Saracen Raw 3 upgrade or new bike?

fastandfuriousxc

Hi,

I am getting much more serious about mountainbiking now and my bike is starting to frustrate me (due to things going wrong) I have upgraded a lot of parts on it but now the hubs need servicing and new rims ideally which lbs are saying will cost £120 for hub service and mavic 317 disc rims which is way too much as a new set of wheels is about that (eg. mavic crossrides £130). Also crankset, chain & cassette is starting to slip due to wear.

I would like to know if it is worth buying some new wheels and drivetrain bits or just putting the money towards a new bike (budget £750). If buy bits for the raw what wheels would you suggest.


Spec as follows;

Frame: Extreme use profiled 7005 T6 aluminium full suspension with Quality Tough Shock FDR oil damped rear coil shock with adjustable preload and rebound damping offering 5 inches of travel
Fork: Marzocchi MZ Comp with 120mm travel tough oil damped suspension fork - Gears: SRAM SX 4 24 speed medium cage
Shifters: SRAM X5 24 speed trigger shifter
Crankset: Truvativ X-Flow 3.0 42/34/24T 175mm crank
Brakes: Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes with 180mm front rotor and 160mm rear rotor
Wheels: EX-S alloy single wall tough lightweight rims built on CenterPoint alloy disc compatible hubs with seals - Tyres: Continental Mountain King 26x2.4 tyres
Handlebars: Aluminium oversized black riser
Stem: Cold forged 4 bolt extreme
Saddle: SDG Bel Air RL
Seatpost: Saracen Blade alloy micro adjust black finish
Pedals/Extras: BMX style aluminium platform

Upgrades;
Richey WCS headset
Easton EA30 stem
PZ racing white bars
Carbon spacers
Charge lock on grips
Hayes NINE brakes
FSA Bottom bracket
X-5 Rear derrailer
Specialized enduro 2.2 tyres

Many thanks

ps. I have also got through 4 hangers in the year ive had this bike 2 of which seemed to bend on their own (not through crashing or bike led down on mech etc.) Just wondered if anyone else had similar experience or knows where to buy stronger hangers. It isnt cheap hangers as have brought BETD replacements.

supersonic

It is a tough, but heavy frame. The MZ Comp is not damped as they claim. Hangers are designed to break to save the frame.

What sort of riding do you do? XC, or heavier with drops and jumps?

fastandfuriousxc

Cheers for quick reply.

Yeh the rebound on the fork is way to fast but not fussed about that as ill ride it until it breaks and then upgrade it.

I do general XC really trails like Twrch in cwmcarn so nothing to aggresive.

Yeh it was just that ive spent about £60 on hangers, and wondered if there was anything stronger

Many thanks

supersonic

I would get a new bike to be honest. Would work out cheaper than upgrading what you have, and would be lighter overall with better components throughout.

fastandfuriousxc

supersonic wrote:

I would get a new bike to be honest. Would work out cheaper than upgrading what you have, and would be lighter overall with better components throughout.

cheers for the advice just means i would have to save up for a while as im only 16 and doing a levels and only have a part time job.

what bike would you reccomend. mostly for use in the mendips (cheddar kona bikefest track part of my local loop). My dad picked up a beone chakra (Pikes,xt mech syncros finishing kit) new for £800 off crc which is no comparison to mine, so completely understand why there is no point me spending that much on a bike that isnt as good.

I just dont like waiting

supersonic

Your budget will buy either a very wel equipped hardtail (no rear suspension) or a fair, but heavish full suspension bike. What do you local shops have to offer? Also check out our What Bike thread on popular options.

I would certainly be shortlisting the Baoprdman Comp bike.

fastandfuriousxc

supersonic wrote:

Your budget will buy either a very wel equipped hardtail (no rear suspension) or a fair, but heavish full suspension bike. What do you local shops have to offer? Also check out our What Bike thread on popular options.

I would certainly be shortlisting the Baoprdman Comp bike.

My LBS is really not the best place for bikes they are mostly two or three year old konas still at original RRP. I like having the full suspension very much everything just seems to flow better but am starting to get into novice racing so weight is now an issue. boardman comp fs looks good for the money and has good reviews. also looking at http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=30535

just love the colour.

supersonic

The Cube is great value, but a world away from the Saracen! Much lighter, much racier - it will feel more twitchy to start, but a great budget XC racer.

RealMan

Yeah, get a new bike. Specialized rockhopper would be a good one.

But keep the old bike, so you have all the upgrades and such to change around with and fiddle and such.

fastandfuriousxc

supersonic wrote:

The Cube is great value, but a world away from the Saracen! Much lighter, much racier - it will feel more twitchy to start, but a great budget XC racer.

that is kind of what what i want if i got a new bike though. when i brought the saracen i was into jumps and all mountain but now more into cross country.

just got to save up £800 now then.

Is the saracen worth anything to put on ebay or gumtree or something, money would help towards new bike. allthough i dont want to put it on for nothing as would quite like a bike for the winter and riding to school etc.

supersonic

Well you could keep it as suggested above. I can't give you a value (forum rules ;-)), but my advice would be to split it if you do sell. Or just keep for spares.

RealMan

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

just got to save up £800 now then.

Nah mate, what do you think parents are for...

fastandfuriousxc

supersonic wrote:

Well you could keep it as suggested above. I can't give you a value (forum rules ;-)), but my advice would be to split it if you do sell. Or just keep for spares.

Yeh id probabally sell it to be honest. need help with raising funds and havent really got anywhere to keep another bike. A lot of the bits wouldnt be compatible/ wouldnt want to put them on a new bike (external bb, 9 speed etc)

Many thanks

RealMan

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

wouldnt want to put them on a new bike (external bb, 9 speed etc)

:shock:

When did external BBs and 9 speed become bad?

fastandfuriousxc

RealMan wrote:

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

wouldnt want to put them on a new bike (external bb, 9 speed etc)

:shock:

When did external BBs and 9 speed become bad?

They arent Great inventions

unfortunately i dont have them on my saracen!

supersonic

Well the Cube has exactly just this!

RealMan

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

They arent Great inventions

unfortunately i dont have them on my saracen!

What :?

I swear by 9 speed and external BBs at the moment..

fastandfuriousxc

RealMan wrote:

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

just got to save up £800 now then.

Nah mate, what do you think parents are for...

Quite true atleast my dad sees the point in spending that kind of money on a bike after getting a new one for himself. i reckon about 2 years of nagging should do it!

fastandfuriousxc

RealMan wrote:

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

They arent Great inventions

unfortunately i dont have them on my saracen!

What :?

I swear by 9 speed and external BBs at the moment..

Yeh but there isnt much point in putting them on my current bike when im saving for a new one.

fastandfuriousxc

Anyone got any better suggestions for any other bikes around the £550-£800 mark

Specialized rockhopper pro?

Commencal combi disc?

Genisis core 20?

Cube acid?

Focus super bud? http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus ... 360037553/

Pinnacle Evolution 1? http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec018105

Upgraded saracen raw 3?!

which one would you go for?

bluechair84

What you have doesn't sound that bad apart from the frame - very heavy and inefficient. If money is an issue you could get a new lightweight alu hardtail and upgrade over time - start with a chassis that is worth keeping. You'd loose a lot of weight, it would be much nicer to ride, you'd have it sooner and you could look to upgrade the components in the future.

joshtp

you know what im going to say................... if you want a reasonably light but tough and terain hungry bike, you want a GT Aggressor XCR, or a carrera Fury

fastandfuriousxc

bluechair84 wrote:

What you have doesn't sound that bad apart from the frame - very heavy and inefficient. If money is an issue you could get a new lightweight alu hardtail and upgrade over time - start with a chassis that is worth keeping. You'd loose a lot of weight, it would be much nicer to ride, you'd have it sooner and you could look to upgrade the components in the future.

Yeh that had crossed my mind but the cheeapest 'good' frames i could find were kinesis maxlight ones which started at about £200 and a full sus frame is £350 minimum which is getting on for half the price of a new bike add on new wheels and some other bits and its almost new bike & if i got a new one id have one spare.

BUT the spec isnt too bad and it works nicely , and ive customised it how i want so a new frame would make sense.

Cheers for the advice

fastandfuriousxc

joshtp/mbukman wrote:

you know what im going to say................... if you want a reasonably light but tough and terain hungry bike, you want a GT Aggressor XCR, or a carrera Fury

You would say that

Im actually not a fan of gt tripple triangle frames really just dont think they look right. and the spec doesnt seem that good compared to other bikes eg. cube of focus super bud

Id also prefer something a little more high spec than the fury but good shout

Quite like the voodoo bantu from halfords though

Cheers though

joshtp

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

joshtp/mbukman wrote:

you know what im going to say................... if you want a reasonably light but tough and terain hungry bike, you want a GT Aggressor XCR, or a carrera Fury

You would say that

Im actually not a fan of gt tripple triangle frames really just dont think they look right. and the spec doesnt seem that good compared to other bikes eg. cube of focus super bud

Id also prefer something a little more high spec than the fury but good shout

Quite like the voodoo bantu from halfords though

Cheers though

compare the spec of the XCR to most other HT's at the price and its very,very good! i used to have predudice about triple triangle too, but now i love it! i even think it looks sweet. and the xcr paint job is, frankly, incredible.
i was thinking more of an 08 fury which got tora 318 forks. that was an awsome bike and spec.