Saracen Flea and the dearth of cheap trials bikes

[Scoville]

I know they're old, but this one is local and cheap.  Any major pitfalls of this bike as an absolute beginner?  There isn't a great deal of information anywhere about them, though from the handful of postings I've found they were never considered the most desirable trials bikes. 

Do they have any major handling shortcomings or were they just not up to the level of their price point back when they were 'current'?  Assuming Saracen didn't just build something with horrible geometry that is intrinsically unpleasant to ride then I'm assuming it will be a long time before I reach the limit of any weakness in the build.

I didn't realise how few bikes they are avaiable.  I've seen a handful of fairly tired looking budget bikes on eBay, then you leap up to big money for Fourplays and Hexes at which point I think I'd just go an buy something new from Tarty.

 

[bikeperson45]

Yep, affordable entry level new bikes seem to have gone out the window.. For a beginner I would recommend the value of second hand bikes, but if you're a beginner you porbably don't know what you're looking for too well.

I started on a Saracen Flea years ago, was £100 on eBay sixteen years ago and even then I struggled on it, I found the brakes were a struggle to get right, it was pretty heavy, and I struggled with the horizontal dropouts and lack of engagements on the rear hub. If I remember correctly, even at the time the geometry was outdated with a very short wheelbase and, dare I say, a bottom bracket height of 0mm. After 4 months, I upgraded to a second hand bike only slightly more up the market and instantly made a tonne of progress on my first ride.  I am talking about the most basic model, I think there were four of them, the highest value had some better parts like an HS-33 for the rear brake but can't recommend them honestly. 

Take it you're looking for a 26" to get you started? 

 

[Scoville]

12 hours ago, bikeperson45 said:

Yep, affordable entry level new bikes seem to have gone out the window.. For a beginner I would recommend the value of second hand bikes, but if you're a beginner you porbably don't know what you're looking for too well.

I started on a Saracen Flea years ago, was £100 on eBay sixteen years ago and even then I struggled on it, I found the brakes were a struggle to get right, it was pretty heavy, and I struggled with the horizontal dropouts and lack of engagements on the rear hub. If I remember correctly, even at the time the geometry was outdated with a very short wheelbase and, dare I say, a bottom bracket height of 0mm. After 4 months, I upgraded to a second hand bike only slightly more up the market and instantly made a tonne of progress on my first ride.  I am talking about the most basic model, I think there were four of them, the highest value had some better parts like an HS-33 for the rear brake but can't recommend them honestly. 

Take it you're looking for a 26" to get you started? 

 

Ah that is what I feared, sounds like the Flea is just going to frustrate and annoy more than provide a platform to learn on then.  The one I've seen isn't even all that cheap (it's Flea 4 so comes with the higher spec) but I suspect the seller will take an offer.

I'd say I want either 26" or 24".  Many moons ago I had a go on a friends 20" mod bike (IIRC it was an Onza T-Bird) and I didn't like it at all, I think years of MTB mean I want something that feels like a "normal" bike.  I had a Giant STP a long time ago which I now really regret selling, despite not being a trials bike it did well at a bit of everything.  And Jeff Lenosky never had any trouble making them look capable.

Inspired Flow XP seems like the best value new bike, but we're already into silly money at that point.  A Hex popped up very local to me for a reasonable price, but the listing vanished a day later so expect it got snapped up.  I remember the Onza Zoot used to be a good mid priced option?  Looks like they're aren't many of them around these days either.

[bikeperson45]

2 hours ago, Scoville said:

 

It's something where if a Flea was going for £100 and you're happy knowing it's not the best it could do the job for a while but it's probably worth holding off for something a little more modern.

I love the Inspired's but they are pricey new, can find a few on eBay or on here, might be worth setting up an eBay alert just incase a good'un comes around. I quite liked the Zoots (with the seats), if you found one of them going cheap I'd recommend more than the Flea for sure. 

[La Bourde]

You can go for an old trials bike from the 2000s:

Megamo radical, Megamo Equip pro, Crescent, Monty, leeson, pashley, or giant trials, orange zero.

If you swap the freewheel, the stem and the bar, you can have something riding really well already.

 

Edited September 7 by La Bourde

[Scoville]

Cheers both.  A Fourplay has come up semi-local to me so I'm hopefully going to take a look at that this week.  Not sure what model year it is (it's disc only, pastel blue, standard drop-outs).  Any particular quirks throughout their production?  I know there have been a few versions of the frame over the years.

[Ross McArthur]

6 hours ago, Scoville said:

Cheers both.  A Fourplay has come up semi-local to me so I'm hopefully going to take a look at that this week.  Not sure what model year it is (it's disc only, pastel blue, standard drop-outs).  Any particular quirks throughout their production?  I know there have been a few versions of the frame over the years.

Cant really go wrong with the quality of Inspired frames. Well thought out and executed design and builds. You'll be good with that version 

Only thing I'd say with the more modern Inspired frames is that they went down, for better or worse, more of a BMXy geo route which may or may not suit you.

[Ross McArthur]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:42 PM, Scoville said:

Assuming Saracen didn't just build something with horrible geometry that is intrinsically unpleasant to ride

 

That tickled me.

[Scoville]

13 minutes ago, Ross McArthur said:

Only thing I'd say with the more modern Inspired frames is that they went down, for better or worse, more of a BMXy geo route which may or may not suit you.

Cheers Ross.  I've never ridden BMX, only ever MTB.  Assume the trend towards BMX means the later bikes are shorter/steeper/snappier?  Perhaps the older ones will suit me if that is the case, I suspect even a 'lazy' trials bike is going to feel pretty lively compared to my 29er.

[Scoville]

Cheers for the advice all. Picked this up today. Despite looking radically different to anything I’ve previously ridden it feels just like a well sorted hardtail.