Exclusive:Saracen DH prototype pics
Spy shots of the Myst from the designers laptop in London.
Okay the Saracen of the past may not have had the best of images and reputations but hopefully that looks set to change with the re-birth of the brand.
We popped along after the CycleShow to the Saracen launch of their springy bikes on a boat floating down the Thames (I tell you what, London at night on a boat is a great sight).
So here it is, the “Myst” the Saracen 203mm travel DH bike. The first proto frame should be ready in November. Available in two sizes to start with, medium and large. We heard that the guide price is around the £2000 mark for the full bike with a basic but good quality spec from Rockshox/Shimano/Sun which sounds like a blumin good deal to me if it rides well.
Simon from Madison told us “Typically on DH bikes, the rear shock has up/down movement of 6-12degrees. On the Myst this is down to 0.56 degrees and 80% of this change is in the sag so through the range of usable travel it’s a near perfect linear push mean also most no loading on the shock bushings. Main pivot runs on a 20mm axle while the other pivots run on 15mm axles ensuring an megastiff/durable setup.”
As always as soon as we get hold of one we’ll let you know the score.
Ryan the designer on the boat at night with the prototype.
The geometry
Lit up London at night shot with a blurry camera phone.
seems to look fairly similar to the yeti 303 RDH, as well as a rock mountain flatline…
one way or another, seems to check out as an amwesome future bike.
Blimey you got to see much more than I expected on that boat last Thursday. Investigative journalism at it’s best.
Dom
It wasn’t all champagne and nibbles on that boat you know Dom! (infact I had to row it for half the trip)
We try our hardest Dom!
a prototype is a physical representation not a design on a computer.
or else that means i’ve got a prototype time machine.
1. the original or model on which something is based or formed.
2. someone or something that serves to illustrate the typical qualities of a class; model; exemplar: She is the prototype of a student activist.
3. something analogous to another thing of a later period: a Renaissance prototype of our modern public housing.
4. Biology. an archetype; a primitive form regarded as the basis of a group.
If you are going to be anal, atleast be correct.
When’s Dirt getting an Ariel to test then?
It looks sweet but needs a proper test instead of the ‘we snapped this bike, but it’s awesome anyway 9/10′ schtick pulled by some others…
Ed rode one at Cwmcarn a while back, he was quite impressed with it, should have a full review soonish (without a 6/10 scoring system)
Looks like Turner Highline to me. But hey, give them a chance, if its good and cheap then nice one!
They need to do something drastic to turn their brand image around.
when will they be avaialble?
Hmmmm. Looks legit, but, at the end of the day, it’ll always be a saracen!
Hoping to have the bike available for March 2010 but this all depends on how the proto bike gets built and tested. We dont want to put anything out to market unless it is sorted.
We’ve got big hills to climb but we’re going for it!! It would be sad news for another once great British brand to disapear.
The comments on here seem more mature than other forums so thanks!!
No doubt Dirt will be the first the throw their collective legs over it.
Laters.
Simon
Never mind the people who’ll knock the re-birth, but the Ariel look great as well as the Kili and the new dh bike too.
Good Luck guys, build it and they will come!
I’m sorry o.56 degree of rotation on the damper,,and 80% of that movement up to sag point,,
i think that is how shall i put this ,, wrong
i think there is around 10 degrees of shock rotation and most of that happens in the last 1/3 of the stroke when the loads are highest ,, and i expect the shock rate to start to fall in the last part of travel ,,
ok just redrawn it ,, you guys were right about the angular change,, a clever solution ,,,
didn’t even realise saracen were still in the competative market. Give it a go hopefully the big wig accountants won’t fuck up a potentially good bike and make it look and feel like shit.
yawn, yet another single-pivot-with-a-linkage…
i can’t believe designers are still getting paid to flog that dead horse.