Today, British-based mountain-bike brand Saracen have revealed a massive new range of bikes for 2023, with downhill, enduro, trail and jump bikes in the muddy mix. Each of the steeds has been designed and developed with input from some of the best trail riders in the world, and from what we’ve seen they look certain to join the ranks of the best mountain bikes available.
Born in in Warwickshire in 1983, Saracen was one of Britain’s first bike brands to focus on mountain biking. And right from the beginning, the brand pioneered the sport, with the riders they worked with using their innovative bikes to achieve some extraordinary feats of extreme off-road riding, including a world-first cycle to the 5895-meter summit of Mount Kilimanjaro by British cousins Nicholas and Richard Crane in 1985.
In 2009, the Saracen was acquired by Madison, the Britain’s biggest distributor of bicycles, parts and accessories, and a year later the first iterations of bikes that since become iconic were released, including the Ariel and the Myst, and the Amplitude dirt jump range was launched. The Madison Saracen development team was founded in 2011, in the years afterwards exceptional riders like Manon Carpenter went on to achieve amazing success at World Championship level.
As mountain bikes continued to evolve, the brand brought out models with 29-inch (Kili hardtail) and 27.5-inch wheels (the Zen), and launched carbon-framed bikes (Kili Flyer and the Myst).
The journey continues, and as we go into 2023, a whole new bevy of bikes is about to hit the trails, slopes and jump parks. The full range can be viewed and purchased online from December 16th via Freewheel, and highlights from the 2023 range include:
Encompassing Saracen Myst Team 29/27 / Myst Pro 29/27 & Myst AL £5,399.99 / £3,999.99 / £2,799.99
Developed by the Madison Saracen Factory Race Team, the Myst Team 29/27 is the real deal replica of the bike ridden to victory in the Leogang Downhill World Cup by Matt Walker in June 2022.
Encompassing Ariel 80 Pro & Ariel 80 - £3,499.99 / £2,599.99
One step removed from the Myst, if you’re aspiring to be crowned king of the bike park, then the Ariel 80 Pro is the perfect bike to show everyone just how hard you’re living the sideways life. The build for both Ariel 80 models includes an all-new custom-butted and hydroformed 6013 aluminium frame that’s been put through the hardest landings and survived to make it into production, full internal cable routing, a dropper post and superboost axle spacing for additional strength, clearance, and ride responsiveness.
Encompassing Ariel 60 Elite, 60 Pro & Ariel 60 - £3,399.99 / £3,499.99 / £2,599.99
Boasting a brand new 160mm suspension platform to let riders go faster, in confidence, with a larger margin of error the Saracen Ariel 60 range has been built to take on the wildest wilderness epics, bikepark laps and can get competitive between the tapes.
Encompassing Ariel 30 Pro & Ariel 30 - £3,299.99 / £2,499.99
Designed and developed with the help of Matt Walker from the Madison Saracen Factory Racing Team, the Ariel 30 (like the rest of the range) has been put through the wringer and been built to last and go fast.
Every Ariel 30 features size specific wheels, with small and medium bikes delivered with a 29/27.5 ‘mullet’ setup, and the large and extra-large sizes coming as 29er models. That can be interchanged to fit your riding needs best. The Pro model cuts weight and adds performance across every key component, and Shimano's latest SLX shifting gives a huge 10-51 range for grinding up the steepest of slopes.
Encompassing Amplitude CR3 / AL Team & CR2 - £949.99 / £949.99 / £599.99
Dirt jumping is all about style, and what better way to turn heads than to ride a bike that grabs attention before it even takes to the air? Day-long sessions at the local trails or road trips someplace new, each Amplitude model is ready to send it right out of the box.
Saracen’s proven dirt jump geometry is predictable and playful any time there is a lip in sight - and if you misjudge the landing, there's no need to worry as the frame and front suspension can soak it all up.
