Downhill is back. Celebrate by checking out these amazing Saracen Mysts

If you've never watched downhill mountain bike racing, then you've really been missing out. As far as pure excitment goes there's almost nothing better and the terrain the athletes cover - combined with the speeds they're going - is probably the most astonishing in the whole world of bicycle racing. 

World Cup downhill returns this coming weekend with the racing in Lenzerheide, Switzerland and the Madison Saracen race team will be in action with Matt Walker and Greg Williamson in the men's elite event. Qualification is on the 9th and the race itself on the 10th. With that in mind, we figured that now is the perfect time to have a look back at some of our favourite Saracen downhill race bikes - called the Myst. Check them out below. 

We've had a lot of wonderful custom-painted Saracen bikes over the years but there's something about the Madison Saracen race bike from 2022 that we just love. That polished chrome-finish frame? Just wow. 

Matt Walker's 2021 race bike was red and came with matching kit (see main image) which really worked as a super cool combo. We particularly like the cyan Saracen logo on the bottom of the down tube that somehow manages to be both eye-catching and subtle at the same time. 

Back in 2019 we went big for the World Champs. There were three riders on the team that year - Matt Walker, Danny Hart and Alex Marin - and all of them had these beautiful bikes hand painted for them by the incredible team at Fat Creations. Danny Hart rode his to third overall on the day. (Danny's is at the top above, then Matt's, then Alex's).

While you can't buy the special coloured bikes we do for the team riders, you can actually buy the exact same bike (spec, frame, suspension) that the team riders use right here. Or if that's a bit expensive but you'd still like to throw yourself down the black runs at the toughest bike parks around then there's the Myst Pro or the more entry-level (but still absolutely race-ready) Myst AL.