Saracen Ariel 30 Elite review

Saracen Ariel 30 Elite is yet another Ariel model from Saracen that looks the absolute bee’s knees. Literally. How does this yellow peril handle the t …

By stwhannah

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Saracen Ariel 30 Elite review

That’s the closest off-the-peg option to my idea of a trail bike I’ve seen. Similarities with my Nicolai. No nonsense components and stuff I’d choose myself, RF carbon bar and KT(?) hubs aside. I even like the colour.

530mm reach on a XL – oooft! And I say that as a Nicolai owner. A shame the ST is 510mm on the XL as that’d limit dropper length for me, but – warranty aside – top of ST looks prime to trim 10-20mm off.

Nice review and bike, but I am also surprised they have kept with such a tall seat tube. I think something like 480-490 is a sweet spot on an XL bike

Worth noting that the 30, like other Saracens, is running superboost. How much of an irritation that is will vary from person to person

Worth noting that the 30, like other Saracens, is running superboost. How much of an irritation that is will vary from person to person

They don’t help themselves, do they?

I’d really like to see Saracen doing well, but a hefty and dated-looking 130mm bike with a 65deg HA but enduro build spec doesn’t totally make sense to me. Especially when you add a pointless new rear axle spacing. And I love a long reach, but 480mm on a medium may be a bit too much for a trail bike.

I think the head angle is slacker than that – its 65 deg on my ariel 30 with 130mm forks, so it should be around 64.5 on this. Which sounds really slack for a 140mm bike to me, but I might be behind the times.

anyway, I’ve had mine for over 2.5 years – it was an extremely good buy in feb 2021 as it was
available
cheap (£2200 for the base spec)

when everything else was
unavailable
stupidly expensive

some of that USP has gone now that discount bargins are around from other brands, but it still rides well.it also had really modern geo for the time – I’m on a large (>500mm reach) at 6’2 and there’s a size above.

kit has been good, frame reliable. Some wear on it now as you’d expect but still does everything I need.

am also surprised they have kept with such a tall seat tube.

the L is, by normal standards, an XL bike (505mm reach), the seat tube on that is 460mm, I run mine with a 230mm dropper with a bit of wiggle room to spare.

450mm stem !!!!!

But typos aside, it looks like a really nice “normal” bike.

That’s the closest off-the-peg option to my idea of a trail bike I’ve seen.

I was thinking similar but:

– Superboost 😐

– Mullett 😐

Maybe I need to move with the times. Would prefer “pure” 27.5 for the Small.

But its making me think about a Demo ride at the very least.

Worth noting that the 30, like other Saracens, is running superboost. How much of an irritation that is will vary from person to person

This absolutely ruled Saracen out for me some time ago.

Shame, because I actually quite like what they are trying to achieve. But I also have wheelsets I would like to be able to use which are ‘standard’ 148 boost. Which is absolutely fine on a trail bike.

Neh mind.

its 65 deg on my ariel 30 with 130mm forks, so it should be around 64.5 on this. Which sounds really slack for a 140mm bike to me, but I might be behind the times.

My 120mm trail bike has a 65deg HA and it’s fine, but this seems more of a bruiser in terms of weight, build and the rest of the geometry. I thought they were going for a mini-enduro kind of vibe. Maybe I was being picky, but Hannah does reference the HA being a limiting factor in the review.

if you’re one of those folk who still think anything over 30lbs is “heavy”.

That’s because it is unless you are part of the jurno club to help lazy engineers from avoiding doing their job. Sure geo is more important but why not have good geo and light?

Such a bargain ?

if you’re one of those folk who still think anything over 30lbs is “heavy”.
That’s because it is

Do you actually weigh your bikes?

30lbs would be great for a modern trial bike like this, 32lbs would be quite acceptable. This is 33lbs, which is lighter than I expected but slightly heavier than I’d ideally want.

This absolutely ruled Saracen out for me some time ago.

Yer Superboost – ruled out any Saracen frame purchase as not compatible with my existing wheelsets