There’s been a fair amount of hype surrounding the Saracen range since its launch and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to ride their downhill offering – the Myst.
Five months isn’t normally a long time in the life of a bike, but in that time it’s done a season in Morzine/Portes du Soleil. It’s been to Germany, Italy, Switzerland and of course, France as part of my summer roadtrips (see our ‘Euro Tripping’ articles on Wideopen). It’s ridden down glaciers, barren rocky landscapes, huge rock gardens and braking bumps bigger than the proverbial ‘Mamma’. In short, it’s had a hard life already and the Myst hasn’t skipped a beat. That’s no mean feat for what is marketed as a budget downhill rig.
I haven’t got the off the peg full build that retails at a staggeringly cheap £2299.99. I went for a more custom build as I knew what I wanted and a lot of that was Hope components that I find myself relying on year after year without fail. If you don’t have a smattering of spare parts or the one’s you have are past their best, then the full build is amazing value for money.
So, lets concentrate on the frame. That’s what I’ve got and it’s exactly the same as comes on the full build. It also retails at £1399.99 including headset and shock.
Putting these prices into perspective. The full build is over a grand cheaper than a 224-Evo Race, about half the price of a Demo 8 and a couple of grand cheaper than a Transition TR450. Even the frame only comes in around a grand cheaper than any of those. I know as well as you that all these bikes are quite different beasts, but we’re talking serious price differences. And are they THAT different!?
Anyway, enough about money, saving a grand here and there is nothing (!!) if it doesn’t ride well or handle the abuse that downhill subjects a bike to. But it does. Oh it does so well!
From the first ride on the Myst it was confidence inspiring. It rails corners like a Scaletrix car and soaks up drops, jumps and braking bumps with ease. It’s a very nimble bike and is easy to point and nail your line of choice. The whole thing is really controllable and a comfortable place to be. It’s not going to blow your mind, it’s not revolutionary, it’s just a great race ready downhill bike.
To some test riding the bike, particularly those over 6 foot, the bike felt a little short in the cockpit. However, I was on a medium and being just under the 6 foot mark (5’ 11”) it felt fine to me. However, if you are of the taller than me category, you may want to consider the large option.
Otherwise the geometry seems pretty spot on and comparable to many world cup style race bikes – 64 degree head angle and offering up 203mm of linkage driven, rising rate rear wheel travel. The suspension set up utilises large 37mm bearings on the main pivot and 28mm bearings on the linkage, making for a reliable plush set up that works time after time.
You may be thinking that budget means it’s going to be heavy, but that’s not the case. The full build comes in at around 38lbs, which is on a par with most other downhill race bikes on the market.
The slight niggles that I have are really minor. The paint job isn’t brilliant. White is a brave choice for anything – it looks great when it’s clean, but the mud soon takes the shine off and after a lot of riding and cleaning it has rapidly started looking dated. The decals are also a little inferior and again became tired quite quickly. However, one nice touch is that they provide you with a little pot of touch up paint and replacement decals. With a little time and effort you could get the bike looking mint again. Great if you’re super fussy or were planning on selling the bike sometime down the line.
The cable routing (both for brakes and gears) is also a little off. It goes down under the shock, then back up onto the read chainstay. This means that both have rubbed a lot on the seatube and I’ve had to put a couple of protectors there.
I also have a pet hate of securing cables to frames using zip ties. There are better and neater ways to do it, even something like the clips used on Commencal bikes would look smarter. A load of zip ties just look like you went to B&Q to finnish the bike off. It’s not a big deal, and certainly wouldn’t put you off buying the bike, but it’d be nice to see these things refined for the future.
Other than the paint job and decals the bike looks good. Custom tubing and an elegant curve in the top tube make it look pretty slick. The linkages are also really well made and anodised to give a high class finish.
Lets not forget this is now a World Cup proven race bike with Manon Carpenter taking the Junior Women’s World Cup Overall and World Champs title on it as well as the other team riders piloting it to success on the UK race scene.
So this really is a great downhill bike and not even just good for the money. When checking out the bike a few people have said to me “Yeah, but it’s a Saracen”. Yes, yes it is, and it’s great!
Written by: Paul Thomas @ www.riders-retreat.co.uk
Additional photos by: Dan Jary, William Elliott, Colin Williams and Carl James
