Ritchey 730g forks - Marin 1 1/8

pondweed

Old School Hero
Just stripping the Team Marin...

The forks are exactly the same as the ones half way down this thread, including the black warning sticker at the base. But they aint 730g in weight! They are more like a kilo, accepting that the headset bottom mount is still on them, which doesnt add up to much.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=260784

Are there other distinguishing marks? On the dropouts, this one has 'spinner' written around the circumference.
 
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Innit!

In all my years of marin ridership (since 1993) I've yet to see a fork of 730g.

They do exist, well, must be from a 15" frame or suchlike but rarely below 820g.

The lightest i've ever had were 870g and from a 1995 Indian fire trail.

It stinks of marketing gimmick where, there is asterisks all over the place where the 730g claim exists. The majority were spinner.
 
ha! perhaps it was the weight before they put the steerer on!!
will be interesting to hear others experience too..
 
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I can concur what my man Marc says.. They based their weights on the smallest frames.. I have an American catalogue from '93 and it lists the weights of the complete bikes, but in the small print it says "weight to the nearest lb with the bar ends and bottle cages removed" lol.
 
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interesting that there is a ex-Merlin Ti frame set of retro Ritchey forks currently on ebay, admittedly with a short 130mm steerer... but only 700g.
 
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pondweed":2tht331e said:
interesting that there is a ex-Merlin Ti frame set of retro Ritchey forks currently on ebay, admittedly with a short 130mm steerer... but only 700g.

I think you're getting confused bro.. I'm no expert but i think Ritchey forks where only fitted to the 91 Team Titanium... and Tange forks were also used in the early days but pre suspension frames were strictly made by Spinner and were called Rockstar.
 
I bought two '92 Pine Mountains by accident due to their low asking prices three & two years ago. Same sizes (19"), but different paintwork, colours are the same though-yellow & black...Further investigation revealed that the skinnier tubed- bare frame -with a 26.4 mm seatpost size- weighs about 2300 gr., while the other one -with a 29.6 mm sp. size- weighs 300 gr. more! The lighter frame's factory forks weigh just about 800 gr., while the sturdier one's forks were nearly 950 gr.

Tube stickers says Tange double butted on both, goupsets/spec were also the same.

So I suppose it depends on what was available in the factory at the time of manufacture.

Pro tip: On Spinner forks check the steerer tube for TB engraving - this will be a triple butted fork and among the lightest ones Marin ever sold as far as I'm concerned. I got two of them, both threaded, for 19" frames, at an about 800 gr. weight each.
 
The 750g rockstars I had were were close to 750g stripped, when painted and wrapped with a load
of bubble wrap they were 814g.
 
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I see your Rockstars sold recently. If anyone has any 800g-ish weight - with a 160ish steerer - and needing refinishing let me know!
 
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pondweed":1wy2fmdb said:
I see your Rockstars sold recently. If anyone has any 800g-ish weight - with a 160ish steerer - and needing refinishing let me know!

I think you're looking for 153mm steerer bud.. I have a couple of pairs of chrome plated ones from 1995 that were originally fitted Indian Fire Trails. Let me know if you're interested and i'll weigh them.
 
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