A quick look at a pair of new 29er hardtails from Saracen: the £1,399 Saracen Zenith Trail and the sub-£1k Saracen Zenith.

>>> Hardtail of the Year 2016

Taking inspiration from the popular Saracen Mantra range of bikes with 27.5″ wheels, the Zeniths are “faster” and built for “durability and control”.

The designers make claim to have designed the Zenith models fairly and squarely with British trails and British trail conditions in mind. Equally adept at “racing cross-country as they are flowing down the runs at BikePark Wales“.

Simon Wild, product manager at Saracen: “We have worked really hard to get these two new bikes ready for the spring and are immensely proud of what we have created. The Zenith 29ers blur the boundaries between XC race and trail bikes. Fast handling trail whippets which are comfortable for long, mile munching days in the saddle.”

As with any bikes around the hotly contested £1k mark, we all want to know what the spec’s are don’t we? Right we are then, here goes…

2017 Saracen Zenith Trail

Saracen Zenith geometry

Saracen Zenith Trail – £1,399.99

Rockshox Recon Gold DL Fork, Raceface Ride Single 32T Chainset, Shimano SLX RD-M7000 and Araya Double wall rims, it is a well equipped looking bike.

Saracen: “It provides a real racing alternative to those that previously would have been looking at the Mantra Elite and Mantra Trail carbon.”

2017 Saracen Zenith

Saracen Zenith – £949.99

Equipped with a Suntour Raidon XC LO-R Fork, Shimano Deore FC-M627 36/22T Chainset and FDM-618/RDM-615 Derailleurs, Shimano RM-66 Hubs, Schwalbe Nobby Nic/Racing Ralph Tyres and Araya Double wall rims.