Saracen Conquest Clunker - 1982 with hub brakes

Probably going to regret this....

Lugged 531 ST frame, everything on this is original from the early 80's except the pedals.
SOLD

I've never seen one of these with hub brakes as they usually came with cantis

Hub brakes were quite common in early 80s UK MTB (Dave Wrath Sharman / Highpath etc) so I think the mod was made quite early in this bike’s life and there's a sticker to say refurbished by Arthur Caygill up in Yorkshire so I guess he'd have cut off the canti bosses and soldered on the cable guides

The hub brakes are standard Sturmey Archer of the type used on post office bikes so spares are easy to come by - I recently fitted a new rear brake pad and the front still has plenty of life left on it.

In terms of spec, it's fantastically original even down to the original Michelin tyres
I've never used the Brooks saddle as the seatpost is quite short and I don't have a long one that takes a microadjust so it's in excellent condition and the tyres are original Michelins from the 80s

Looks really tidy and fair price, what size is it?

Oh, and neat use of the Hazy Jane bottle

Frame size is 21" (53cm) ST x 23" (58cm) TT
I’m quite partial to the hazy Jane (and also a fan of the song(s) on bryter later too!)

Drive train deets:
Suntour ARX front and rear mechs.
Rear hub is screw-on with a 5-speed block
Chainset is the Allez triple by Takagi - If I remember rightly this was later rebadged Shimano for the deerhead groupset.
Shifters are the legendary Suntour Mountech Power - the best friction thumbie ever

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Contact points:
Brooks B72 has a few scuffs .
Fitted to a 26.4mm Strong fluted seatpost with a double-rail clamp.

I'm not 100% convinced that this is original
26.4 mm is for unbutted 531 but the sticker says butted.
Also you really have to tighten up the bolt to clamp it so I'm wondering whether a 26.6mm might be better (I don't have one but can confirm 26.8 won't work)

The bars are chromed steel original and very wide! The stem looks like a Nitto BMX job

Grips are original and rather hard plastic - pretty painful after 100 miles off road!

Brake levers are also original - I think they might be Lee Chi, not 100% sure

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Comes with period correct Bluemels City mudguards, rack and michelin tyres
The rack is not a blackburn but one of the knock-offs typical at the time.
Rims are Rigida an being hub-braked are in pretty mint condition (a bit of rust on the eyelets and some light scratches that you'd expect on a 40 year old clunker)

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Paintwork is a bit battered, fork crown is ace, stickers are clearly reapplied after the addition of hub brake cable routing and the subsequent respray.

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It’s quite a handy bike if you’re planning to ride up Mount Kilimanjaro
Also quite good for riding down to Waitrose
Or if you quite fancy a Stanforth Kibo but want to be one of the cool kids

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I've enjoyed riding this bike, it's all sorts of fun on towpaths, comfy on long rides and good for schlepping all your schizz around with you