Saracen Mantra

-Brad-F-

Hi all, i think il be buying a new bike this week and just wanted to see what you all think of the Saracen Mantra.
Whats the difference between the Mantra 1 and the Mantra 2? :? From Halfords, theres a £70ish difference and i just wanted to know if the extra is worth it?
Any help appreciated

supersonic

Its a budget hardcore hardtail, heavy, but ok. The mantra 2 is worth the extra for the better fork.

-Brad-F-

ah right cheers, love the look of the bike, seen one yesterday, they look decent

Noodoo

I have a Mantra 1 which I bought just before christmas (owned it for about 9 months).

So far, I have replaced:

Forks (Marzocchis - the RST Gilas tried to kill me a couple of times with their bouncy shenanigans)
Headset Bearings (wore them out)
Wheels (snapped the rear axle)
Tyres (wore them out)
Pedals (broke the plastic ones and wore out a set of those bear traps)
Chainset/arms (put an XT set on it. I had worn the smallest ring into hook shapes and it kept grabbing the chain)
Chain (got bent because the ring sucked it up into the frame)
Rear gear cassette (because my new rear wheel took a different type of cassette)
Seat (for a more comfortable one)
Brake pads (wore them out)

in Summary:
I like the bike, though it's a bit heavy.
If you can get better forks and a better crank set (front chain rings etc) then go for it. The forks and crank set really let the Mantra 1 down.
I think snapping the rear axle was a bit of a freak incident because the wheels had taken a battering, but were still true.
I did have an issue with flex in the wheels, but to be honest, I don't think they were built very well...
The brakes are ok. Not as powerful as the hydraulics, but they stop ok. I'm not in a rush to upgrade them anyway.

As mine stands at the minute: standard Mantra 1 except for wheels (Mavic 719, DT spokes, XT Hubs), Forks (Marzocchi MX Pro ETA), Saddle (Specialized BG), Tyres (Kenda Nevegal and Blue Groove), Crankset (Shimano XT), Cassette (Shimano Hyperglide), Pedals (247 Silverstars), that's the 19" frame.

It weighs in at 31lb (a lot lighter than it was as standard), which is the same as my mates bog standard 16" Kona Cinder Cone.

Oh, and it's cost me £840 so far (including £300 for the bike)... It would have been worth buying something more expensive to start with, but i'm happy with it at the minute.


What type of riding do you want to do?