While many brands produce a carbon 29er race hardtail, Saracen is one of the few to have created a composite 650b frame for all-round trail riding. It’s a really enjoyable ride, provided you’re not after a radical vibe.
- So good: Excellent carbon frame mixes impact damping strength with smoothly charismatic responsiveness; fast tyres and wide-range gears suit all-day epics
- No good: Needs grippier front tyre and wider bar for hardcore riding; triple crankset adds weight and rough terrain clatter
The carbon frame is the main draw here, and it’s a really well thought out piece. The low head tube holds the tapered fork securely and there’s neat, in-moulded internal routing for gears and brakes, as well as any future dropper post upgrade.
The small-bore press-fit BB gets ISCG mounts moulded round the outside, and there are Crudcatcher mounts under the down tube. Vast tyre clearance behind the broad platform where the seatstays, extended seat tube and super-low top tube meet and melt together confirm this is a chassis custom designed for the UK.
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There's no shortage of mud clearance for vile UK conditions
While retrofit dropouts for a Shimano bolt-through axle are in the pipeline, the stout 142x12mm QR axle with socketed dropouts and long cam lever is as close as you’ll get in terms of security for now. After casing a jump so hard we bent the seatpost on a previous Mantra Carbon, we’ve no worries about the frame being tough enough. Keep a close eye on sizing though – the super-low frame height of our 17in sample meant we ended up showing a lot of seatpost.
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