1999 Marin Mount Vision Pro

Benandemu

Retrobike Rider
Gold Trader
Feedback
View
After some careful thought recently, and a little cull of the bikes to concentrate my efforts, this little project started to emerge as the one I really wanted to finish and ride.

I have been slowly gathering parts over the last year, with a clear vision (excuse the pun) of what it was going to look like.

The frame was stripped down, and the front and back halves sent away for stripping of all the faded and chipped anodising. The decals were carefully peeled off and have been stored safe, awaiting a reprint.

I had decided that the front would be polished and the rear powder coated, but when I put the 2 halves together, I was less than impressed. The frame was just too shiny! It needed to be Grey. So, back it goes to the powder coaters for a nice slate Grey finish. There's no way I was getting it re-anodised as the surface is too rough to give a smooth surface, plus powder coat is tougher and can be touched up easier.

The shock is a lovely DT upgrade, while the front forks are slightly later Pace 80mm ones.

My build will largely be M953 XTR, Black Thomson post and stem, Black Hope Ti glide hubs with black 317's, Hope XC4's and a Middleburn RS7 chainset. After my Amps,I liked the cross country suspension experience, but wanted it in a tougher, more reliable package. This frameset is widely regarded as one of the best, and most proven single pivot designs there is. Double world championship wins back this up, although speculation has it that the rider used very high pressures in the rear shock! Either way, it won!

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking until I get the front half back in Grey.

P1000890.jpg


P1000891.jpg


P1000892.jpg


P1000897.jpg


P1000898.jpg


P1000899.jpg


P1000900.jpg


P1000901.jpg


P1000896.jpg


P1000895.jpg


P1000894.jpg


P1000893.jpg


P1000902.jpg


P1000903.jpg
 
Had a chance to spec the decals with my local sign shop. I have chosen Silver with a black outline, and the headbadge will be a combination of Silver/Grey and Black. They are based on the originals, but a little bit more business like, unlike the awful Marin ones.

I spent half an hour degreasing and rubbing down the mech hanger before putting it back on, and I'm quite pleased with the results.

P1000906.jpg


I've also chosen the frame colour. Can't remember the RAL number, but it's Slate Grey and I've chosen a 50% gloss base which will give a nice satin finish to contrast with the 85% gloss Black rear end. Also, it better resembles the original stealth Grey that the frames were anodised in.

The majority of the parts are Grey XTR or Black components, so the stealth look is a definate with this one.

The only Silver will be the fork tops, the decals, the crank arms and the Hope XC4 calipers.

Also, I'm going to try and cure the age old issue of XC4 overheating by adding +20mm adapters which takes the front to 170mm and the rear to 155mm. I'm aware that those discs never existed, but I'll make my own discs to suit. This greater disc size will allow them to run cooler and give greater stopping power as the leverage is increased. I'm toying with the idea of drilling/cutting words rather than plain holes in the discs too, but that's just a thought. Remember when Hope offered this service?
 
Got the frame back today, and started a quick build up of some main components to give me a feel of how my idea will actually look.

P1000907.jpg


P1000908.jpg


P1000910.jpg


P1000909.jpg


So far, I was quite happy with the colour choices, so cracked on with the build up...

P1000913.jpg


P1000912.jpg


P1000915.jpg


P1000914.jpg


P1000911.jpg


Then I kind of got stuck on what choice of crankset and colours. I know I'll use Middleburn RS7's, but not sure whether to use Black spider and Black rings. I'm trying to balance it all with the Silver Hope XC4's and decals...

P1000916.jpg


P1000918.jpg


P1000919.jpg


P1000921.jpg


P1000920.jpg


Hope you like.
 
I have one of those as well :shock: mine is polished and I like it that way but I kinda like the primer look as well it looks as you say stealthy :cool:
 
Back
Top