Saracen Pylon 2 review

Fat-tyred beach-front cruiser look-alike

Our rating

2.5

Jonathon Gawler©.

Published: October 8, 2007 at 11:00 pm

Our review
A great idea but one that needs work – and a freer-running hub

The Pylon 2 looks like a reincarnation of the fat-tyred beach-front cruisers and US paperboy bikes of yesteryear.

The tyres are huge: 2.5in street treads that monster-truck over kerbs and potholes. They're heavy, though; 2.35in Schwalbe Big Apples would be lighter and smoother running.

A three-speed hub gear is near perfect for flatter towns - in theory. This one is over-geared by its large chainring/small sprocket: a better setup would be 32x18. It's also as rough as bag of spanners: there's too much friction when pedalling. As freewheeling performance is fine it's probably the gearing rather than the coaster brake.

Braking by back-pedalling takes some getting used to, especially on steep hills, but it becomes handy for trimming your speed. For real power you need to stand up or haul on the front brake too. However, pedalling is such hard work you're unlikely to be going very fast. A final moan: the frame looks funky but lacks rack eyelets.

Product "24192" does not exist or you do not have permission to access it.