yeah this was the bike industries marketing balls up of the year last year
They should have gone with CRC Value instead!
For Saracen, read Skoda.
How many times do you see Skoda recommended in a car thread?
And why? Because they're excellent.
I wish Saracen every bit of luck with this. Back in the day, I had a stand up shouting match with the then owners of Saracen as they drove it headlong in to the ground making tosh like the Raw. I tried, in vain, to explain that there would always be a market for quality, British-riding-inspired bikes. They didn't listen. On One and others filled that valuable niche with just such bikes.
Saracen were instrumental in the birth of the sport in this country, I believe, and as such, it would be great to see them back where they belong.
Lush;
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Vile
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I firmly believe that if they made Kilis like those above, but with slidey singlespeedy dropouts rather than cowled Ritchey ones, people would lap them up. They rode so well!
Flashheart +1
I remember reading a review in MTB Pro (as it was then) where Steve Worland tested the Kili Ultra and they raved about it.
That's the bike I've got now (except in raw Ti rather than polished). It's going to be so nice once I get it all cleaned up. 🙂
My nearly mint 1985 Saracen Conquest
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My 1990's Saracen Back Trax
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still ride this to the shops and that.
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In jest
Didnt they do a feature on them in the mag a while ago...they showed some nice (modern) stuff around the place. Steering clear of Halfords would be a start for them, but they should have dropped the name when they relaunched.
buzz...any chance you could email me that pic with the cats, but without the writing on...its a classic.
I have one of them too Hamish, 2004 magnesium Killi, 2.9Lbs in 19". Bought brand new 5 years ago for £40. Best bargain ever.
Don't agree about it being compliant though, mine feels rather harsh, but then it is fully rigid at present (and singlespeed too, how niche is that)
Nothing wrong with the zen series either, had the same geometry as all the other hardcore hardtails out there, good uk specs and competitive pricing yet genesisi have stolen the march on them with the Core series
I've not got an old one when they used to be good or a new one when they're coming back on their game but a Zen from right in the middle of their bad patch!
Was looking for a 456 frame on eBay when the Zen 631 steel frame came up dirty cheap, soooo glad I got that instead of an alu frame. I absolutely love it, have spent far too much on the other parts around it for what was a cheap HT to try it out but it's my go to bike now.
Do like the look of their new range but not really anything I'm shopping for right now....
[i]Didnt they do a feature on them in the mag a while ago...they showed some nice (modern) stuff around the place. Steering clear of Halfords would be a start for them, but they should have dropped the name when they relaunched.[/i]
The new Saracen range is not sold through Halfords, it is an IBD brand. The Saracen name is about all that is left from the brand. Madison designed a completely new range of bikes, none of the old stuff was carried over. It wasn't as much a relaunch, more a rebirth.
I am sooooooooo tempted by the Ariel. Proper review here rather than the usual by some mincers at MBR/ bikeradar etcectc...
http://www.southerndownhill.com/reviews/bikes/saracen-ariel-1-long-term-review.html
They are outrageously cheap for the spec and seem to be spot on for UK lakes/peaks/scotland riding. I'm sure the price will start to inflate over the next few years as their reputation is re-built.
The guys in the bike shop at fort bill were raving about the myst too. Looks like Madison are really on to something.
[url= 
]Classic cats on bike pic here[/url]
OI Lightyear NO! get your cats off me frickin bikes!
It's an interesting decision Madison made to re-launch Saracen, I've read a couple of articles about how they see it fitting in the market and wanting to promote quality again.
A decade or so of pretty significant damage to the brand image has been done, however, I think the value lies in the fact that there is greater awarness of the brand across the UK than there probably is for genesis, and I think positive revies for them in mags might stand out all the more for contrasting with the recent history of the brand.
I have good memories of my mates Killi, my Dad has a 15 year old steel framed Saracen MTB in his shed that probably gets used more than his much newer Gary Fisher...
At the end of the day I think it will be nice to see people taking pride not only in the origins of the brand but in it's present output (Hopefully)...
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Mate had one of these, actually rather a good bike
SARAZIN IZ GUD KEP M. The older ones look really sorted
Ariel all the way 🙂
[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-saracen-zen-4-11-42043/ ]Bikeradar seem to like the Zen 4[/url]
it's only bike snobs that don't like them. 🙂
If it's a good bike then it's a good bike.