Saracen Avro

Looks-wise I was sold when I was handed the Saracen Avro to test, but an impressive spec list, sublime ride quality (when you're not really pushing it) and a cool paint finish can't make up for a soggy frame and brakes that are downright flipping dangerous. So close, but so, so far.

Tapping out the miles, the Avro is a great bike to ride. Saracen has managed to create a solid feeling carbon fibre frameset that doesn't suffer from road vibration at all, impressive considering the claimed sub-1kg frame weight. Normally, the lighter you go the more resonation the frame gives back unless you really know what you're doing with the carbon layup, so the Avro is a good testament to its designers in that respect.

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The only issue is that when you push it hard – and looking at the geometry it's designed to be pushed hard – the Avro seriously lacks the outright rigidity I'd expect, especially around the bottom bracket area.

Soggy bottom

Climbing, sprinting, anything where you are powering on the pedals, and you'll really feel that frame moving sideways under load, and therefore wasting power and energy. Looking at the chainstays, down tube and bottom bracket junction you'll be impressed – or maybe not – that something so large can be so flexible.

It's a shame, because when things aren't quite so frantic the Saracen is a beautiful machine to ride. The Avro is a very mild mannered bike, easy to ride and offering no surprises so ideal for those long rides of many miles in the saddle. Geometry-wise it is just right, a racy position without being too extreme, and as far as tapping out the miles go it'd make a great fast audax machine or credit card tourer considering the mudguard mounts and long, stable wheelbase.

When it comes to descending and speed, the same things apply: a steady, swooping downhill and no worries, the Avro is a solid and stable base for you to put a lot of confidence in. When things get technical mind, a hairpin, chicane, something like that, and the lack of feedback and directness in the handling results in a bike without much of a personality.

What I'm trying to say is the Avro isn't a bad bike – far from it – but it really struggles when you ask for a little bit more, performance-wise.

A bit of old and new

The last couple of years have been busy on the tech front, and not just the adoption of disc brakes by nearly every major road bike manufacturer. Thru-axles have been in the mountain bike arena for a while now, and we've been seeing them make the crossover to the road.

Saracen has a long background in the off-road market so it's no surprise to see the Avro fitted with thru-axles front and rear. If you aren't familiar with the technology then basically a threaded hollow spindle (15mm diameter front, 12mm diameter rear) passes through the wheel just like a standard quick release, but the difference is this one screws directly into the frame or fork.

The benefit is more security, and it certainly makes aligning the rotors in the callipers a damn sight easier too.

With the cost of Shimano Di2 slowly coming down, it's good to see Saracen has designed the Avro to take both mechanical and electronic groupsets via the internal routing channels. The brake and gear cables enter through the down tube before exiting close to where they are needed. It gives a clean line to the whole bike and should reduce maintenance if you use it throughout the winter months.

One standard the Avro hasn't adopted is the PressFit bottom bracket, sticking instead with threaded external bearing cups. It's a smart move considering the all-round weather nature the Saracen is intended for; creaking press-fit bearings after wet rides are not unheard of.

As I mentioned above, the Avro comes with mounts for full mudguards which it can accommodate provided you don't go wider than 25mm tyres.

>> The Avro can be found on sale for around £1500 – check out our guide to others in that price range here

The rest of the frame is well built and nicely finished. It's manufactured from high quality UD Toray carbon fibre, and the whole thing has a solid feel to it when you give the top tube a tap with your knuckles; it doesn't have that plastic feel or give off a brittle sound like some carbon frames can.

The fork is full carbon fibre too. Designed to work with the integrated tapered headset of the frame, the crown is large at the base of the steerer, which tightens up the handling a bit thanks to the larger surface areas of both the down tube and head tube creating a larger join – the more material, the stiffer the area.

Mixed bag of finishing kit

On paper a full Shimano 105 groupset is a big selling point, and considering the overall price it's about the right money. A full carbon frame and fork, internal cabling and thru axles all add up to a decent amount of investment.

The gear change, as always with 105, is direct and positive with a very light action at the lever compared with the likes of SRAM or Campagnolo. The swing action of the front and rear mechs provides a very smooth shift even under load. We tested the 5800 105 groupset last year and to say it's impressive would be selling it short.

Up front you get a 52/36-tooth chainset. Sitting in the middle of a full compact (50/34) and the roadies' choice of a 53/39, this semi-compact offers a useable spread of ratios for most riders when paired with the 11-speed 11-28t Shimano cassette. The lowest gear lets you spin on the climbs (depending on fitness levels, of course), with the uppermost meaning you'll be going well above 40mph before spinning out.

There are some great cable-operated disc callipers on the market now, but Tektro's Lyra isn't one of them. The adrenaline and fear that courses through your veins the first time you ask them to stop you is a feeling I'll never forget – nor want to experience again.

I cleaned them to rule out contamination, changed the pads, tweaked, adjusted, did everything I could think of, but to no avail. They are simply awful.

They just have no feel, they lack bite and power. You get an initial feeling of some kind of braking once the pads bite the rotor for all of, well, let's be generous here, half a second, and that's it. It just fades to a squidgy feeling at the lever and no matter how much more pressure you apply, nothing improves. You tend to start planning your escape routes at every junction.

The rest of the finishing kit is own-branded stuff from Saracen and it's a decent quality, easily up to the standard expected. The compact style handlebar offers plenty of hand positions and when pairing that shallow curve with the extended head tube you get a less extreme position in the drops, which is ideal for those of us with back issues who still want to get aero.

Sitting atop the alloy seatpost is a Kore saddle, which is firm enough without being uncomfortable, and I certainly didn't have any issues with it over the test period. The narrow and thinly padded profile does make it more suited to shorter, faster rides.

The Alex wheels are custom specced by Saracen and offer a good compromise between weight and stiffness. The 24-spoke front and 28-spoke rear offer plenty of resistance to the forces of accelerating and braking without issue.

The test period took in some rough country lanes and even the odd canal path, both wet and dry, and I certainly had no issues with them going out of true or water getting into the sealed bearings. Overall they are a solid wheelset without being overly flash or exciting.

The 28mm Continental Grand Sport tyres offer impressive levels of grip in the wet and dry alongside a decent rolling resistance. They aren't the quickest, but certainly stood up to daily abuse with a minimal number of cuts and not a single puncture.

Overall

I like the Avro. It's a very nice bike to ride – smooth, stable and very comfortable. But that comes at the cost of overall frame stiffness, something that, for me, is very important. The type of riding the Saracen is designed for is quick miles, not full-on race pace but a sportive style route ridden at a fair old lick, for instance. The type of rides that include a bit of climbing, some descending and tempo work, all often on unknown roads. The sort of roads where I want a bike to be secure and stable, able to respond to changes in direction at speed and, above all, offer lots of feedback. All places where the Avro is found lacking.

It is minimal losses in certain areas that, when added up, create a bike that in the end delivers a much less accomplished ride than I expected.

Those horrendous brakes can be changed, but unfortunately you're stuck with the frame.

Verdict

A smart-looking, well-finished frame, but it lacks stiffness and rider feedback. And bin the brakes straight away!